#2 Bellevue 2-0 #8 Mount Spokane
38th min 1-0 Morgan (OG assist)
78th min 2-0 Saleen (Kendall)

Only two teams get to end their high school season with a victory. BGS is one of them.

Small comfort I know, but a much better way to end our 2024 season than the alternative. 

It was a comprehensive win. From the opening whistle, we began linking passes together, controlling tempo, and creating quality chances. With heavy legs from a tough semi-final the day before, we rotated our personnel early and often, and every Wolverine who took the field contributed excellent minutes. Just like in yesterday's game, our substitutes were critical in earning the opening goal, as Morgan juked the Wildcat center back, charged into the box and her snap-shot (pass? shass?) deflected off of another Mt. Spokane defender into the net. 1-0 Bellevue in the 38th minute. Perhaps not our most elegant goal of the year, but a fair scoreline given the overall balance of play. And full credit to Morgan, you don't get to score a goal at Sparks unless you create a chance...Morgan did, and that was the winning goal.  

The second half was similar to the first: Bellevue with the majority of the possession and clear chances, but Mount Spokane remaining very dangerous on counter-attacks and set-pieces. Our final goal of the 2024 season was created with great swarming defense from a Mount Spokane goal kick in the 78th minute, as Mack, Mia and Leah pressured the ball, forcing a sloppy pass in the Wildcat's defensive third that Kendall intercepted with a one-touch pass that released Saleen alone on the keeper. We know how that sequence ends: 2-0 Bellevue. And finally, we could allow ourselves a bit of a smile. Final whistle. 

Yes, a few tears, but happy-sad tears rather than just the sad kind. And a third-place plaque awarded to our captains.

I'm grateful that our 15 seniors got a win in their final game wearing the Bellevue uniform. It's been a wonderful four-year journey, and their collective contributions and leadership are leaving this program in a better place than when they arrived. But we'll have more to say about that tomorrow night at our Girls Soccer Banquet. 

Finally, a sincere "thank you" to the entire Bellevue Girls Soccer community: to the parents cheering in the stands, the grandparents watching our video streams at home, volunteers washing winter parkas, announcing games and choosing cool versions of the National Anthem, organizing booster board meetings, state shirt ordering, hauling travel shelters and benches, hosting team dinners, supporting our C-team night, or organizing senior night...what makes this program special is the amount of earnestness, love, care, and hard work that is invested by everyone. Thank you.

This group deserved to walk off the field in their final game as winners.

See you all tomorrow.

#2 Bellevue 1-2 OT #3 Roosevelt
57th min Anna (Morgan)
76th min 1-1 Roosevelt goal
83rd min 1-2 Roosevelt golden goal

That stings.

In a game that would've been a worthy final, we leave Sparks Stadium with tears instead of high fives and hugs. Our battle between the last two State champions was exactly what we expected: tight and well-matched. We play similar formations. We both value possession, quick technical ball movement, and organized, team-oriented defense. There were no obvious weaknesses to exploit on either side with excellent athletes in every role all over the field. And therefore, for long periods of the game, especially in the first half, we battled to a midfield stalemate. Yes, we created more chances, but not overwhelmingly so. But we also hadn't allowed a single dangerous chance against us for the opening 40 minutes, and at no point did we feel like we were getting exposed. Halftime stats were 4 shots/2 corners for Bellevue, to 1 shot/0 corners for Roosevelt. 

In the second half, with a steady breeze at our back, we began to pin Roosevelt in their own half and create more chances. Our break-through came in the 57th minute, as recent substitute Morgan beat her defender on the right side and sent a perfectly driven cross to the far post where Anna smashed a header into the back of the net. Glorius goal. And a wonderful example of players changing a game when given the opportunity. Morgan and Anna had both entered the game 3 minutes before and thanks to their combination, we had the lead 1-0. Two seniors making their mark. 

We expected a flurry of Roosevelt attacks after they conceded, but our team defense remained stout. If anything, it seemed like we would confidently and competently see the game through with a one-goal winning margin. But the soccer gods had other ideas...and with four minutes left in the game, from an innocuous-looking looped entry pass, the Roosevelt striker got good body position, dropped the ball back to her winger and the resulting one-touch shot snuck into the upper corner at the near post. It was a nice goal, but very unlikely. It was Roosevelt's 2nd shot in the entire game. And we were tied at full-time. 1-1.  

If the tying goal in the dying minutes of regular was cruel, the golden goal that ended the game was something from the Marquis de Sade, as a wicked deflection from a Roosevelt shot (their 3rd in the game) found the back of the net after only three minutes of overtime. Game over. Shock defeat. 

Roosevelt is a worthy finalist. The defending champs never gave up even when they were a goal down with just minutes left in the game. They are a talented team. But this loss stings.  
We had it. We earned it. We played well. We created more chances, and we were amazing defensively. And yet, in just a handful of combined minutes, it was gone. Joy turned to ashes in our mouths.  Sadness.

Among countless other things, High School sports are great because it gives us a safe and engaging way to experience the intense emotions we need to manage later in life: Joy. victory. effort, merit, teamwork, but just as valuable are the moments, especially in soccer, when you need to manage the intensity of loss, defeat, sadness, and just a whiff of injustice. Just like in real life.

But thankfully, the stakes on the soccer field feel bigger than they actually are. We lost. And that stings. But tomorrow we'll wake up early and have an opportunity to play one more high school soccer game at Sparks Stadium with our friends. One more chance to get to feel the other side of the scoreboard that ends with smiles, happiness, and shared accomplishment.  

It stings today, but we'll do our best to slather ourselves in aloe vera and earn a win in the consolation final for 3rd place. The underlying burn of today won't go away, but it might make the sting feel better tomorrow.  

See you in Puyallup in the morning, 10am kick-off.

Bellevue 2-0 Ridgeline
49th min Saleen (Mack & Leah)
57th min Mack (Leah)

We're going to Sparks. 

The Final Four is hosted at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup every year. Only four teams earn the right to play high school soccer the week before Thanksgiving for a shot at a 3A State Championship. Our girls have earned that right.

Almost exactly a year ago, our team suffered a frustrating loss in the State quarterfinals where everything that could go wrong, seemingly did. It happens. That's life. But it stings. 

But a wonderful thing about high school soccer is that each iteration of the team, even with common traditions and returning lots of players, is unique. Fresh. New personalities meshing with the varsity returners. New roles. New perspectives. But for those of us who felt the sting last fall, there was extra motivation to replace that lingering emotional cringe from a year ago with a worthy performance against a very good Ridgeline team. Erase a few memories while making stronger, more positive memories. Plus, we wanted a performance worthy of the last BGS game on Bellevue turf for our 15 seniors.

And that's what we got. From the opening whistle, we were magnificent. No notes (OK, some notes). Every player did their job. Every substitute, whether they got onto the field or not, contributed to the final result with their positivity. It was our best collective performance of the season, against an excellent team. The winning margin didn't come until the second half, but we set the tone in the first. From scouting work, we knew that Ridgeline is a possession-oriented team. They are very good at rotating the ball with quick one and two-touch passes through their talented center-backs and midfielders...if you give them the time to do so. So our plan was simple: stay organized and do our best to press them in spaces where they typically find joy and rhythm. Challenge every entry pass with "front-foot" defending. Anticipate, don't react. And collectively, we did exactly that. It was 0-0 at HT, but we hadn't allowed a single Ridgeline shot. And we had hit both posts, the crossbar, and it not for a series of wonderful saves by the Falcon goalkeeper, we would've had a comfortable lead.

But the goals were coming. We could feel it. In the 49th minute, just like Santa on Christmas Eve, our anticipation was rewarded with a stuffed stocking of a goal. It started with Maddy intercepting the ball at midfield and calmly squaring to Kendall, who calmly played the ball to an overlapping Lola on the right side. Lola played a calm and simple ball to Leah's feet on the right wing and our senior forward sent a delightfully calm ball to the back post where Mack calmly volleyed a pass towards Saleen in the box. Saleen spun her defender and calmly rolled the ball into the far corner of the goal. Our bench was NOT calm. Celebratory pandemonium. Joy. Cheers. Happiness. 1-0 Bellevue. Eight minutes later we added another, as Leah fired a shot at the Ridgeline goalkeeper that she was only able to block, not smother. Natural attacking players are instinctively good at seeking out opportunities to score, like following up every shot in the hope of a deflection or spilled save. Mack has those instincts, and was the first to react, charging the keeper before Leah's shot had even arrived on goal. Tiny bobble. Smashed follow-up. 2-0 Bellevue.

And so now we make plans for the Final Four. We play defending champion Roosevelt on Friday at noon at Sparks Stadium. Two years ago we beat Roosevelt in the Final to win a state championship. Last year, we were on a collision course with Roosevelt before we veered off the road in the quarterfinals and they steamrolled the rest of the way to celebrate with the big trophy. This year, we will meet in the Semi-final, two of the most successful girls high school programs over the last three seasons. It's going to be so fun. Seattle Prep and Mount Spokane will meet in the other semi-final immediately after our game. The Final will be at 3pm on Saturday (3rd place consolation game on Saturday at 10am...so even more motivation on Friday to get more sleep on Saturday).     

Calm. 

We're going to Sparks.

Thanks to all of our supporters who braved the chilly November weather to cheer our team. 

See you on Friday.

