11/27/2021 Bellevue vs Redmond 10-10-17Bellevue 0-2 Redmond
Ugh. Just ugh. We lost. And now we have to learn how to pick ourselves up, shake off the bad memories of a frustrating night and move forward and focus on our critical game against MI at home on Thursday. The best I can say about Tuesday: unlike the US Men's National Team (who lost at last-place Trinidad on Tuesday evening to be eliminated from World Cup qualifying), our season didn't end on Tuesday. We have more opportunities to right the ship and still achieve our goals for the season. But to do that, we need to come together quickly, solve our inconsistencies, and find our rhythm. By Thursday. On a chilly and wet evening in Redmond, we just didn't play well collectively. There were moments of individual quality, the most impressive of which was probably Annika's amazing diving save in the 2nd half to keep us within a 2 goal margin; and Kiley had two or three moments when she created something out of nothing; but our moments were just that, moments. Nothing really sustained or consistent. Redmond scored in the 49th minute from a corner. It was a well-taken cross to the back post that we didn't clear, and was trundled across the line from just a few yards. Then they got a 2nd goal just a few minutes later, this time down our defensive right side, a cut-back cross that found the feet of the Redmond forward in our box, who had time to trap, pause and finish from directly in front of our goal. Yes, we did nice things too. We hit the post several times. We had at least five corners of our own, all very very dangerous. However, we are lacking the final killer finish at the back post. I lost track of how many effective corners CarlieG hit into dangerous areas that seemed to flash across the Redmond box without the final touch applied. With 13 minutes to go, we pulled a defender off the field and added another forward. This move predictably created more chances for us as we searched for a way back into the game, but also more counter-attack opportunities for Redmond. It's a risk, but we needed goals, and there isn't a practical difference between a 2-0 loss and a 5-0 loss, so we went for it. But our shooting boots weren't tightly calibrated on a slippery evening in Redmond. We hit the post (again). We hit it wide. We hit it high. We hit the goalkeeper. Everywhere but in the net. And so now we need to focus on our re-match with MI. There were enough good things about our game versus Redmond to build-upon. We undeniably have the talent to beat MI on Thursday, And now we need a performance worthy of our talent. MI is very similar to Redmond in style of play. They chase. They are fit. And they won't quit. They will pressure the ball all over the field. So we need to recover as quickly as we can and be prepared for the visiting first-place Islanders. Comments are closed.
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