Bellevue vs Juanita 10-2-19

Bellevue 1-0 Juanita
 
After playing two state champs last week, and two teams before that that have gone undefeated since we played them (Prep & LW), our game against Juanita looked like a classic trap in the schedule. In fact, that's exactly what happened against the Rebels in this fixture last year, as we were beaten 1-0 by Juanita in our opening series (soundly). The Rebels record this year isn't flattering, but they are organized, tough on the tackle and have enough speed throughout their line-up that we had to bring our best to get a result. Fortunately, after a hectic first 15 minutes, our team asserted themselves and controlled the tempo and the majority of possession. It's hard to chase on defense for prolonged periods, but that's what we made the Rebels do, switching play frequently and being patient in attack. At one point we had a 15 pass combination, all played with one or two touches, that ended with a great chance on goal from our left wing. And eventually, the spaces got bigger and we began to turn our possession advantage into goal-scoring opportunities. In the 27th minute, we broke through, with Court anticipating a Juanita entry pass on our right side, winning possession and quickly playing Rebekah into space behind the Rebels defense. Their goalie made a brave challenge and the defection fell to Paige, who calmly passed the ball into the open net. 1-0 Bellevue.  
 
And that's all we would need. Our team defense was excellent throughout the game, and although it would've been nice to score a few more of our 17 chances we generated last night, it was a very efficient and orderly evening against a team that is difficult to break down. Game stats were in our favor (BHS 17/5 vs 2/2 shots/corners) on a night where the final margin of victory didn't reflect the quality of our possession. We will need to improve our finishing going forward because slender leads can be brittle. But overall, a really great night for our girls.    
 
Highlights
Congrats to Maeva who played her first varsity minutes for Bellevue and her debut was great. Maeva earned her opportunity by scoring 8 goals in 6 JV games this year. We have a long tradition of inviting players into teams mid-season for a game, sometimes to fill a specific need due to injury, absences, etc., and to reward excellent play. All of our coaches continue to watch as many games as we can, looking for opportunities where players might be able to help the program across all three teams. Well done Maeva. 
 
Shutouts are cool. Congrats to our GK sorority of Izzy & Ashley for another clean night, and to Imme, Audrey, Julia, Ava, Courtney and Chloe for leading our backline. Our midfield was the key to our possession game with Kaatje, Halle, Hinana, Paige and Kennedy all pulling strings and keeping us balanced. finally, our wingers and strikers worked hard all night with Ally, Mo, Rebekah, Taylor, Audrey, Chloe, Kennedy, Kaatje, Court & Paige all taking turns running at the Rebels defense.
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