Bellevue 2-0 Holy Names
36th min Kaitlyn (Saleen) header from corner
41st min Leah (Saleen)

Before our last practice on Thursday, we reviewed 18th-seeded Holy Names on video from their 5-0 victory over 15th-seeded Lakes. Before we scouted that game, coach John and I knew that Holy Names was an "18 seed" in name only, and likely the best of the 8 teams who didn't get a BYE into the round of 16. It happens every year. The 4th place Metro team drops in the committee seeding process, and one unlucky top seed faces an opening State game significantly more difficult than the ranking numbers listed before each team. This year. we drew the 4th place Metro team who had just dismantled #15 Lakes 5-0 in their first round match (and it couldn've been more). So on paper, it was #2 vs. #18, but we knew that just a few weeks ago at the end of the regular season, Holy Names had beaten #5 Seattle Prep 1-0 and tied #11 Eastside Catholic (both won their rd of 16 State games on Friday), so we certainly weren't looking past the Cougars. 

We took our preparation seriously and did our best to keep sharp during our long two-week break since our last game. But despite productive training sessions, a bit of rust was inevitable. So it goes. We started brightly, creating two quick chances and several dangerous cut-back crosses, but our timing and supporting runs weren't precise enough and we didn't convert. Rust. The balance of the first half felt more like a series of fits and starts without the rhythm we typically find after the first few minutes of chaotic game-time smooths over. But even without creating an abundance of early chances, we controlled the game and stayed patient and organized. Holy Names had occasional forays into our defensive area and a few shots, but they were speculative and Katelyn wasn't seriously tested in our goal thanks to the dedication of our field players in front of her.    

The breakthrough came from a corner with 4 minutes left in the first half. I remember mentioning to our bench just before the kick that "Kaitlyn is going to score...," (more from a feeling of declarative optimism than a vision of the future)...but then Saleen took the corner, and our senior center-back gave the ball a Scottish kiss, smashing the ball with her forehead into the back of the net. 1-0 Bellevue. And suddenly I felt like Nostradamus and tried to envision something like lottery numbers, stock prices, or future Super Bowl scores. But more importantly, we had a well-earned lead. Regardless, the goal was like our entire team being dunked in a tank of rust-oleum, because for the remainder of the game our soccer was sparkling and shiny. Rust gone. We added a 2nd goal in the 41st minute, barely out of the shed from halftime as Paris threw the ball into Saleen's feet (simple throws = best throws), Saleen dribbled through 4 defenders, before cutting-back a cross to Leah who timed her supporting run to perfection and was rewarded with a goal from the doorstep. Excellent. 2-0 Bellevue. And although we had several more chances to score in the second half, more gratifyingly, we held Holy Names without a shot or a corner for the last 40 minutes of the game. Whistle. Hugs. Handshakes. And onto the State quarterfinals. Shiny and sharp.

Our victory against Holy Names earned us a quarterfinal match-up with #10 Ridgeline who dominated #7 Peninsula 3-1. The Falcons are organized, well-coached, play beautiful possession-based soccer, and won the District 6 (eastern Washington) championship last week against their rivals Mt. Spokane. They are a very good team. But in a tournament campaign, you eventually have to beat the best. So bring on the best from the east.

We'll be ready. 

I'll be the guy on the sidelines with a pocket full of lottery tickets. :) 

​Bellevue 3-0 Liberty
3rd min Saleen (Leah & Mia)
60th min Saleen (Kenny)
71st min Saleen (Maddy, Saleen & right post)

Each edition of BGS is unique. The overall tone of the team is set by the leadership of each senior class. This year's team is a wonderful combination of fun, enthusiasm, and steely competitiveness. The team gets along. They support each other, regardless of their role in the team. For instance, in our last full practice before competing for a Kingco 3A championship fell on Halloween. So instead of a tactics-heavy session on how we would counter Liberty's talented midfielders and wingers, our seniors organized a costume-party. 

So although it was unlikely that the skills we practiced would help us against a talented Liberty team (inflatable T-rex dribbling through cones, minions and grandmas doing passing drills, and pink-unicorn goalkeepers making diving saves), it just re-inforced why this edition of BGS is so...fun. 

And when the time came to take the field for the Kingco Championship against #2-seeded Liberty, we were ready. Getting to play in a final is rare. Some players go their entire soccer playing career and never experience the butterflies and jangling nerves that can accompany playing for a meaningful trophy. So our final message to the team was to enjoy the moment, be fearless and play. It's "play" after all, not work. Play. Channel some of that T-Rex, blue-unicorn energy, and have some fun.   

And we did. Although the game began like a lot of finals: choppy, sloppy, and nervous, It only took three minutes to calm our collective nerves as Nora won the ball at midfield, twice, and slipped the ball to Saleen who flicked a one-time pass to Mia, releasing our speedy senior into Liberty territory. Mia beat two defenders for pace and cut-back a cross for a charging Leah on the right wing. Leah smashed a shot on goal that somehow the Liberty goalkeeper deflected onto the crossbar (seriously, one of the best saves I've seen all season, kudos to the Liberty keeper). But the defection fell kindly for Saleen who headed the ball into the net from the doorstep to open the scoring. 1-0 Bellevue. The goal calmed our nerves and we began to control the tempo and play more of the game in the Liberty end. At halftime, 7 shots / 0 corners for Bellevue, with Liberty creating only 1 shot /1 corner.  

And then the weather happened. It poured. The temperature dropped. And conditions for beautiful soccer worsened...quickly. But as I have noted several times in these write-ups, our team is set-up to play a lot of different ways. We prefer a flowing possession-style with simple and quick combinations, but if conditions are poor, we can rely on tight formations, quality challenges, and tough tackling. And so we did. And as Liberty were forced to chase the game, we created more chances as the spaces got bigger in midfield. A second goal seemed inevitable, but we had to wait until the 60th minute for it to arrive. And it took an entry pass of exquisite weight, accuracy, and beauty, as Kendall won the ball at midfield, and with her second touch, she released Saleen in on goal with only the keeper to beat. And we know how that scene ends: 2-0 Bellevue. Fantastic goal, and inch-perfect assist. 

Down two with twenty minutes left for a trophy, Liberty began to create chances earning two corners and recording two quality shots. But again, our team defense was outstanding. We blocked shots, covered for each in dangerous situations, and celebrated each of what seemed like dozens of Kaitlyn headers to clear our backline. Then in the 71st minute, we got insurance for our insurance. Maddy cleared a dangerous Liberty attack with a long pass into space that Saleen collected at midfield, and our sophomore striker began to cook...weaving between defenders before unleashing a shot...that...hit the right post. But the defection bounced right back towards Saleen, who made a lunging tackle on a Liberty defender attempting to clear, she won the ball back and fired her second shot past the helpless Patriot goalkeeper. 3-0 Bellevue. Would Saleen have scored that goal if she hadn't perfected her dribbling skills while wearing an inflatable T-rex costume earlier in the week? Unknowable, but her goal effectively ended the game. T-rex hat trick. 3-0 Final Score. Lucky Charms in the trophy. Smiles, laughter, selfies, and a fourth consecutive Kingco Championship. And most importantly, a win that earns our team a spot in the state tournament. 

What's next? 13 days of rest. That's a lot. Probably too much. The rest of the leagues and districts are playing their qualifying tournaments this week to determine the full 20-team field for State, and on Sunday, November 10th the brackets will be released and we'll know our path. Practice on Monday is canceled for some well-earned rest, but we'll gather again on Tuesday to keep sharp for the final phase of this already extraordinary BGS season. 

Thank you to all the supporters who endured the weather on Saturday. It matters. 

I love this team of costumed-super-hero dinosaur unicorns: 2024 3A Kingco Champions.  

 
ps. for those of you wondering about Coach John's unique headwear...it's a magic hat. It showed up during our 2022 perfect state championship campaign and has made an appearance for every Kingco and state playoff game since that magical run. Respect the hat. 🙂

Bellevue 3-1 LW (Senior Night)
​
39th min Mia (Saleen) from FK
69th min Saleen (unassisted)
70th min LW goal
76th min Kaitlyn (Saleen) corner

"Don't worry about a thing, 'cause every little thing, gonna be alright." 

Bob Marley loved soccer. It's true. Perhaps he wrote the lyrics to Three Little Birds after playing a final regular season game in his Jamacia Sunday league, needing a result, plus help elsewhere, to qualify for a championship...and then having everything be...alright. 

After a wonderful ceremony to honor our 15 seniors (thank you Stacy and all of our parent volunteers), we knew our mission: we took the field needing a win against LW, and for Liberty to drop points against Woodinville. Typically for a senior night, we put all of our seniors in the starting line-up. however, squeezing 14 players into 11 field positions turned out to be impossible. I tried. So instead, we tried an alternative way to honor our seniors. Every senior on our roster had started at least one game this season, except for three. So we started those three seniors and were conventional with the rest of the line-up regardless of class. 

And we started brightly, sharing the ball and earning two quick corners from great work by Morgan at striker. However, after the first ten minutes, the game devolved into a midfield scrum of looped long clearances, contested headers, loose trapping, and wayward passes. Just when it looked like we would enter half-time in a goal-less deadlock, Saleen cleverly noticed a slightly misplaced LW wall and keeper positioning and fired a free-kick to the near post that the Kang goalie was just able to keep out but only as far as Mia who raced in and roofed the rebound into the back of the net. 1-0 Bellevue on the stroke of half-time.  

