Juanita

Bellevue 3-0 Juanita

​There is so much to say about our senior night versus Juanita, and almost none of it has to do with soccer. As I looked around our rain drenched stadium last night before our ceremony, I saw so many parents, siblings, grandparents and friends, cheerleaders, JV and JVC players, banners, brothers in big bird onesies, and even the marching band playing Macklemore, and it made me appreciate the pure fun that is high school soccer. And the community it takes to make it happen. So before I get to the actual game recap, my heartfelt thanks to the BHS soccer community that made last night possible. The coaches, parents, volunteers and ball girls. Trumpet players and national anthem singers. Videographers, statistians and athletic trainers. Students and siblings. Family. Despite the typical NW weather, it was a beautiful evening, and I'm thankful to everyone who took the care to make it that way for our senior players.     About our seniors....   I'm new. Therefore I'll try and tread lightly when writing about legacy. But even with my limited viewpoint, and with all due respect to hardworking BHS soccer alumni in recent years past, it's clear that this particular group of girls are leaving this program in a much better place than they found it. They are pioneers. Soccer entrepreneurs. Game changers. Before the class of 2017 matriculated, the BHS varsity won 4 games the entire preceding season, and only six the year before that. Since then (yes, I understand that all of these seniors didn't play varsity their freshman year...but a few did), the BHS varsity has won four consecutive Kingco 3a league titles and won 17, 18, 12 and 14 (and counting) games in the years since. Again, with all due respect to the BHS soccer alumni and coaches who contributed significantly during this impressive run, this is not a coincidence.     They are winners. They make the players around them better. And I'm a very fortunate coach to have had them for this season (so far). And even more gratifying, they are an amazing group of young women who support each other, laugh easily, and take pride in the quality of their soccer and the community they have created. Underclassmen are welcomed. And praised. Encouragement is heard much more often than criticism. They take the game seriously, but not so seriously that the joy is squeezed out. Because they play with grit and joy. Crunching tackles and sportsmanship. They train hard, but make sure they nutmeg the coach at every opportunity.      So as I've written before, I'm thankful for the BHS girls soccer class of 2017, and even more thankful that I'll have the chance to praise their accomplishments for what I hope is a few more weeks in November.     Now onto the actual game:  we won. handily. 29 shots for Bellevue, 0 against.  A 3-0 scoreline, but only because the Juanita goalkeeper played the best game of her entire high school career, recording 22 saves. For context, if a goalie records 10 saves in a single game, she's been a very busy girl.  22 saves is ridiculous. So all respect to the Juanita goalkeeper, she was amazing. Fortunately, if you are able to create almost 30 goalscoring chances, your probability of winning is very very good. And it was especially nice that on senior night, our opening goal was a combination of two instrumental seniors: Jojo connected with Ellie B for the first goal that was helped along with a slight deflection before finding the net. Later, Grace N continued her good form by adding an excellent goal, outracing the tentative Juanita defense and stabbing the ball beneath the charging goalie.  Finally, Kiley showed the value of putting shots on target, as her well struck ball slipped through the goalie's gloves in the only mis-step the Juanita player had all night, to make the final score 3-0.   We finish the 2016 regular season with a 14-0-2 record. Undefeated. Even more impressive is how we won: we averaged over 20 shots per game, while allowing less than 4 shots per game.  We scored 42 goals, and allowed 8 goals with 10 total shutouts (in our last 10 games of the season, we allowed only two goals with 8 shutouts).    It's something to be proud of. Certainly. But humility and hunger will take us much father than pride and self-satisfaction.     Highlights:  An all senior starting line-up, and final-whistle line-up:  Jaden, Margot, Jojo, Sophie, Ellie, Katie, Priya, Catie, Maud, Nikole and Madi.  So sweet.   So the honors are beginning to roll in for our team. The all-league teams have just been distributed to the coaches. I haven't had a chance to share the results with the players, and I will do so tomorrow (Friday). The honors will be officially published on Saturday during our Kingco championship. Individual honors always make me feel a bit queasy in a game that is so team-oriented, but recognition has been earned, and recognition shall be given. I'll publish the results to the entire distribution list, and website, as soon as I share the news with the girls tomorrow at training.     Here comes the playoffs. I'd try to explain the permutations of the kingco and state playoff system, but I've written enough for this post already and it would likely take another 5-6 paragraphs. But we should all understand this:  if we win on Saturday night versus LW, we earn a spot in the state tournament, that we would host at BHS. That's all the incentive we need.