LACEY — It was a bitter way to end what was considered by most a successful inaugural season.

A controversial call late in regulation of a tie game gave the Lacey Football Club a penalty kick, which was converted, as Lacey beat the Grays Harbor Gulls FC, 4-3, on Saturday.

The loss comes in the Gulls’ last game of the season and dropped them to fourth in the standings of the Western Washington Premier League.

The deciding goal was scored in the 84th minute on a penalty kick that was awarded to Lacey when Gulls’ keeper Alexis Garcia dived for a ball in the hopes of preventing an opposing forward from getting there first.

Garcia’s dive attempt snuffed out a scoring chance but the relief felt on Grays Harbor’s sideline quickly turned to anger when the lead official gestured for a penalty kick.

Lacey’s Juan Vega beat Garcia on the PK for what proved to be the game-winning goal while the Gulls continued to express their frustration with the call.

Gulls head coach Drew Grannemann could be heard angrily yelling “that’s two” in reference to the two penalty kicks Lacey was awarded that he felt the official should not have called.

“(Garcia) played a low-profile approach to the ball. It’s not like he was trying to attack the player at all. He put most of his body mass through the ball as the dribbler was going straight forward,” Grannemann said when explaining what he saw on the play. “Usually when they get awarded those PK calls, the goalkeeper opens up wide and tries to trip him with their hands or feet. On a call like that the number one concern should be protecting the goalie who is down on the ground.”

Lacey scored both of its second half goals on penalty kicks.

Both teams came out looking to be aggressive in the first half and the Pocket Gophers capitalized early on to score two goals on three shots over the first nine minutes to quickly go up 2-0.

Lacey head coach Ken McInroy said creating the early scoring opportunities was necessary in what figured to be an intense matchup.

“We had to put pressure on them. They came out here to win a game,” he said. “This is a bunch of guys that played together and know each other and they wanted to knock us off the top spot. We wanted to pressure high and go after them.”

The Gulls settled down and found more success possessing the ball after giving up the second goal. This led to more scoring chances, one of which they capitalized on when Jake Irwin gently finished a lob with a header after sneaking behind goalkeeper Josh Birley.

The Gulls kept Birley busy for the rest of the first half, forcing him to make a couple of more saves before the halftime whistle.

Grays Harbor picked up where they left off in the second half and got the equalizer in the 46th minute off the boot of Anthony Churlin to tie the game at 2-2.

Approximately 10 minutes later, the first of the two controversial penalties were called that allowed Lacey to temporarily take a 3-2 lead.

Not discouraged, Cesar Corona tied the game up again by converting off a corner kick from a tough angle in the 67th minute.

Grannemann was still disappointed in the officiating after the match but said the night still felt like a victory on some level.

“When you score three goals in a soccer match you can usually walk away victorious. We would like to say it should have been 4-2 in favor of us,” he said. “The way the momentum and the calls went, that’s how we walked away viewing it.”

Grannemann also expressed frustration with Lacey choosing to play music on the PA system for the entirety of the match and mentioned he would like to see a rule against it next season.

While third place was on the line for Grays Harbor, the win against the Gulls put Lacey in a position to win the league if they captured victories over the Gulls and the Kirkland Goats.

Despite playing Queen’s ‘We Are the Champions’ over the loudspeaker after their game-winning goal on Saturday, Lacey fell to the Kirkland Goats, 2-1, on Sunday, giving Kirkland the WWPL title.

Though he was disappointed with how things went on Saturday, Grannemann said there is a lot to be proud of.

“I’m really proud of how my guys played and how they reacted after a tough loss,” he said. “It’s a tough loss but I’m thankful for their hard work and the fan support we received all season.”

Grays Harbor Gulls goalkeeper Alexis Garcia, left, leaps to make a save in the first half against Lacy FC on Saturday. (Hasani Grayson | The Daily World)