Despite the goal just moments earlier, the make-shift locker room in the shed was mostly quiet. It felt like someone had let the air out of our emotional tires. Which makes sense. Senior night is always a wonderful and joyous night, that is also an early goodbye to our beloved teammates and friends. It's an emotional investment from everyone: underclassmen who design the t-shirts, decorate the locker room, and stand in an honor-guard as the seniors jog hand-in-hand and twirl.; parents who have stood on countless sidelines for a decade or more; and for the 15 seniors who have built four years of shared soccer memories into what I hope is a community that lasts well beyond their graduation. So yeah, we looked a bit mentally tired. Understandable.   

When I asked for a self-diagnosis and the first word from the team was "sloppy."  Well put. Good diagnosis. I agreed. So we pledged to do our best to clean up our soccer and took the field for the second half. The good news was that LW hadn't generated a single shot and our team defense was rock solid as it has been for well over a month. As I have written many times in these recaps: fluidity and finishing can ebb and flow across a season (especially with weather and quality of turf), so if you want to compete for a championship, team defense is the most reliable cornerstone. And our foundation is strong. 

We were marginally better in the second half, but not by much. But again, we weren't allowing any chances at our end either so Mia's goal seemed like it would be enough to get us the result we needed. But then in the 69th minute, Sofia punted to midfield and Mia flicked a header into space that Saleen gathered 50 yards from the LW goal...and then our sophomore talisman did her thing, weaving past Kang defenders before depositing a left-footed shot into the lower right corner. 2-0 Bellevue. Insurance goal. Three birds singing on our doorstep. As we prepared to clear our bench with substitutes, we...conceded? Less than a minute after our insurance goal, a phantom free-kick was awarded about 40 yards from our goal on the LW right side, and...well we didn't cover ourselves in glory in our defending and the ball found its way across the line after allowing a big bounce in our six-yard box. Ugh. So we hit "pause" on the player rotation and found ourselves back at our panic stations. Fortunately, in Kaitlyn, we have one of the best headers of the ball in our league, so after earning a corner in the 76th minute, our senior center-back secured all three points with a towering header into the upper corner of the goal from a Saleen corner. One of our best goals of the year at a perfect time. Hurrah and celebration. 3-1 Bellevue win.

We did our part, but what about the help we needed...Liberty had to tie or lose for us to host the Championship game on Bellevue turf. Coach Annika had been streaming the Woodinville vs. Liberty game from our bench and Woodinville was leading 1-0 late in the game...but then Liberty tied it. 1-1 at the regulation whistle, and Kingco rules require two golden goal overtime periods. So the coaching staff stuck around on our sidelines, alone in the Bellevue stadium, glued to the Woodinville action. The first overtime ended 1-1. So far, so good. finally, we got the help we needed as the second overtime mercifully ended with no changes in the score. A tie. With that result, Bellevue finished as the best-positioned 3A team in the Kingco CrownCrest league (third overall behind Woodinville and Skyline), one point ahead of Liberty.  

So we get to play at least one more game at our beloved Bellevue stadium. Saturday, November 2nd we will host the 3A Kingco Championship game against Liberty at 5:30pm. Winner to State, loser to a consolation game for the final chance at a State tournament qualification. Since that game is 8 days away, we gave the team two days off from practice (it is Homecoming after all). We will resume next Tuesday and begin preparations for Liberty next week. 

"Rise up this morning, smiled with the risn sun, three little birds, pitch by my doorstep, singin' sweet songs, of melodies pure and true, saying this is my message to you...

don't worry about a thing, cause every little thing, gonna be alright."

Rebecca, Sofia, Kendall, Kaitlyn, Amy, Maddy, Emily, Anna, Faith, Mia, Alyson, Leah, Arianna, Morgan, and Savannah, thank you for making everything alright during your four years of Bellevue soccer. You will be missed. 

A big thank you to all of the family and friends who supported our team tonight (including our football team who were there at kick-off). It matters.    

On to the Kingco championship game. Birth in the State tournament at stake. See you then.

Bellevue 5-1 Redmond
​
4th min 1-0 Mia (Saleen)
6th min 2-0 Maddy (Saleen)
15th min 3-0 Saleen (Nora)
25th min 4-0 Leah (Lola)
49th min 5-0 Leah (Paris)
68th min 5-1 Redmond Wonderstrike

One down. One to go in our regular season. And all to play for.. Going into our game against Redmond, we knew that we had to get a result to put ourselves in a position to qualify for the 3A Kingco Championship game. The race is tight. But knowing that we needed a result against Redmond to earn 9 days of rest versus the prospect of two additional "loser go home" games next week, our girls got down to business right away scoring two goals in the first 6 minutes, adding another at the 15th minute, before adding two more on either side of halftime to coast to a convincing 5-1 victory. Our win, combined with a simultaneous loss by Inglemoor vs Woodinville, means that punched our ticket to the 3A Kingco Championship game on Saturday, November 2nd against Liberty. The only details left to settle are which team will host the game at their stadium as the #1 seed. With a 2-1 win against Issaquah, Liberty is a single point ahead of us with one game remaining. On Thursday in our season finales, Liberty hosts Woodinville while we host LW for our senior night. Our last regular season home game and we have something to play for...wonderful.  

We pressed Redmond from the opening whistle, creating three great chances in the first two minutes including a rocket shot by Kendall that pinged off the left post and somehow stayed out. Just a few seconds later in the 4th minute, we scored a tremendous team goal: six one and two-touch passes through our midfield before Saleen slipped a pass to Mia and our senior midfielder dribbled the keeper before depositing the ball into the open net. 1-0 Bellevue. Two minutes later, Paris won the ball at midfield and passed to Mia who turned her defender and scampered towards the Mustang goal before passing to Saleen on the edge of the Redmond box. Saleen patiently waited for either her own shooting angle on goal or a supporting run option, and got the latter as Maddy drifted towards the top of the box in support, received a perfect square ball from Saleen, and hammered a shot into the upper left corner with a one-touch blast. 2-0 Bellevue. And we were flying. At the 15-minute mark, Nora won the ball at midfield and launched an immediate counter-attack, feeding Saleen a simple direct ball down the left flank behind the Redmond defense. Saleen outraced all pursuers, cut back inside and fired a shot into the upper right corner. 3-0 Bellevue and all three goals were of the highest quality. In the 25th minute, Kendall won the ball at midfield and passed to Leah on the right wing with Mia already in full underlap sprint into the space behind. Leah fed Mia the ball, our senior captain beat her defender for pace on the wing and crossed back into the middle for...Leah of course, who had continued her run, spun to her left foot and smashed the ball in at the near post. Our Hollywood script-writers did an excellent job with tonight's episode, as our senior captain has been patient all season recovering from a serious ankle injury suffered a week before tryouts. Having Leah get a goal tonight in limited minutes after returning from injury is the feel-good story of the night. And it was so fun, she repeated it in the 48th minute, this time with Paris the provider and an equally lethal finish from Leah's left foot. 5-0 Bellevue. 

Redmond got a consolation goal in the 68th minute and it was tremendous. The Mustangs' speedy midfielder hit a shot from over 35yards that hit the upper left post before glancing into the net. Wondergoal. Well struck, and well celebrated. Deservedly so.  

So now we turn our attention to old rivals Lake Washington on Thursday night. Senior night. And the day before Homecoming. Emotions might be running high.

Bring on the Kangs. 

See you on Thursday as we honor our 15 seniors.

​Bellevue JV 2-0 Redmond
 
35th min Devin (Olimpico!)
60th min Olivia (Elina)
 
 
I talk all the time about the style of play I want our team to execute. It is a free-flowing, possession-based style that features lots of defense. We move up and down the field as a team, we attack wide, defend narrow. Score when we create chances but keep the ball out of our own net.
 
Does it always work? No, but it is what we strive for each and every game. And when the Redmond Mustangs visited Bellevue High School on Tuesday for a JV girls’ matchup, we got to witness it in all it’s glory.  It featured two teams situated next to each other in the Kingco Crown-Crest standings so we knew we were in for a tight match.
 
Was it the fact this week is homecoming? What it the fact it was our last week of JV soccer? Was it the coaching (doubtful)? But our girls came out flying in this game. Everything we practiced all season long was on display. The possession and combination passing was the best we’ve seen. The defending was stellar. The girls were moving all around the field and supporting each other consistently. It was all I could ask for ….. except for our finishing.
 
Things were going so well, I knew a goal was coming throughout the first half. We peppered their goal with shots (16) and forced their goalkeeper to make save after save. But as well as we were playing, we just couldn’t find that one second of magic and focus to put the ball into the net. However, with the first half nearing completion, Devin, our speedy winger, came to the rescue. Just past midfield she corralled a loose ball and raced toward goal. We all thought this was the breakthrough. But as she neared the goal and just as she wound up to unleash her shot, a Mustang defender slipped in at the very last second and knocked the ball out of bounds. Ugh!
 
Devin dejectedly retrieved the ball and prepared to take the corner kick (one of six we had in the game). She unleashed a laser of a kick, which somehow missed the front-post defender and slammed  into the hands of the goalkeeper. The shot had so much pace on it the keeper could only push it into the net. Boom! Olimpico!
 
You may have heard the term before but for those that haven’t, an Olimpico is simply a goal that is scored directly from a corner kick. The name has stuck for nearly 100 years, since Argentina's Cesareo Onzari scored against reigning Olympic champions Uruguay from a corner kick in 1924 (though it didn't happen at the Olympics).
 
