Stretching high,Timoteo Malo punches the ball over the crossbar for the save / Matt Stolmeier
The state championship is the pinnacle of competitive youth soccer in Washington. The tournament narrows down the strongest teams through a bracket until only one is left, and for the past two years that team has been the Orcas Island boys soccer team. Our Vikings are one of the prides and joys of our island and were celebrated appropriately. They were welcomed home with a parade and gathering after having won the state championship for the third total time, and having earned recognition through multiple all-league honors. It is safe to say the island is proud of our Vikings.
The boys earned an impressive set of awards in the 2025 Northwest 1B/2B All-League selections. Senior Joaquin Shanks-Morales claimed Most Valuable Player. Senior Anthony Conejo, sophomore Junior Conjeo Medina and junior Timoteo Malo all placed on the First Team All-League and three more – senior Lauro Quintero Carrion, senior Angelo Vaccarella and sophomore Sam Vaccarella – to the Second Team All-League. The team as a whole also won the Team Sportsmanship Award.
Malo, the teams impressive goalkeeper, gave the Vikings defensive edge just what it needed to score 101 goals with only nine allowed. He shared that emotions were high during this season in particular: “It felt good to win the state title back to back all these years, but this one was different. There were a lot of emotions as players had younger siblings, making this their last year together.” He continued to share his favorite part of a game, “My favorite part is watching the audience. Everyone was so happy, and seeing the fans cheering was awesome, which made me sad when the season ended, but it also taught me a very valuable lesson: to enjoy the little things.”
And even with all these impressive awards, Malo shared that the most valuable thing he earned was a lesson: “Yes, winning state was really great, and I enjoyed the team dinners and team swims, but its most important to remember that we only have one life, so take advantage of it now.”
Pure joy: Orcas Vikings boys soccer celebrating their State Championship victory / Matt Stolmeier