Junior Varsity - Bellevue vs Eastlake 9-20-24

​1-0 BHS vs Eastlake
 
21st minute Serena (Elina, Tara)
 
“Winning solves everything.” – Tiger Woods
 
The start to the 2024 BHS JV soccer season has been a bit of a rollercoaster to say the least. We looked like giant killers in our first two games which gave us some confidence but maybe inflated our egos a bit. Our games against Eastside Catholic and Seattle Prep, two Metro league powerhouses, brought us squarely back down to earth. So, trying to figure out just where this year’s team stood heading into our first league game on Friday night was a bit of a mystery.
 
We know HOW we want to play, but we’ve struggled a bit getting into a rhythm and executing our style. Under the ‘Friday Night Lights’ against Eastlake we saw a bit of both sides of this team. There were moments of great poise and composure on the ball and moments of sloppiness as balls continually bounced off our feet. Give credit to Eastlake as they fought us for every ball and made it tough at times for us to get into a flow. It was a pretty even match through the first 20 minutes, but we were able to grind out a bit more possession than the Falcons but couldn’t muster many clear chances at goal.
 
That all changed in the 21st minute. Elina intercepted a botched Eastlake clearance and fed a ball to Tara at the corner of the penalty area. She switched the ball to Serena who expertly let the ball cross her body to her left foot. Both Eastlake defenders fell for the fake and Serena was able to rip a shot through traffic and into the net. A great shot and goal. The goal seemed to settle us down a bit and we began to string passes together. Unfortunately, nothing came from our efforts, and we coasted into halftime nursing our 1-0 lead.
 
At halftime we talked about continuing to fight, winning lose balls and finding our teammates in dangerous areas. The second half was filled with opportunities from both sides in a back-and-forth affair. We had some good combination play and Addie N narrowly missed a shot on a cross from Talia late in the half.
 
As the came neared completion, this tight game started to get a bit frantic. As Eastlake pressed for an equalizer, our weary legs began to betray us. Try as we may, we just couldn’t find that extra pass or clean trap and we gave Eastlake more chances than I would have liked. Leia stood tall in goal and our defense did just enough to see out the final hectic minutes for us to preserve a 1-0 victory.
 
There were smiles all around heading into the weekend with our first league victory in the new Kingco Conference. We still have much to approve upon, especially how to see out the final minutes of a close game, but we’ll take a win. While it doesn’t solve everything as Tiger states, it sure felt nice.
 
A couple of big game next week as we travel to Skyline and Issaquah for two more tough league matches. Should be fun. Have a great weekend.