We celebrated our one-goal advantage at halftime and huddled in the equipment shed to stay warm. What I found most interesting at halftime was the reaction from the team when I told them I thought it was the best they had played all season. They were more focused on the missed opportunities and lack of goals. So, we talked about maintaining that stellar effort but cleaning up our work in front of the goal. We were dominating a very good team; we wanted to keep that up and not let them back in the game.
 
The second half was a little more even but we still were able to control most of the action and possession while playing our usual stout defense. Midway through the half, as action went back and forth, Bellevue earned a throw-in deep in Mustang territory. Elina took a quick throw to Addie N who tapped it back to E and she launched a cross into the penalty area. The ball skipped off a Mustang defender’s head, past Serena and found our left-footed defender Olivia waiting at the back door. She expertly took the ball first time and side-footed a nifty shot over the goalie’s outstretched arms and into the net. Wow. A great finish. 2-0 Wolverines.
 
The rest of the half was pretty uneventful except for Leia’s fantastic save. With just minutes remaining a Mustang midfielder launched a hopeful shot from about 40-yards out that caught Leia a bit off her line. But instead of watching the ball sail over her head and into the net, she back peddled exactly as she had been coached by our amazing coach Imad and tapped the ball over the crossbar a split second before it could cross the line. It was a world-class save to preserve our shutout. It was very exciting to see the team play so well and get a good result against a very good team.
 
One final JV game of the season comes on Wednesday for senior night. I hope everyone will come to the game to support our team in their final game and to see off our varsity seniors.

​Bellevue JV 2-1 Liberty
 
19th min Liberty goal
50 min Tara (PK)
78th min Emily (Tara)
 
A road trip to Liberty High School is never easy and Thursday night was no exception. They are always a fast, gritty and well-coached team. The stadium always seems to be ten degrees colder than any other place we play. Tack on a hard, slick field and these games are always close.
 
The start was very even throughout as both team struggled to connect passes on a this chilly night. Lots of bouncing balls, heavy passes and back and forth action. We weren’t playing poorly, we just couldn’t find the right pass or shot.
 
Liberty got the upper hand on us in the 20th minute as a cross in front of our goal took an unfortunate deflection and dropped kindly to the Patriot forward. She didn’t waste anytime and smashed it home.
 
Down a goal at halftime, we talked about stepping up intensity so we could win a few more balls and get more possession. If that happened, we felt there were some goals out there for us.
 
The second half was more of the same as two good teams battled for the ball. Things changed about midway through the half when Serena streaked toward goal only to be brought down in the penalty area by a Liberty defender. We were awarded a penalty kick and it was redemption time for Tara. If you remember from our very first game Tara lofted our only other PK of the season over the crossbar. Not this time. She expertly hit this kick and we were tied 1-1.
 
More back and forth action proceeded the goal and to most everyone it looked like we were headed to a tie game. Both teams were creating chances but it was Bellevue that was able to push one in.
 
With just minutes remaining there was quite a scramble in front of the Liberty goal. Several shots were blocked, and several clearances failed to leave the area. Tara got her foot on one shot that hit the far post but Emily was there to somehow get her body on it and into the goal. Wow. Game winning goal at the death.
 
I was proud of our team for continuing to fight throughout the game on a tough, tough night. It was nice to see hard work paying off with a nice 2-1 victory.
 
One more week and two more games to go as we host both Remond and rival Lake Washington. Our captains are in charge of our last practice on Wednesday so that is always a treat to see what they come up with. See you on the pitch.

Bellevue 0-0 Liberty

Not every painting is a Picasso. Perhaps a purist could've watched our tense and nervy game against long-time 3A Kingco rivals Liberty and saw art, but for most neutrals, our 0-0 contest was...kinda...dull? We didn't play poorly. Nor were we at our very best. To our credit, we worked hard. Our team defense was excellent. The game was two coiled cobras waiting for a blink that never came. Concentration and discipline were required for every minute of regulation and overtime as the slick and compacted Liberty turf made playing possession soccer very challenging for both teams. And instead of taking tactical risks in formation changes or player rotation, both teams settled for a cagey battle at midfield with very few chances for either side. Substitutions were few and infrequent, as both coaches opted for stability over fresh legs. Also a contributing factor to why the game didn't feature more changes is that there is a reasonable chance that we will face Liberty again in the Kingco playoffs, so showing too much too soon could be detrimental in a future contest that might earn a birth in the state playoffs. A milquetoast 0-0 tonight didn't hurt either team in our mutual pursuit of qualifying for the 3A championship game (whereas a loss would've been difficult to overcome). So stalemate. All cards held very closely to the vest. Trench warfare. Unblinking snakes. Pitchers duel. Austria vs. W. Germany (if you know, you know).   

Final stats were 6 chances for Bellevue with 2 corners, to 5 chances for Liberty with 2 corners. A parity party. 

So with two games left in our regular season, the three 3A teams in the Kingco CrownCrest division are separated by just two points (Liberty 17pts, Bellevue 16pts, Inglemoor 15pts with three points for a win, one point for a tie). Two games left for each team. If all 3A teams earn the maximum 6 points available, then Bellevue would qualify for the championship game as the #2 seed and have to play at Liberty's stadium again in two weeks. However, any blemish from any 3A team in the closing stretch could dramatically rearrange the playoff race. Nobody has anything clinched, and nobody is out of it. Yet.  

We can only take care of what we have in front of us: game vs Redmond on Tuesday, and Lake Washington on Thursday (senior night). 6 points will get us into the championship game on Saturday, Nov 2nd, anything less than that will require help from others.

We still control our destiny. 

We'll bring our cubist sensibilities, paintbrushes, and more free-spirited ambition. Masterpieces only. 

See you next week.  

Peter 

ps. if you care about these types of things...despite our draw with Liberty, Bellevue girls soccer earned the #1 RPI ranking for the first time this season after last night's game. However, as I will repeatedly inform the team on Monday, a #1 ranking in the regular season is nice, but ultimately useless. We can't trade it in for more wins. However, finishing the season, and Kingco playoffs, with a high RPI ranking IS useful. So let's check back in with the RPI algorithm in two weeks time and see what we have earned then. 

#5 Bellevue 4-1 #2 Inglemoor
​
32nd min Maddy (Nora)
33rd min Inglemoor goal
39th min Kenny (Mia)
63rd min Kaitlyn (Saleen) header from corner
72nd min Mia (Nora)

Underdogs. 

Rocky Balboa. 2015-16 Leicester City. David. Hickory High School. Kerri Strug. Jess in Bend it like Beckham...

...Bellevue Girls Soccer?

I've had the week of October 14th circled on my calendar ever since our Kingco regular season schedule was released. This week contained the only two regular-season games against teams from our classification (3A Inglemoor & Liberty), and in our convoluted and overly complicated league reorganization, these two games would have the biggest impact on our post-season ambitions. I knew that Liberty would be a strong side again this year, so it was no surprise that the Patriots entered this week as the #3 RPI team in the state. Inglemoor was an unknown having dropped down from 4A to 3A this season, and therefore, we have never played the Vikings during my tenure. But they are having an excellent season and entered this week as the #2 ranked RPI team in the state. Bellevue was ranked #5. (have I mentioned before that we play in the most competitive league in the state?)

Hence, underdogs.

It's a new role for us. And I think I like it. 

Inglemoor is an excellent team. They are very organized. Good in the air. Tough in the tackle. Are quick and speedy on the wings, have one of the more dynamic center midfielders in our league, and an athletic and composed goalkeeper. It's a balanced team. 

But so are we.  

The game took a while to find any rhythm, as both teams stayed compact and the ball frequently found its way over the sideline for a seemingly endless amount of throw-ins. But as the game progressed, we began to control possession and tempo and the chances followed. The deadlock was broken in the 32nd minute, as Nora won a challenge on the left wing, the ball squirted to Maddy at the top of the box, and our midfielder opened her 2024 account with shot that found the far right post and bounced gloriously into the back of the net. 1-0 Bellevue. But the rejoicing was short, as less than a minute later we conceded the tying goal as Inglemoor's #10 sent a long ball over our defense to the Vikings right winger who squeezed her shot in at the near post  1-1 deadlock and the momentum tilted towards the visitors. But then, with almost the last kick of the first half, Mia slid a simple (my favorite type of pass) square ball to Kendall at the top of the box, and our senior midfielder blasted the ball into the upper left corner. 2-1 Bellevue. Momentum re-seized.

We maintained control of possession in the second half, muting Inglemoor's desire to counter-attack and finally added to our lead in the 63rd minute as Kaitlyn rose highest from a Saleen corner, and headed the ball (downwards!!!!) powerfully into the back of the net. 3-1 Bellevue. Chasing the game, Inglemoor shifted their formation to add more attackers, which is logical, but risky. We caught them in a counter-attack in the 72nd minute as Saleen released Nora alone on the Inglemoor goal, and our junior deked the onrushing keeper, slipping the ball to an onrushing Mia who hammered the ball into an open net. Textbook counter-attack. 4-1 Bellevue. Final score.

It was an excellent overall team performance. Still a bit scruffy at the edges and lots of little tactical and technical things to clean up, but overall our trendline is positive as we get closer to the end of our season.  

So now we turn our attention to Liberty on Thursday, a respected and well-run program, and one of our longest and most competitive Kingco rivals. Based on the ranking entering this week, we'll still be playing the role of underdogs. And more importantly, Liberty is a single point ahead of us in the Kingco 3A standings with three games left to play. The victorious team on Thursday will gain an advantage in the race to earn a spot in the 3A Kingco championship game.  

