Bellingham United Clinches 2026 WISL Championship with 8-4 Victory Over Tacoma Stars Reserves

Bellingham United captured the 2026 Western Indoor Soccer League (WISL) Championship with an 8-4 win over the Tacoma Stars Reserves on Saturday at the Tacoma Soccer Center. The victory capped a high-scoring contest in which Bellingham dominated early and held off a late Tacoma rally.The match opened with an early strike from Tacoma’s AJ Nitzel at 8:04 of the first period, assisted by Rainier Schlekewey, giving the Stars a brief 1-0 lead. Bellingham quickly responded, however, with Elliott Rains tying the game at 1-1 just under a minute later on an assist from Christian Caro. Bellingham then exploded for three more goals in rapid succession. Joar Tidblom scored at 5:14 with help from Richard Henderson, followed by solo goals from Thomas Watson at 4:22 and Ivan Colin at 4:02, putting the team ahead 4-1 by the end of the opening frame.

“It was a great final and credit to both teams on making it there,” said Rich Henderson, player-coach for Bellingham United. “We knew we would get and create chances and it would be about finishing those. Tacoma always is very set in their attack, but it is one thing knowing what they will do and stopping it is another. But winning there as convincingly as we did in the league season set us up mentally strong. Even when they went 1 up against the run of play we responded with 4 quickfire goals.”

The second period saw Bellingham extend its lead. Judah Straight scored twice, once assisted by Julian Herring at 4:50 and again unassisted at 1:37, bringing the score to 6-2. Tacoma added a goal from Cris Lozano at 4:35, keeping them within striking distance. In the fourth period, Bellingham added to their lead with a power-play goal by Christian Caro at 11:06. Tacoma fought back with two late goals, first from Gil De La Luz on a power play at 5:05 and then Josh Szidik at 4:31. Thomas Watson closed out the scoring for Bellingham with 45 seconds remaining, cementing the 8-4 final.

“Once we got ahead we managed the game well and stayed disciplined,” Henderson said. “An 8-4 scoreline in a final still requires a lot of work defensively, and the players executed the plan really well. Their last goals were a 6v3 and a fantastic volley from the 6th attacker, so we held them for the majority of the game.”

Bellingham United’s success represents the culmination of years of rebuilding. Henderson reflected on the team’s journey. “We had a run of 4 championships in 5 years, then that group departed after COVID, so we have slowly been rebuilding since then, but still being in the finals. This squad did not just show up; many have trained the last couple of years since high school, and now they are more than ready to compete. I have heard it all, before we won, because we had veteran players, then we were not young enough, then we were too young. The reality is irrelevant. It is whether the team has the tools to deliver the message and collectively execute that better than the opposition, and we did. We scored the most goals in the league and lost the least amount of games. Beating Tacoma 3 times, you would be hard pressed to find anyone that would not agree we were worthy winners this year. I am really proud of the group. To keep rebuilding teams and still find ourselves competing for and winning finals says a lot about the players and the culture around the club.”

Scoring Summary