With their third win in five days, the Hazen Highlanders are moving on to the state soccer tournament!

The Highlanders on Saturday defeated Shelton 3-1 to secure their spot in the 3A State Tournament. Hazen will play Interlake on Tuesday in Puyallup.

Junior forward and captain Reyes Garcia had two goals in the win on Saturday, both off assists from Ethan Kem.

Hazen opened the scoring with a goal from Garcia in the 10th minute. Shelton knotted the game at one apiece with a goal of their own in the 15th minute and the score stayed that way through the half.

At the 55-minute mark, Drew Wilson put in the go-ahead and eventual game-winning goal off an assist from Hector Cervantes. In the 76th minute, Garcia scored an insurance goal.

Coach Ken Matthews said Shelton responded to the Highlanders’ second goal by “upping their game” and things got a bit hairy with less than five minutes left in the game and the score still locked at 1-1 when goalie Jaime Martinez got control of a loose ball within the six-yard box and set up the insurance goal with a quick throw that started the counter-attack.

The win sets up a first-round match-up with Interlake. The two teams squared off in a season-opening match with Interlake coming out on top 4-0.

The Highlanders play at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Sparks Stadium, 601 7th Ave. S.W., Puyallup.