Jimmy Chitwood at the buzzer. 

See you there. 

Bellevue JV 5-1 Ingelmoor
 
6th min Elina (Talia)
20th min Talia (Tara)
32th min Emily (Devin)
38thh min Charlotte (Serena)
62nd min Ingelmoor goal
68th min Emily (Addie N)
 
dé·​jà vu ˌdā-ˌzhä-ˈvü -ˈvᵫ 1 a : the illusion of remembering scenes and events when experienced for the first time b : a feeling that one has seen or heard something before
 
Tuesday night’s JV contest with the Ingelmoor Vikings was almost a carbon copy of last Thursday’s game against North Creek. Spooky almost.
 
The game started slowly as the girls looked rushed and panicky on the ball. As we did last week, we lacked any confidence on the ball. When that happens, we tend to pass the ball just to pass it. Get rid of it and make it someone else’s problem. Everything we practice NOT to do.
 
Following a familiar pattern, it took a nice goal to turn things around for us thanks to some great communication from Elina. When I say ‘great’, I mean loud.
 
In the 7th minute of action, Talia took a long throw from Olivia, expertly trapped it off her chest and fed Elina a perfect pass at the top of the penalty area. How did Talia know Elina was wide open? I’m pretty sure everyone in attendance knew E wanted the ball as she screamed bloody murder for the ball. A rare occasion on this very, very soft-spoken team.  All alone in front of the goal, E put her head down and smashed home our first goal of the game. A great finish.
 
And we were off. Just like last week, the goal calmed our nerves and we began to play Bellevue soccer. The passes connected, the talk picked up and there were smiles along with some hard work. Talia and Tara hooked up for our second goal. Tara feed our speedy forward with a nifty pass all the way from midfield and Talia raced toward goal. Her first attempt was saved by the Viking goalkeeper but the rebound came directly back to her and she popped it into the net. Another great pass and an equally nice finish.
 
Our third goal was a thing of beauty. We have struggled with corner kicks this season both offensively and defensively. Our reluctance to use our heads is well documented in my recaps so corner kicks are one of our bugaboos. Not last night. Devin lofted a great kick to the back post where Emily timed her run perfectly and rippled the net with a great side-footed volley. Very tough to execute and well done.
Charlotte capped our first-half scoring on a 40-yard run and a nice left-foot finish after an assist from Serena.
 
Halftime was coach nitpicking about cleaner possession and staying focused as we gave up a sloppy goal before the whistle. But not a lot of complaining. It was a good half of soccer.
 
From there the second half was not necessarily about scoring more goals but about getting our work in and fine tuning our possession game. Addie N did find a streaking Emily for our final goal of the night. She feed Emily from midfield (our third of the game) and the race was on. A nice, clean one-on-one finish past the keeper capped a great two-goal night for Emily. Try as she might, she ran out of gas a bit towards the end of the game and couldn’t quite complete the hat trick. A great game however.
 
Thursday brings our last road trip of the year as we visit the always-tough Liberty Patriots. We can expect a battle. Only three games to go. Hope to see everyone at the game. Go Wolverines!

Bellevue 4-1 North Creek

12th min Saleen (Nora)
15th min Mia (Saleen)
32nd min North Creek goal
62nd min Saleen (unassisted)
70th min Saleen (Mia)

In almost every way, our game against North Creek was our best performance of the season. We dominated possession, created over 30 shots, and played fantastic defense. But in an important lesson about the fragility of awesome, we were one Sofia point-blank save away from the game being tied in the 55th minute at 2-2. But after the big Sofia save, we added two more goals, and the 4-1 final scoreline probably flattered the visitors. We were that good. Final stats: 31 shots/4 corners for Bellevue, 4 shots / 1 corner for North Creek. 

We opened the scoring in the 12th minute, as Nora slipped a simple entry pass to Saleen at striker, and our sophomore practitioner of wizard-filth dribbling, turned her defender, hypnotized her into dangling a leg on a phantom tackle, and harry-pottered the ball into the upper right corner. Magical goal. 1-0 Bellevue. Three minutes later we doubled the lead. Again, Saleen sawed her defender in half and blasted a shot that the Jaguar keeper could only parry to the side where Mia was waiting to knock in the rebound. And we were flying. It seemed just a matter of time before we added more goals, but then the humility of soccer brought us back to ground-level. With their first foray into our defensive third in the 32nd minute, North Creek's dangerous #11 got the ball, beat our defense with pace, and took a shot that seemed destined for the far corner. Becca made a strong save to her right, but the rebound fell kindly for the trailing striker who deflected the ball into the lower corner. 2-1 and suddenly the Jaguars had some belief. 

My halftime talk was about feelings (mostly frustration and irrational anger at allowing a late goal) and emotionless analysis (we were objectively awesome for 98% of the first half). Analysis won the day and after a few adjustments, we continued our excellent play in the 2nd half. in the 62nd minute, we got the goal that seemed destined to be, as Saleen intercepted a loose back pass and broke 1v1 on the North Creek keeper. No contest. 3-1 Bellevue. Eight minutes later Saleen completed her first Bellevue hat-trick. Lola anticipated a North Creek pass, intercepted the ball, slipped an easy pass to Mia's feet just outside the box, and Mia slipped an equally tricky through-ball that released Saleen alone against the keeper. We know how that ends. 4-1 Bellevue. Final score.

At the beginning of the week, we needed help from others to be in a position to qualify for the Kingco 3A championship game (play-in game to the State tournament). The top two 3A teams in our league qualify for the championship game and 3A Liberty and Ingelmoor were both 6 points ahead of us in the standings on Monday. We were a distant third. By Friday, Ingelmoor's lead shrunk to 3 points, and Liberty's lead is now a single point. (3pts for a win, 1 pt for a tie). So yes, we are still 3rd, but guess who we get to play next week: Inglemoor and Liberty. Our destiny is in our control. With two wins next week we will leapfrog our two 3A rivals and be in pole position going into the final week of the season. It won't be easy. Inglemoor is the #3 RPI ranked team in the state, and Liberty is #4. Bellevue is #6. 

We go into next week as underdogs. Very very hungry underdogs. 

Bring on the Vikings on Tuesday at home and bring on the Patriots at their stadium on Thursday. It's going to be an important week in our season. Passion, focus, and wizard filth will be required. 

Bellevue JV 6-0 North Creek
 
16th min Serena (Tara)
24th min Addie N
30th min Talia (Tara)
34th min Moriah (Alexis)
38th min Addie N (Emily)
68th min Kendall (Serena)
 
Confidence in sports is a funny thing. It appears in many different ways. There is a swagger before a game and an attitude, ‘we’re going to win this game’. There is confidence within a game where a team dictates the action and takes it to the other team because they know they are the better squad. Then there is confidence that is absent at the outset of a game but grows when things start to go your way. And finally, confidence pops up out of nowhere like a light bulb coming on.
 
The latter is exactly what happened Thursday night as the North Creek Jaguars visited Memorial Field for a KingCo JV soccer game.
 
The Bellevue girls’ first 15 minutes last night was not our best soccer. All our pregame talk was about coming out with energy, focusing on our technical skill and creating dangerous chances. Instead, we were forcing the action, couldn’t possess the ball and looked out of sorts. Ugh.
 
Then it all changed in a blink of an eye. A throw from the NC goalkeeper skipped off the turf at midfield and bounced off Tara’s shinguards and ping-ponged off several NC players. The final ricochet found Serena, who didn’t hesitate, grabbed the ball and headed toward goal. She juked a defender to get the ball on her preferred left foot and slid a shot into the far post to open the scoring. Boom! We had our first lead in a game since Sept 20 against Eastlake.
 
And just like that, a new Bellevue team appeared on the field. It was as if I substituted all 11 girls for new players. Suddenly there was confidence overflowing the pitch. We started to connect passes, the communication began and we took over the game. That one goal changed everything. Strange but I wasn’t complaining.
 
The flood gates opened up just seven minutes after that first goal. Addie N stripped the ball from a Jaguar defender who was streaking up field after a short goalkick. She expertly poked it away, created a bit of space and hit an absolute rocket from 20 yards out. A diving NC goalkeeper had no chance. Talie got in on the action next. A nice little one-two combination between Addie N and Tara opened up some field for our crafty midfielder to feed a wide-open Talia at the top of the penalty box. A nifty turn and a low, hard shot found the net.
 
From there Moriah and Addie N both added to our score tally with two terrific goals and we coasted into halftime with a comfortable lead. There wasn’t much to talk about at the break other than to compliment the team on the turnaround and applaud some terrific goals. We knew goals weren’t important from here on out, so we wanted to build more confidence on the ball and practicing maintaining possession. The second half was more good soccer as we shuffled players around, played people in unfamiliar positions and moved freely about the field. It was fun.
 
Then it happened.
 
We’ve been trying all season to find opportunities to reward Kendall, our fearless junior leader, a chance at a goal. We had come up short earlier in the season but last night felt like the perfect chance. I slotted her at striker midway through the half and the team new the task. After a couple of close calls that fell tantalizingly close, Serena slipped a splendid through ball between two defenders to send Kendall toward goal. One of just two juniors (healthy) in our entire program, Kendall knew what to do. She out-raced the helpless Jaguar players and lashed a bullet of a shot the NC keeper could only barely get a hand on. The ball rippled the net and the celebration was on. A great goal and well deserved.
 
