GREENVILLE — A day removed from locking up the Pitt County Summer Soccer League championship, Washington had to face their toughest task to date Thursday evening.

Head coach Jed Smith and his J.H. Rose eight-man starting lineup came out energized, seeking a statement win over the champions in the final game of the summer season.

In a back-and-forth affair and without starting goalie Will Tate, Washington drew Rose, 3-3, to finish with an undefeated record heading into the fall.

Accustomed to scoring early, the Rose defense and goalie Chris Pumphrey contained the Pam Pack strikers and kept scoring opportunities to a minimum.

Freshman goalie Kevin Avila was called in to replace Tate. While showing signs of youthful inexperience, Avila got the job done, bailing out an uncharacteristically lackadaisical defense at times.

Both teams split possession early, but in the 12th minute, sophomore Eric Ruiz fired off a shot from 25-yards out, beating the goalie and putting his team up 1-0. Ruiz celebrated with a backflip at midfield.

A stalemate on defense, Rose and Washington had very little chances on offense, until senior Lupe Barrera curled a shot from the top of the box and into the back of the net.

Just when it seemed like another runaway victory for the Pam Pack, Smith’s talented striker Chris Jester dribbled through the defense in the final seconds of the first half, trimming the deficit by one with a well-timed strike.

Out of the gate in the second half, it was all Rampants. Within seconds of the whistle, Rose found a hole in the defense and fired a shot past Avila to tie the game.

Capitalizing off an errant throw by the goalie, forward Kyle Hodges picked off a ball in front of the net minutes later and scored an easy goal to give Washington the lead, once again.

But the one-goal advantage would be short lived.

Jester notched his second goal of the game on a 20-yard strike that bended just past the outstretched hand of Avila and with just seconds remaining, Jester found another opening in the defense. Avila charged the Rose striker to cut off the angle. The Washington keeper made the one-on-one save, but the Rampants had one more corner kick to try to win it.

On a set piece, a Rampant midfielder headed a perfect ball at goal, but it was right at Avila, who made an instinctive save to save Washington.

With the win, the Pam Pack finishes the summer league season 6-0-1.