Bellevue vs Lake Washington 10-26-21

Bellevue 1-0 LW
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17th min Bekah (unassisted)
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One of my favorite all-time soccer movies is "Escape to Victory" from 1981 about a group of Allied POWs during WWII who get the opportunity to compete against an all-star German team in Paris as a form of pro-occupation propaganda. The movie stars Sylvester Stallone and Michael Caine, but more importantly has small roles played by some of the biggest stars in world football at the time like Pele and Ossie Ardiles. So the soccer scenes (other than any with Stallone) have a whiff of realism. The POWs train for the big match in difficult conditions, on dirt surfaces, without proper equipment surrounded by barb-wire fencing...it's prison yard soccer. Gritty, tough, and determined but with occasional flashes of brilliance that reminds everyone that despite the conditions, these are very very good players.

(our team at halftime vs. LW escaping the wind behind the bleachers)
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I'm not saying that our match against LW carried the same geo-political weight as a fictional movie football game between WWII adversaries, but it did resemble a prison yard scrap for much of the game. What was required wasn't our typical pursuit of flowing possession football. What was required in our prison yard game against the Kangs was tenacity, organization and solid goalkeeping. The game was chippy and physical, as the Kangs needed a win desperately to qualify for the league championship game next Tuesday. It felt like playoff soccer. As if the defeated team had to go back to their cells without supper if they lost. But the biggest factor was still the abysmal weather. As a player, I always preferred cold or downpours to blustery wind. You can still play good soccer in the former, but it is very difficult to play in the latter. But last night there was no choosing, we got it all. The winds were so blustery that it destroyed both sideline shelters we had set-up to protect the girls from the elements. And on the field, every pass was impacted by the gusts and slippery slick turf. But it was the same for both teams, so we persevered. Prison soccer in a bomb cyclone. 
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The game was ugly. Survival was all that mattered. And we got our chance in the 17th minute, as Nova's perfect corner kick, hit into a heavy wind, bounced around a crowded box before Bekah poked it home from the doorstep to give our girls a 1-0 lead. And it was all that was needed. The Kangs had their chances, of course they did, they are the defending champs with 8 starting players on the current team who lifted the trophy in 2019. They weren't going down without a fight. But our team defense was up to the task and Amirah was a rock for us in goal on a night that couldn't have been worse for goalkeepers (cold, windy, slick, dark, etc.).
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It's a cliche, but team defense wins games in late October and November. Our win against LW was our fourth shutout in a row...all on the road. That is extraordinary given the overall quality of the Kingco league. And long may it continue. The current bar for excellence for BHS soccer was an 8 game shutout streak our 2016 team used to win the state title...almost all of them identical 1-0 score-lines, from a team that was loaded with offensive talent. All of that 2016 offensive talent played incredible team defense. As does our current 2021 team. Dedicated team defense is required in late October and November...and we do what is required. 
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So I've buried the lede. Very deep into the recap. Our win against LW officially earns us the Kingco league title for 2021. This is an awesome achievement by our girls. They should be proud. Although Bellevue soccer has been to the State final four in 3 of the last 4 tournaments, we hadn't won an outright league title since 2016. Yes, the league title is mostly ceremonial, but it does give us the #1 seed in the Kingco Tournament that begins next week. To actually earn a birth to the State tournament, we still need future victories. And most importantly, that will be in the Kingco Tournament Championship game next Tuesday, Nov 2nd at BHS Stadium matching the #1 vs. #2 seeded teams. It is almost certain that the #2 team will be Liberty. The winner of that game goes to directly to State. Loser of that game will need to pick themselves up and play again on Thursday Nov 4th (against #5 Juanita, #4 MI or #3 LW) for the final Kingco birth into State. So we have earned ourselves two options to get into the State tournament with our league title, I'm hopeful we only need the Tuesday option.
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Before any of these playoff permutations need final calculating, we still have our regular season finale left to play against Mercer Island on Thursday. It is senior night. We will start as many seniors as we are able (we have 12 of them, so...). On paper, the game means nothing to us. But this game won't be played on paper. It will be played on BHS Stadium turf against the team that is responsible for our only blemish in an otherwise perfect Kingco season. Against our biggest cross-town rivals. I don't think motivation will be an issue. There is plenty to play for. If the weather cooperates, we'll bring the style. If it doesn't, the players in the photo above are ready for another prison scrap if necessary. Escape to Victory.