I told the girls I would cancel Friday practiced if they won the game. Apparently, they are sick of me and really didn’t want to practice. A great win all around.
 
More tough games next week as we tangle with the other two 3A teams in our league. We host Inglemoor on Tuesday and travel to Liberty on Thursday. I hope to see everyone out there supporting the team. Have a great weekend. Go Wolverines!

Bellevue 2-0 Bothell
​
50th min Saleen (Mia)
74th min Saleen (Mia)

One down. Five more to go.

During my sophomore year in college, at mid-season my team was the #1 ranked NCAA Division 1 team in the country. We had won our first ten games. Then we took a bad loss 0-3 where everything that could go wrong did. The game after our loss, we were held to an ugly tie by Stanford 1-1. We were wobbling, and our #1 mojo was shaken and dreams of another national championship got less realistic and more dreamlike. In our next game, we gutted our way back into the win column with a victory over USMNT hall of famer Kasey Keller and the University of Portland (a very difficult team to beat at that time). it was also an ugly game, our passes weren't as crisp as they were during our 10-game winning streak to start the season. Our flow wasn't flowing. But we finally broke the jinx and beat Kasey and the Pilots 2-1. And once the downward slide was reversed, we won another 9 games to finish the season.  

Glory days reminiscing by the coach? Absolutely. But the lesson is this: momentum matters. In both directions. And sometimes to break a downward trend, what is required is more of a "gut check" than glittering soccer. Collective will power and mental toughness can turn a season.   

Our gut check came against Bothell at Pop Keeney Stadium. It wasn't pretty. In fact, our first 40 minutes might have been our worst soccer of the season (precipitated by the unfortunate (and scary) injuries to two of our players in the first five minutes of the game (both were OK)). But we turned the game around in the second half, as Saleen scored two goals in the 50th and 74th minutes (both assisted by Mia, with a hockey assist to Kasia on the first) to get our team back to winning ways. It is important to note that although Saleen was her usual 80 minute highlight reel of dribbling talent, her two goals were due to hard work and diligently crashing the box. Sometimes you nutmeg your defender and smash a shot into the upper vee, and other times you need to be in the right place, at the right time, with hustle and concentration. Saleen gave us both in a much-needed 2-0 victory. 

The stats also reflect the balance of the game. In the first half, we had 5 chances and 2 corners to 5 Bothell shots and 3 corners. Even. But in the 2nd half we created 17 shots while holding Bothell without a single shot on goal. It was a tale of two halves and we certainly finished the game in a much better place than where we started.    

We'll see if the positive trend continues tomorrow night against North Creek, another 4A school above us in the league table. There are no "gimmie" games this season. Any loss of concentration will cost us. I've made this point before, but Bellevue Girls Soccer currently has the highest strength of schedule rating in our RPI calculation in the entire state. Nobody has played as challenging of schedule as our Wolverines.

We are battle-tested. We have played the best, and now our best is ahead of us. 

Five more games left in our regular season.  

See you Thursday. Mojo and momentum. 

Bellevue JV 1- 1 Bothell
 
6th min Bothell goal
26th Talia
 
A split second
 
That is all it takes to change a soccer match. We know the game of soccer can be an 80-minute slog of sprinting, defending and shooting. But it only takes a blink of the eye to change a game for better or worse. It can be a moment of brilliance or a second of lost focus. We saw it all Tuesday night as the Bellevue girl’s JV team traveled to Bothell High School.
 
The game was fairly even throughout as both teams battled in the midfield for lose balls and we saw moments of possession. However, in just the sixth minute, one of those unfortunate moments went the wrong way and cost us a goal. A mis-hit goal kick failed to clear the first line of defense and a Cougar forward pounced on the errant clearance. With one touch, she returned the ball to the direction it came and into the back of the net. An unfortunate turn of events.
 
Much credit goes to the Wolverines as they quickly brushed off the mistake and started to take the game to Bothell. Some of the fight we saw in the second half of our last game was there as we began to create dangerous chances. But we just couldn’t quite get those shots off as the Cougars pressured us every time we entered the penalty area. An extra touch or dribble cost us several opportunities for a good hard shot.
 
We continued to put pressure on the Bothell defense throughout the half and we were finally rewarded in the 26th minute. This time it was our opponents who failed to clear a ball out of the front of their goal. Talia was the first to a lose ball close to the goalmouth and she pounced.  She stole the ball, spun around the goalie and deposited it in the net. Finally.
 
We celebrated the goal and congratulated Talia on her tenacity. But we knew we had more work to do.
 
We got to halftime tied at 1-1 but it felt like we had the upper hand. We agreed there were open spaces for us to exploit and we needed to take advantage of it. Our first touches continue to be a problem and we needed to clean up that aspect of our play.
 
Despite more possession and periods of ball control a second goal never materialized in the second half. Both teams traded dangerous chances and goalies made brave saves. When the final whistle blew and we walked off with a tie, it was a moral victory. We came from behind, didn’t turn on each other and improved throughout the match. All positives to be taken from this game.
 
North Creek visits Bellevue HS on Thursday for Fan Appreciation Night. Please join us.​

Bellevue 0-3 Mount. Si
18th min 0-1 Mount. Si
28th min 0-2 Mount. Si
44th min Mt. Si PK saved
79th min 0-3 Mount Si

"Hope is the thing with feathers / that perches in the soul / and sings the tune without words / and never stops - at all." --Emily Dickinson


Our tour of Kingco 4A stadiums continued on Thursday evening as we visited Mount Si's home field for the first time. Unusually, the entire stadium has been built on stilts (as was the high school) due to the frequent flooding from the adjacent Snoqualmie River. It made for quirky and firm surface. But the turf had nothing to do with the final result as we succumbed to the league-leading Wildcats 0-3. Tough week of results for our team.  

The scoreline wasn't very flattering, but our overall play was promising. It seems odd to declare after a heavy defeat: but we looked good. Confident on the ball. Unlike our game against Woodinville, we controlled possession throughout, outshot the Wildcats, and were a bit unlucky (and sloppy) in the goals we conceded. But this is simply a part of our sport, you don't get points for possession or pretty play; however, I firmly believe that this team is progressing nicely, and if we continue to improve our poise and technicality, the results (and goals), will follow. Incidentally, a huge contributor to Mount Si's league-leading start to the season is the exceptional play of their goalkeeper. She is surely among the best we will face all season and was a big reason we failed to leave Mount Si with a few goals scored in our favor.   

I'm not going to catalog the goals scored against us other than to note that we conceded in the 18th, 28th, and 79th minutes. All goals included breakdowns that we simply can't afford this late in our season. Our mental focus needs to be better. (on the brighter side of the ledger, Sofia came off the bench in the 2nd half to play goalkeeper and saved a PK in the 44th minute. well done Sofia).   

Now we exit the 4A Kingco gauntlet that has included the defending state champ (Skyline), 2nd place finalist (Woodinville), 3rd place finisher (Issaquah), and quarterfinalists (Mount Si and Eastlake). Not surprisingly, our program has the toughest strength of schedule in the state in our RPI calculation. Although our injury list has never been longer with two more players going down against Woodinville, we are expecting good news this week as players are returning from long-term injuries which will give much-needed flexibility from our bench. 

This week we enter the back half of our Kingco season and get to play some more new 4A opponents (Bothell, North Creek, Redmond, and newly 3A Inglemoor), and a few old friends too (Liberty & LW). It won't be easy by any means (Liberty and Inglemoor are ranked #1 and #2 in the current RPI), but with a bit more substitution flexibility, and our overall play beginning to find more rythym going forward, I'm eager for the next few weeks to prove ourselves. This is the pointy end of the season and it's time to perform to our potential. And our potential has a very high ceiling.    

I'm hopeful. And we'll never stop - at all. 

ps. This Sunday we host our Bellevue United girls soccer clinic. It's an annual event that is our way to give-back to the grassroots part of our game. Our girls will be coaching young girls between the ages of 5-11 with the focus on fun and teaching a few important skills to the next wave of Bellevue soccer participants. Many of the players in our program attended the clinic when they were young, and we are looking forward to continuing the tradition.

Bellevue JV 0- 6 Mt Si
As I watched a bit of film of the Mt Si JV soccer team prior to our road game Thursday night, I saw a big, physical team capable of scoring goals in bunches. However, I didn’t see a team we couldn’t beat. Maybe I’m an optimist, but I knew what our team is capable of. If we could get back to basics, ball control, possession, and grit, we could give one of the league’s best, a good game.

The game started well for the Bellevue girls, and we held up well under the frantic conditions. There were lots battles for bouncing balls and it felt, from the sidelines, like an even affair. Unfortunately, it only lasted 11 minutes. That is when things started to turn in Mt. Si’s favor. They started to win the ever-so-important 50/50 balls, and they started to impose their physicality. A loose ball fell kindly to a Mt. Si midfielder who ripped a 30-yard rocket Leia could only watch ripple the net. It was a bit deflating as I thought we were in this game.

However, the last 20 minutes of first half turned against us. Our bugaboos reared their ugly heads and some failed clearances, weak tackles and inability/reluctance to head the ball gave the upper hand to our opponents. We let the Wildcats dictate the action and push us off the ball. We backed down a bit and lost a lot of the ball.

