Bellevue vs Sammamish 3-27-21

Varsity
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BHS 8-1 Sammamish
6th min Bekah (Hinana)
9th min Mo (Zoe)
22nd min Mo (Gaby)
27th min Alex (Nova)
37th min Vanessa (Audrey)
43rd min Sammamish counter-attack goal
45th min Mo (Maeva)
65th min Kendall (Alex/Halle)
75th min Audrey FK
 
I've run out of superlatives to describe this team. Quite simply, they are the most cohesive and balanced team I have coached since our undefeated state championship team in 2016. We play solid defense, we possess the ball well in tight areas, and in our last few games, we have been running off the ball with fluidity and purpose, creating space for teammates in dangerous areas. And we are beginning to finish our numerous chances with ruthless efficiency. And it's beautiful.
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Tonight we played our 6th game of the season against a very organized Sammamish team. Sammamish's program has been getting better and better the past few seasons, but they are challenged by being a smaller 2A school with about 1/2 as many players at their tryouts than we get. But last season, they took our state finalist team into OT before we narrowly prevailed 2-1. However, tonight, it wasn't going to be that close. The Totems got BHS at our very best. 
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In the 6th minute, Hinana played Rebekah into space on the right wing, and Bekah hit a speculative shot from distance that squeezed in at the near post. Perhaps a bit of a gift from the opposing keeper, but we'll always accept the generosity of others. BHS 1-0. Three minutes later Zoe sent a long free-kick over the top of the Sammamish defense and Mo got there first and hit a sweet looping shot into the far corner for a 2-0 lead. And we were cruising. After several near misses (Gaby hitting the crossbar, etc.), Mo got her brace in the 22nd minute from a beautiful curling cross from Gaby, cushioning the ball out of the air with a sublime first touch before blasting it home. The goal party continued in the 27th minute with another fabulous team effort, as the ball moved quickly through the phases with one or two-touch passing, before Nova found Alex, winger to winger, and our freshmen turned her defender with style and raced into the box alone before beating the keeper. With just a few minutes remaining before halftime, Audrey hit a pinpoint long-ball to an overlapping Vanessa on the right and our senior left-back sent a "once-in-a-lifetime" shot from a very tight angle (very very tight angle) that found the far corner of the net for a 5-0 Bellevue lead.   
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Sammamish began the second half well, jumping on a wayward backpass and finishing their chance well to claw one back. 5-1. We responded to our error about as well as a team can, as two minutes later Vivian found Maeva on the left-wing, and her dangerous cross was too much for the keeper to handle, and Mo was there to clean up the spill and complete her hat-trick, 6-1 Bellevue. And then our prettiest goal of the night in the 65th minute, as Halle threaded a pass into Alex's feet upfield, and her precise one-touch flick released a sprinting Kendall in on goal and a decisive finish made it 7-1. The timing of Kendall's run from midfield, combined with Alex's deft touch was perfect. Audrey completed the scoring by placing a free kick in the upper left corner in the 75th minute. Final score: BHS 8-1. 
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Notes: We did everything well. Set-pieces were excellent (corners, goal-kicks, free kicks, etc.). Our tackling was tough. Our passing was precise and patient. And in a big improvement from the beginning of this season, we moved well off the ball. This means that players were running into space in anticipation of a pass (versus standing and waiting for the ball to arrive, or running away in straight lines away from teammates who have the ball). This movement creates space and is extremely difficult to defend if done well, as players are overlapping and crisscrossing all over the field. It's a joy to watch. Well done everyone. The statistics were comprehensive: 22/3 to 2/1 shots/corner advantages for BHS. Finishing better than a third of our chances is a really good sign that our shooting is improving. And we now have 16 players on our roster with either a goal or an assist this season. Full. Team. Effort. 
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Congrats to senior forward Morgan for the first Bellevue hat-trick since 2018 (Grace N. vs. Interlake in 7-2 win).    
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Next up: we travel to Interlake on Tuesday, 3/30. JV at 6pm, Varsity at 8pm. Buses leave an hour before kick-off from the usual place.  Two games left.

 Junior Varsity
BHS 5-0 Sammamish
23rd min Lilian (Emily W)
33rd min Viven
47th min Emma W (Cami J)
55th min Cami J header (Emily W)
79th min Emma  W
It was another solid performance from the Bellevue girl’s JV soccer team on Saturday afternoon. With good ball movement and communication, chances around goal were plentiful to start the match but our finishing left much to be desired.
We talk constantly about composure in the final third of the field. It takes focus to put a ball in the back of the net but sometimes we tend to rush our chances and lose our technique. While we dominated most possession in  the first half, we just couldn’t get the right touch on the ball.
But our persistence in front of the goal finally paid off and in the 23rd minute Emily Wang found a streaking Lilian who blasted her shot past the keeper for our first goal. After a bit more possession soon after, Viven took a ball at the top of the box and after a few nifty moves, freed herself up and deposited a great shot into the net.
We went into halftime up just 2-0 but I was happy with our possession and ball movement. We talked about our finishing and keeping our shape and not letting our guard down on defense.
Soon after halftime Cami Johnson made a great run down the right flank and sent in a nice cross which found the feet of Emma Whittier who who was in a great position to finish nicely. Cami Johnson got on the end of an Emily W corner kick in the 55th minute header goal which made her coach happy. Emma Whittier got her second goal of the day on a deflected shot she tapped in to cap our scoring for the day.
Overall a good performance. Lots of ball movement and we created a lot of chances. Another game with 35+ shots and another shutout so all is good. Two more to go! We travel to Interlake Tuesday and then host our rival MI on Thursday.