PUYALLUP — With everything on the line, Mount Si senior midfielder Zach Ramsey had the game of a lifetime.
Playing in his final high school match, the UW-commit Ramsey came through with a hat trick, scoring a trio of goals in the span of eight minutes on Saturday in the Class 4A championship game, as the No. 10 seeded Wildcats (17-4) beat No. 4 Camas (19-2-2) 3-1 at Sparks Stadium to claim the first state title in program history.
After leading the team to the title game with outstanding performances all season, it seemed fitting that Ramsey brought it home.
“(I’m) happy with the all-around performance, but also happy for Zach to get the spotlight he deserves,” Mount Si head coach Ben Tomlisson said. “He’s our hardest working player, and when your best player is your hardest-working player, you’ve got a chance.”
Ramsey’s first goal came at 32:09, when he scored with a kick from the left side with an assist from senior forward Zain Thompson to put Mount Si up 1-0. After sitting through more than half an hour of scoreless soccer, the Wildcats’ crowd erupted with joy as Ramsey’s teammates swarmed him on the field.
Just a few minutes later, Ramsey came through again with a goal at 37:49 to put the Wildcats up by two. Ramsey’s third goal came right before the half, when he bent a corner kick in to give the Wildcats a commanding three-goal lead headed into the break.
His three scores gave him a program-record 38 goals and six hat tricks on the season.
Going up against a Camas team that had come in with 15 consecutive wins, Tomlisson knew that his team needed a few minutes of explosive offense to put the Papermakers away.
Luckily for him, Ramsey has provided those explosions all season long.
“I felt we were in a little bit of limbo,” Tomlisson said. “I actually didn’t think we started well in the first half, but as the game got stretched we were able to get in those pockets of space. We’ve done that all season where we have these little 10 minute bubble patches, and then it puts the opposition to bed. So that was another example today.”
Camas senior Markku Laukkanen scored the Papermakers lone goal in stoppage time.
The game marked Mount Si’s first title game appearance since their loss to Puyallup back in 2019, when Zach’s brother, Colby Ramsey, was a sophomore.
This season, the Wildcats downed No. 7 Puyallup in the opening round before beating No. 2 Redmond in the quarterfinals and No. 6 Sunnyside in the semis.
“I know in our family at least, that was a hard loss,” Ramsey said of 2019. “It means everything to come back here, … to do it now, it’s huge. It’s awesome.”
Ramsey’s talent will take him to some prestigious places over the next several years. He played on the Olympic Development Program national team last year, and will suit up in semipro ball for Midlakes United this summer before heading off to play Big Ten soccer for Washington.
But on a cool and cloudy Saturday in Puyallup, Ramsey’s skills lifted his underdog squad to its long-awaited spot on the Class 4A mountaintop.
“It means everything,” Ramsey said. “This group of boys, we’ve been together for almost three months, so it’s huge. We’re all friends, we’re all best friends. It’s sad to be over, but it’s the best way to end it possible.”