11/27/2021 Bellevue vs Interlake 9-28-21BHS 6-1 Interlake
a '28th 1-0 Halle (Alex) '29th 1-1 IHS long-range wondergoal '34th 2-1 Bekah (Kate) '39th 3-1 Nova (Alex & Hannah) '55th 4-1 Mia (Emily) '61st 5-1 Nova (Alex) '63nd 6-1 Alex (Unassisted) a "Kindness doesn't cost you anything." --cheesy cliche that you might find in a meme or poster with a helpless kitten that needs rescuing. a Like all coaches, cliche is one of my tools of the trade. And I like the quote above, even if it's not attributable to some fancy philosopher, celebrity or animated movie character. Because in a team setting, often the most memorable moments are not just big wins or devastating losses, but the little acts that bind a team together beyond any final scoreline. For me, it's based on a collective valuing of generosity and empathy. That doesn't mean that I don't value competitiveness, winning, toughness or even an attitude of confident ruthlessness that can tip a game in your favor. I do. Those qualities are essential too. I'm just saying that when I witness small acts of kindness within a team, I know that we have a chance to build something that goes beyond our final record of wins and losses. It's when I watch our girls volunteer to coach at the BUFC clinic and really connect with little girls who are just learning about soccer. Or the loud, positive and genuine cheers from our bench for every Bellevue player on the field. Or welcoming a freshman into the squad, and being just as excited for her to score as anyone else on the roster. Or staying well after the final whistle to help a teammate find an earring that has huge sentimental value to her. Simple kindness costs you nothing, but can transform team spirit. It's the not-so-subtle shift of attitude from "what can this team/program do for me" to "how can I make this team better/more fun for everyone." a Against this philosophically cliched backdrop, we welcomed the Interlake Saints to Bellevue Stadium last night for another critical Kingco league game (yes, they are all critical). As we expected, we controlled the tempo and maintained good pressure and possession in the early stages but none of our 10 shots launched at the Saints in the first 27 minutes found their target. Until the 28th, when Alex burst down the left wing and cut-back a low cross that Halle charged onto from her deep midfield position to slam home against the far right post. So sweet. 1-0. And it seemed as if we would cruise from there. But lessons in humility often follow surges in confidence, and so less than two minutes later, the Interlake forward gave us a brief reminder that in soccer, a one-goal lead is never safe as she launched a wondergoal shot into the upper left corner from 25yds that left Ashley no chance. 1-1. But just like the goal allowed against Hazen last week, conceding a goal against the run of play brought out the best in our team. Less than 5 minutes later we had re-taken the lead, as Kate sent a sublime 40yd diagonal pass through the Saints defense to an onrushing Bekah who cut inside and calmly rolled the ball past the keeper for a 2-1 scoreline. And five minutes after that in the 39th minute, Chloe rampaged down the left, slipped the ball to Alex on the wing and her cut-back cross was redirected by Hannah into the path of Nova who buried her chance to give us a 3-1 halftime lead. a The second half continued the welcome trend of creative possession and good finishing. And our next two goals were the ideal of how I want our teams to play stylistically: in the 55th minute, Vivian won the ball in midfield, calmly connected with Kate who recycled the ball back to Arin at center-back, Arin quickly and simply found Gaby, who relayed to Amber at left fullback. Amber ran at the defense before playing a simple ball to Emily on the wing, who two-touched an entry pass to Mia's feet...and Mia did what I've seen her do in almost every JV game so far this year: beat the last defender before slotting past the keeper. A 7-pass team goal of beauty, patience and simplicity. Finished by a freshman striker who is having a brilliant season so far with her undefeated JV team. Love it. But even that near-perfect goal is overshadowed by our 5th goal, a 9-pass masterclass that began with an Interlake throw-in at midfield and ended with another Alex cross for Nova to finish. Every varsity player has a Hudl account to review game video, and after every game, I clip all of the goals for the team to easily digest (shout out to Katsumi Takashima for videoing each game). If you're curious about what I consider to be ideal soccer, have your player show you our 5th goal on Hudl. It's magnificent (ball-winning defense, one-touch passing, patience, switches, beautiful entry pass by Vivian, crossing, hard runs into the box, one-touch finishing = gorgeous soccer). A minute later, Alex put the icing on our stylish cake with an unassisted goal from 30yds, stealing the ball from the Interlake midfielder before blistering a low shot that was unsavable and made the final scoreline 6-1...and was well earned by Alex who had already had a 3-assist evening before scoring herself. a On Thursday we welcome Lake Washington to our stadium in a rematch of the last 3A state championship game. We are tied with LW atop the Kingco standings, so the game on Thursday will be a great test for our team. It will also be BUFC night, when we welcome some of the younger girls that attended our clinic to participate in our game-night. Thursday will be fun. a If you've made it this far in the recap, I'm impressed. Thank you for everyone's continued support of our program. I'm off to go help a kitten out of a tree. Comments are closed.
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