Bellevue vs Interlake 10-4-18

Bellevue 7-2 Interlake
 
Right and left. Light and dark. Hard and easy. Pouring rain and crisp clear fall evenings. Our last few weeks have been a study in contrasts. Soccer polarization that would make the most cynical political scientist announce that the world is boringly united in comparison (OK, maybe not that hyperbolic). After watching our JV team play one of the most comprehensive and beautiful 80 minutes of skillful and flowing team-first soccer in a 7-0 win that was modest in the final result; the coaching staff watched the complete opposite during the first 40 minutes of the varsity game. It's not that our players didn't work-hard, try, or want to win; it's just that the quality of our soccer was so poor, so dis-jointed and stiff, that we looked like a team of malfunctioning soccer-robots who had been programmed to keep moving, but not where, when, or even how. It got so bad that our small 5-person supporter section began to heckle the home team and then left at halftime not wanting to watch our two-goal deficit get any wider. And I don't blame them. Watching our first half would test the bonds of even the most loving families as they likely daydreamed of a merciful final whistle and warmer places to spend a Thursday evening. 0-2 at half. And with no disrespect to a spirited, organized and tough Interlake team who finished their chances well (and have put up consistently good scores against strong teams all season), but we were simply terrible.  
 
Needless-to-say, I wasn't very happy at halftime. And I told the girls how I felt. We made sweeping positional changes to the line-up, issued a stern challenge and gave them 40 minutes of the second half to correct the issue. We watched the girls splinter into small groups, some crying, some staring into nothingness, and some with fire and determination in their eyes. Each kid processing their performance and how to change it differently. Then they finally came together. Had a few words amongst themselves... 
 
...and had the most amazing 20 minutes of soccer of their season. It was caterpillars and butterflies. scared bunnies to voracious wolves. drought to abundance. ashes to the phoenix rising. Suddenly we began moving the ball with confidence. We ran with selfless and intelligent purpose in support of our teammates. We were eager. Determined. After barely four minutes Audrey and Courtney combined at midfield (both playing in defensive positions but pushing ambitiously forward) and found Grace's feet into space. Grace beat somewhere between two and fifteen defenders on the dribble and blasted the ball into the net from 20 yards. Bellevue 1, Interlake 2. What Grace did next was as important as her goal. Instead of celebrating with her teammates, she raced to the goal at full sprint, grabbed the ball from the back of net, and sprinted back to the center so that Interlake could kick-off as soon as possible. It was an act of urgency. Of confidence. It was as if Grace was saying by her actions, "@@#$%!@ this! kick off and we are going to score again"  (rough translation in my own head). And four minutes later, we did. This time Kendall slipped a perfect pass into Grace's feet, another smashing shot later, and Bellevue 2, Interlake 2. And again Grace raced to the net, retrieved the ball, and sprinted back to the center circle so play could resume as soon as possible. More. More. More. Two minutes later, Izzy Buck latched onto a ball at midfield and fired another long-range effort into the top corner. Bellevue 3, Interlake 2. Two minutes after that, Grace fed Izzy in the box and Izzy had her brace. Bellevue 4, Interlake 2.  In less than 9 minutes, we had turned a two goal deficit against one of the better defensive teams in our league into a two-goal advantage.  And we weren't done. 
 
In the 62nd minute, Grace got her hat-trick with an unassisted goal. Bellevue 5, Interlake 2. In the 70th minute, Izzy hit a perfect corner that Courtney redirected into the net with a perfect glancing header from a strong near-post run. Bellevue 6, Interlake 2. And finally, in the 73rd minute, Claire overlapped from her right back position, and sent in a searingly delicious cross that the poor Interlake defender could only parry into her own net for the dreaded OG. Bellevue 7, Interlake 2. Final score. And from the 44th minute until the 62nd, we had scored  five goals, and seven total in one half. Both records for this program, not just this year, but any year.
 
It was a night of severe contrasts. I'm thankful that our good was so much better than our bad.
 
Highlights
First half: none. Second half: everyone. Grace had three goals and an assist. Izzy had two goals and an assist.  Claire, Audrey, Julia and Courtney were collectively tougher than Chloe Moretz as Hit-Girl in the movie Kick Ass, and they started every coordinated Bellevue attack by skillfully moving the ball forward quickly but easily; having two outside backs that are as eager and able to get forward as Claire and Court is modern soccer gold; Kendall, Halle & Izzy were sublime and composed at midfield. Malena, Taylor, Grace, AnnaB, AllyS & Kaia all did their parts in dismantling the Saints D in the second half. Isabelle was in fine voice in the back, although she didn't face a single shot on goal, but what I did like is that we used our goalkeepers as passing options when appropriate, and that our goalkeepers made good, poised decisions when we did (either calmly passing out, or launching the ball out of the danger-area).

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