We found ourselves down 2-0 at halftime which we felt was not an insurmountable lead. We talked about what it would take to get back in the game and we all decided (mostly me) it would take more fight. When I played soccer, and I still do, I never liked getting pushed off the ball. I got mad. I fought back. When one team is overly aggressive, you must match it. Period. If you don’t, things tend to go in the wrong direction. I implored the girls to use the second half to match Mt St’s intensity and grit and push back a little. I never want my teams to play dirty, even when the other team stoops to that level. I just want my teams to have an edge to them. Never back down and fight hard, if not harder, then the other team. See where that takes us.

In the second half, Charlotte, one of our (many) silent assassins came out strong, dug out a couple balls from scrums and knocked some people off the ball. Exactly what we needed. The other players took notice and we began to battle. We turned our intensity up a notch.

In my last recap I talked about improvement. The second half was an improvement. Although we gave up more goals, I thought we had a bit more edge to us which has been a long time coming. We still have areas of concern: work rate and ball control at the top of the list. Technical skill is so important in this sport and when players ask how they can improve, that is number one. You can’t coach speed and tenacity, but you can always work on trapping, passing, shooting and ball control. All things I plan to emphasize the second half of the season. Hopefully, we can get healthy as the flu and cramping have run rampant through this team.

​There are no easy games remaining for this team. Only room for improvement. If we continue to fight and elevate our technical skills, we can make this a successful campaign. Let’s all dig in. On the road again Tuesday for a late start (7 pm) at Bothell. See you on the pitch.
 
******* One side note: please, please volunteer to help out when Stacy (our team manager) asks. It takes a team (literally) to get through the season. Please don’t just be a passenger in this journey. Your commitment is needed. I fully understand everyone has busy lives, but just getting your daughter on the field is only half the battle. Please don’t let one or two families do all the heavy lifting. Your help is needed. Thank you.

Bellevue JV 2-3 Woodinville

7th min Woodinville  goal
32nd  min Addie W (Addie N)
38th min Woodineville goal
43rdh min  Emilie (Addie N)
54th min Woodinville goall
 
Heading into the 2024 JV soccer season, we knew it was going to be a challenge. As we have talked about extensively, KingCo shuffled the entire league and based the divisions on a 3-year pedigree and not school classification. So that meant most of our games would be against bigger 4A schools with robust programs. Throw on top of that a very young JV team this year and that makes for a demanding season.
 
So how do we stay motivated when results don’t go our way, and we find ourselves on the wrong end of some lopsided scores?
 
Improvement
 
How can we as a team and each individual player, improve game to game? That is the challenge I want our girls to tackle. If we can get better each game and feel like we gave our best effort, the sting of defeat doesn’t hurt quite as much. Afterall, the goal for each of the players (I hope) is to eventually land a roster spot on the varsity team. In order to make that happen each player has to take it upon themselves to work hard in practice and improve their skills and help the team succeed. That is our mission.
 
Heading into Tuesday night’s home game against Woodinville we knew it was going to be a battle once again. But I was curious to see how the team would bounce back from our deflating loss last week to Issaquah.
 
The team came out with good energy and the first few minutes we quite even. We were connecting passes, being patient on the ball and winning tackles. It was unfortunate in just the 7th minute that an unlucky clearance gifted the Woodinville winger open space down the wing to send a low cross to the far post. Her teammate outraced us to the ball and bounced her shot off the crossbar for the first goal of the game.
 
But the team didn’t drop their heads and sulk about going behind, they instead upped their intensity and really started playing well. As Peter said at halftime, it was the best we’ve played since the first couple games of the year.
 
It paid off in the 32nd min with a very nice team goal. Aleah got it started when she took a ball from our goalkeeper Leia and promptly fell to the ground. Instead of panicking, she calmly, while on her knees, wrestled the ball away from the Falcon’s striker and flicked the ball to Tara. Tara then saw the Addie connection ready to pounce and slipped a ball to Addie Nemoto some sixty yards from goal. Addie saw her namesake Addie Wingard start her run toward goal and hit her with a nifty through-ball. AW did the rest. She beat two defenders with a skilled cut back and slipped a hard shot past the keeper. Boom! 1-1.
 
Momentum was on our side and we steamed toward halftime. Then it wasn’t.
 
Woodinville used five quick passes to go the length of the field where another unlucky clearance bounced Woodinville’s way. A layback pass and a looping shot found the back of the net just as time expired in the half.
 
At halftime we talked about this being one of our better efforts and how it was ours to win. Emilie took that discussion to heart just three minutes into the second half. It began when AN made a great run down the right flank, spun her defender and sent a pass to a streaking Talia in the penalty area. Talia couldn’t quite corral the pass and a Woodinville defender gathered it up and headed up field. Luckily for us her first touch got a little out of reach and Tara was there to challenge for it. Her deflection bounced kindly to Emilie. She took one touch and hit a rocket from 25 yards out and rippled the net for our second goal. A great shot. 2-2
 
As the half wore on and with the scored tied, both teams began to tire and spaces began to open up. Usually, a good sign for us to really dictate the game by connecting passes and maintaining possession. But Woodinville fought us hard for each ball and it paid off for them in the 54th minute. A failed Bellevue clearance once again was our downfall. It fell to the feet of a Falcon midfielder who was able to get a blistering shot off to the far post that just eluded our diving goalkeeper.
 
As much as we tried we just couldn’t quite find that one moment of brilliance to get an equalizer and the Falcons came away with the win at the final whistle.
 
It was a great effort from the team. Everyone contributed in this game and a big shout out to our three JVC players who came out despite illnesses and put in some good minutes. It was great to see the team improvement from our last game which is what we wanted to see from everyone.
 
We’ll try not to get distracted by the scenery when we travel to Mt. Si on Thursday for our next match. The gauntlet continues. See you on the pitch.

Bellevue 0-3 Woodinville
39th min 0-1
47th min 0-2
49th min 0-3

Woodinville is an excellent soccer team. The best I've seen on video during game preparation, and the best I've now seen from the sidelines. They are well-coached, organized, technical in midfield, athletic, and quick in the wide channels. So all credit to Woodinville, they beat us soundly. We take responsibility for the result and move on to the next challenge.    

Despite the lopsided scoreline, our team defense will always give us a chance. Yes, Woodinville had an advantage in possession and field position, but they didn't have many chances before their opening goal just before halftime. We blocked shots, we covered for each other, we won our 1v1 duels, and we were compact defensively. In the final calculation, Woodinville had 9 shots and 4 corners, and we created 7 shots and 6 corners. Instead, the game hinged on a few key moments that didn't go our way.   

Like our Skyline game a week ago, the dam broke in an unfortunate ten-minute span. It started in the last minute of the first half (tough time to concede), when Woodinville scored their opening goal: a well-taken free kick hit to the back-post where the Falcon's excellent center-back rose highest and headed the ball back across the goal for her teammate to head home from 1 yard away. In watching the post-game video, there isn't much to address but humbly congratulate Woodinville on a well-executed free-kick. The delivery was inch-perfect. Both Woodinville players were marked and well-challenged. The conclusion: good teams will score good goals. And this was a good goal. It's still frustrating to concede on the stroke of halftime, but not a mortal wound.  

Our halftime talk was positive. We knew what we had to do, and again, we hadn't allowed many actual chances, and the offensive spaces in midfield were beginning to open up as the game progressed as we expected from scouting. We started the second half playing in the Woodinville half of the field, controlling tempo and possession. It was a bright start. But then...we lost a bit of concentration on a Woodinville counter-attack and conceded a very soft goal. Then three minutes later we did it again. And the tone of the game fundamentally changed, as we found ourselves 0-3 down and facing a Woodinville defense that wasn't interested in a reciprocal gift exchange. To our credit, we never quit, nor hung our heads. But the die was cast and the game ended 0-3 Woodinville. 

Our next opportunity is on Thursday away at Mt. Si. The Wildcats are coming off a win against Eastlake and will be eager to continue their recent momentum. We will be ready for the challenge. 

Bellevue 1-0 Issaquah
32nd min Morgan (Lola)

Talking, or writing, about rainy weather is boring. Especially in the PNW. But we all do it. It's a comfort conversation that is universally experienced. And safe. Uncotroversial and uncontrollable.   

All day the forecast was for rain beginning at 10pm, well past our 7:30 kick-off with 4A powerhouse and 2023 3rd place semi-finalist Issaquah, but an hour before kick-off the forecast shifted and suddenly we faced a 100% prediction of rain from 7:30-9:30pm. Perfectly aligned with game time.  

It used to be that you could find pithy cliched posters in the hallways of any HR department with sayings like "Hang in there" overlayed across a cute kitten dangling from a tree limb, now such sentiments are the stuff of Instagram memes and tik tok musings. A coaching favorite is "control the controllables:" don't expend any energy on stuff you can't control, and focus on what you can do to make any situation better. For Thursday night in Issaquah, "controlling the controllables" meant ignoring Issaquah's historic girls soccer reputation, and focusing on what we could control, like effort, organization, patience, and poise. So what if it was steadily raining during the entire duration of our game, or that our "injured reserve" section of our bench is significantly larger than the healthy section, we can't control that. And talking about weather, and injuries, is boring. 

And so we controlled the controllables. From the opening whistle to the final whistle, our team worked hard for each other. We pressed in strategic areas, we won the tackles and headers we needed to win, and when we got our chances in front of the Issaquah goal, we converted one of them to give our team a well-deserved, but gritty, 1-0 victory. The goal was scored in the 32nd minute as Lola did an excellent job anticipating an Issaquah counter-attack and pounced on a pass intended for their left winger. I want players who are "front-foot" defenders, anticipating entry passes and eager to go forward rather than "back-foot" defenders who are reactionary, and Lola is a "front-foot" player. She intercepted the wayward pass and raced into the Issaquah box, sending a tantalizing cross into the middle that Morgan and the Issaquah keeper met simultaneously. The ball jarred loose and our senior super-sub poked the ball home. Jubilation and celebration. 1-0 Bellevue.  

