Bellevue vs Juanita 10-12-21

BHS 2-1 Juanita
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20th min Halle (Bekah)
41st min Juanita upper corner
53rd min Alex (Kendall)
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One of the things I love about this version of Bellevue girls varsity soccer is that we are very balanced. We don't rely on 1-2 players to create our offense, or lead our defense. It's truly a team effort. We have three players tied as our goalscoring leader, two tied for assists, and several others just one tally away from joining either list. 13 players have either a goal or an assist this season. Our goals come from patient combinations, lightning-quick counter-attacks, set-pieces, from our right side, and from our left. We are not a one-trick pony.  
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Our two goals against Juanita are perfect examples. In the 20th minute, Lily snuffed out a Juanita fast-break by stepping forward and winning the ball in open space. I often talk to our defenders about "front-foot defending," which means that we value anticipation and aggressive ball-winning over delaying and channeling (both are valid, and appropriate at different times, just slightly different philosophies as a primary directive). Front-foot defending leads to more transition opportunities on offense for counter-attacks. And that's how we got our first goal. Lily's excellent tackle fell to Nova who one-touch passed to Bekah on the wing at midfield. Now one of the last things our opposition fullbacks want to see is one of our wingers receiving a pass in open space because what generally happens is the following: Bekah raced down the wing leaving most of the defenders in her wake, then calmly squared the ball to Halle who had filled the space Nova had left from dropping into midfield, one-touch shot into the far corner and we had a well-deserved lead. 1-0 Bellevue. Our second goal came from a set-piece in the 53rd minute. Nova took yet another dangerous corner that Alex one-touch volleyed on goal, the keeper was only able to parry the ball back into the crowded box where Kendall did just enough to toe-poke the ball back to Alex for a one-touch finish from 8 yards. (if you'd like to understand what I consider a key technical skill for beautiful and effective soccer, check out where I placed italics in the previous paragraph). 
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Now inbetween our goals we conceded a goal. The timing was frustrating (less than a minute into the 2nd half), but it was a very well-taken and well-developed goal by the Ravens. There were no big defensive errors, positional mistakes, or glaring give-aways in the lead up to the goal, Juanita simply made their first shot on goal count by hitting a beautiful shot into the upper corner. But we responded well, applied even more pressure, and were eventually rewarded with our winning score from a set-piece.
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The race for the Kingco title, and eventual qualification for the state tournament, is getting clearer as we progress through the season. Four teams have a reasonable chance to win the league: Bellevue, Liberty, MI and LW (and Juanita isn't out of it either). And therefore, each point from every remaining game is very valuable. On Thursday, we have our rematch with Liberty at their home stadium. As a reminder, our first game against the Patriots was about as exciting as it gets, as we fought our way from a two-goal deficit to win in the final seconds 3-2. Liberty is a very good soccer team, and it will take our best effort on Thursday to earn the points necessary to keep our league-leading position.
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One of our biggest strengths as a team (and program) is our balance and depth; however, as we get closer to the end of the season, the substitution rotation inevitably gets tighter and tighter as we look for more sustained tempo and rhythm in player combinations. For some, minutes will go up, and for others, minutes will go down. I fully understand that this is difficult for competitive personalities (everyone); and I will never ask any player to be satisfied with a substitute role, or even the role of being a backup with the uncertainty of when, or if, game minutes will happen. But it is possible to be both intensely eager to play, and yet keep a "team-first" attitude. It's not easy. But it is required. Each "Twelve"  must continue to advocate for themselves by playing hard during training...to be ready for when their best efforts are needed...and do their best to keep our collective team spirit positive and supportive. In every season in which we have had successful state tournament campaigns, there have been critical moments when one of our "Twelves" have had to come into a game and make an impact (freshman goalies getting their first varsity minutes in a championship final after an injury...or senior substitutes getting game-winning goals in their limited minutes during state quarterfinals come immediately to mind...). So to our Twelves, I make the very challenging request to never be satisfied, but be ready, prepared and supportive. Relatedly, congratulations to Amirah on her first varsity victory as goalkeeper last night. Last week she was contributing to shutouts on our JV team, and last night she fulfilled her role with calm and confidence. Well done Amirah.   
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We now have four consecuative games on the road in a critical part of our season. Thank you in advance for our parent volunteers for parka, shelter and bench duty. Most Kingco schools don't have the luxury of a permanent shelter like we have at Bellevue, and with the weather getting more "northwesty" as we get closer to November, keeping our girls wam and dry on the sidelines is really imporant. So thank you.