Soccer can be beautiful. A free-flowing performance art piece of linked passes, coordinated movement, and technical execution. it can also be gritty, determined, and chaotic, like stubbornly challenging for a 50/50 cross and pouncing on scraps in the box. We prefer the former, but will gladly accept the latter. So Morgan and Lola deserve recognition for creating our goal, but winning took everyone on the field. I could write paragraphs on each contribution (but I won't), but I would like to highlight the two JV players who volunteered to stay for an extra two hours, in the rain (ahem), to give our team some substitution-flexibility. With only a few healthy substitutes and facing a physical Issaquah team, coach John and I asked Elina and Tara to join the varsity having already played a half in the JV match (every player can appear in two halves of soccer gametime in a single day, so we saved 40 minutes of potential play for each player for the varsity contest). It was an insurance policy just in case we suffered any more injury setbacks. So although they didn't get to help us on the field on Thursday, their contribution was another one of the "controllables" that help the team. No, we can't control injuries, but we can plan appropriately to mitigate the impact in case they happen. Huge thank you to Elina and Tara for being willing, and ready, to help us out.  

We are now 5 weeks into our season, and after two challenging games against Skyline and Issauqah, our girls have earned a Friday rest. No practice. We'll return to action next week with another tough slate of games against 2023 4A State finalist Woodinville at home on Tuesday, and current Kingco league leader Mt. Si away on Thursday. 

We have four weeks left in our regular season. Yes, just four weeks (then hopefully another four weeks of post-season). The first RPI calculation of the season was published this week, and Bellevue is #7 in the 3A rankings. This is an entertaining list, but meaningless at the mid-point of the season. There is so much soccer left to be played. And although a good RPI ranking is helpful when the state tournament is seeded, I'll remind everyone that the 3A defending champion Roosevelt was listed as the #22 RPI team at the end of last season, but it's their name etched into the state championship trophy. In the end, rankings don't matter, results do.

See you next week. 

Enjoy a restful weekend...and the autumn weather.

Bellevue 0-3 Skyline
1st min Skyline goal
9th min Skyline goal
16th min Skyline goal

Our first road game of the regular season matched us with the back-to-back defending 4A state champions Skyline. During pre-game our team energy was positive, our warm-up was sharp, and we were eager to challenge the Spartans on their home turf. But...     

...it didn't start well. 

Skyline scored on their first three shots, all in the first 16 minutes, to stake themselves a comfortable 3-0 lead that they maintained until the final whistle. 3-0 final score. Skyline's opening goal, in the first minute, was route one soccer, as a long arching clearance was flicked onwards by their midfielder to the Spartan's quick #13 who took a single touch with a burst of speed before smashing the ball into the upper near post corner. It was an outstanding finish. And sometimes you need to tip your hat to good individual soccer (I just wish it hadn't happened in the opening minute...). 

But during the next two goals, my hat remained on my head, untipped. I intend no disrespect to the Skyline goal-scorers, they finished well, but both goals were set up by some uncharacteristically sloppy play by our team as we either gave the ball away too cheaply, were too slow to recover defensively, or missed a chance to clear the danger before it became critical. Individual and collective mistakes will happen in a free-flowing, physical, and quick game against quality opponents like Skyline. That's ok. But what we do after mistakes is the most important: we must take responsibility for any errors, learn something from the experience, don't dwell on them for long, and aspire to be better the next time we are in a similar situation. Heads shouldn't drop, instead, jaws should clench and eyes lock-in with renewed determination and competitiveness eager for the next opportunity to prove ourselves. Smooth seas don't make a good captain.  

Although we got better as the game progressed, we struggled with the Skyline counter-press in our defensive third, had difficulty managing the Spartans' direct style of play, and were never able to find a consistent rhythm on offense. Our best chance came early in the second half when Kendall launched a beautiful shot that hit the crossbar with force, bouncing back toward the PK spot where Mia was put off-balance by a trailing Skyline defender and narrowly steered the rebound past the right post. The stats weren't as overwhelming as the game felt and the scoreboard reflected: 8/4 shots/corners for Bellevue, 11/6 for Skyline. But Skyline were ruthless in converting their early chances, and cruised after earning themselves an early advantage. 

So we regroup and go again on Thursday on the road at Issaquah. 7:30 kick-off.  

As always, thank you to the supporters who joined us on the plateau last night.

​Bellevue JV 0-4 Skyline
 
10th min Skyline goal
12th min Skyline goal
14th min Skyline goal
45th min Skyline goal
 
The Bellevue JV girl’s soccer team hit the road for the first time on Tuesday night, debuting their white uniforms. Road games are always tough, especially the first of the season. Routines are different, the field is different, angles are different. It’s all new. Toss in a tough team and a hot turf and it didn’t add up well for our girls.
 
Skyline has about 500 more students then BHS and celebrates a very robust girl’s soccer program. They are strong, deep and fast. A roadmap for success. It was a tough task for Bellevue on this night.
 
The game started fast and furious and we struggled to keep pace. While Skyline was linking passes and moving freely, we had difficulty keeping up and we didn’t see much of the ball. As we have all season so far, we continued to see our technical ability drop when the game gets fast. We lose our poise on the ball and give it away far too easily. When our technical skills let us down, it makes it difficult to string passes together and get into a flow. I know I sound repetitive, but it is our bugaboo.
 
With teams that press hard, as Skyline did, our time with the ball is limited and chances were scare. Turnovers and slack positioning cost us three goals in the first half. A couple of injuries didn’t help us either.
 
At halftime we talked about how we could combat Skyline’s press and get more of the ball. We agreed we needed to clean up our control, step up our intensity and continue to fight. We knew it was going to be a challenge coming into this game but we just couldn’t get out-worked. We decided to put the first half behind us and go and win the second half.
 
We lost Serena to a head injury and Addie W’s repaired knee began to act up so the bench was thin. Everyone had to buckle down and do their job. Any relief would only come with the final whistle. Despite giving up another goal, the second half was much better for the Wolverines. There were glimpses of possession and ball control but just not enough to get a goal. Talia gave us a glimmer of hope but was only able to hit the post on a nice breakaway and the follow up was just wide. Oh so close.
 
There were exhausted faces and weary legs at the end of a tough fight. Kudos to Skyline, they are a great team. But cheers to our girls for continuing to fight under tough conditions. We never gave up and that means a lot. I know we can get better, and we will. We will take our lessons learned from this game into our matchup with Issaquah on Thursday. Another road game. Another tough battle. Chins up. Onward we push. See you on the pitch.

Bellevue 1-0 Eastlake

4th min Nora (Maddy & Mia)

In the timeless battle between Wolves and Wolverines, our girls displayed just enough feral ferociousness to earn our first-ever win in the newly formed Kingco CrownCrest division. 

(Hyperbole is fun. Perhaps less so when describing more serious topics like pharma ads, fishing trips, job interviews, and politics, but I digress...).   

In reality, our first-ever regular season game against Eastlake wasn't ferociously feral, but a fair, competitive, and good-natured match between two determined teams. Yes, there were flashes of tough physicality, hard tackling, and stout defending, but that's what we should expect playing in a league of mostly 4A opponents. The game started brightly for our girls as we took the opening kick-offs and applied good counter-pressing pressure deep in Eastlake territory. And in just the 4th minute, our pressure led to our winning goal as Mia intercepted an errant Eastlake square ball and raced toward the Wolves' defensive third, attracting all four of the remaining Eastlake defenders. With that much attention, the wise move was to spin out of the pack of Wolves, drop a simple ball to a wide-open Maddy who made an equally simple entry pass to Nora at the top of the box. Our tricky midfielder did the rest, smashing a shot into the upper right corner for an early 1-0 advantage: a great team goal that showed how devastating our press can be when we combine it with quick counter-attacks, simple passing, and composed finishing.  

The rest of the game followed a similar pattern: sustained Bellevue possession with occasional dangerous counter-attacks from precise long-balls aimed at Eastlake's speedy wingers. At least three times Eastlake was able to get behind our backline from a long-ball that required goalkeeping heroics from Rebecca to keep our shutout intact. The final stats were 20/6 shots/corners for Bellevue, to 5/0 for Eastlake. We did a good job limiting Eastlake's chances, but the chances they did have were Defcon 5-level of intensity.  But we held on to the final whistle, managing the game in the waning moments with clever throw-ins and shielding in the corner to secure the victory.

There were several gutsy individual performances from our girls last night, but like last week the kudos need to be shared by the entire team. Our collective defensive work-rate, organization, and commitment have been excellent up and down the pitch. We have rotated our roster as deeply due to our injuries, knocks, and heavy legs, and every player who stepped onto the field has contributed positively.

Next week we go on the road to play 7-time 4A state champion Skyline on Tuesday. and 5-time 4A state champion Issaquah on Thursday. The two schools are Washington high school girls' soccer royalty: the best of the best. We will treat them with the respect they deserve, but we are eager to establish our own reputation for girls' soccer excellence. Our games next week will be played on the field, not in the history books.

Thank you to the parent alumni group who attended our game last night. We appreciate the support from our friends, families and supporters.