Junior Varsity - Bellevue vs Mercer Island 10-24-2023

Bellevue 5-0 Mercer Island

13th min Mack
20th min Kasia (Mack)
46th Anna (Calla)
54th Morgan (Mack)
72nd Anna (Calla)

As miserable as the weather was last night in our last JV home game of the year, we have to be pretty thankful for the weather we have had this season. We have been lucky to only have a couple of rainy games and practices. For the most part we have been blessed with sunshine instead of rain.

But last night was not the case. A constant downpour made for some wet bodies and cold hands. It was difficult to get warm both on the field in the rain and under the shelter. But much to the girl’s credit, they didn’t let the poor conditions deter them from the task at hand: beating rival Mercer Island.

It took a bit of time for both teams to adjust to the conditions and connect passes on a slick field. Mack broke through in the 13th minute when she took a bouncing ball after a throw-in and lofted a high-arching cross from deep on the right flank. The MI goalkeeper, battling the wind and rain, could only get a hand on the floating ball as it bounced around and barely crossed the goal line. Just seven minutes later Kasia took a pass from Mack deep into that same corner and did pretty much the exact same thing. Her cross was a little more direct but it also eluded the outstretched keeper and bounced off the back post and into the goal.

We took our two-goal advantage into halftime and we huddled under the east end tree canopy for a quick talk out of the rain. We all decided we had plenty of time on the ball and we just needed to be a little more patient. The goals would arrive, we just needed to check to our ball handlers and connect. We tend to run away from our passers instead of making ourselves available to combine.

The second half slowed down a bit for us as we moved the ball well and found our teammates all over the field. The rain was relentless but we did manage to score three very nice goals. It’s amazing what can happen when we connect our passes!!

In the 45th minute a ball out of the back found Morgan at midfield who passed to  Kasia down the right flank and she was off. She sped past two defenders, headed directly for goal and unselfishly crossed to a wide open Calla. Unfortunately Calla rushed her shot and blasted it over the top. It is a popular move on this team but I only mention it because Calla quickly redeemed herself. On the ensuing goal kick, Kasia sent Calla into the corner with a direct head ball. Calla trapped it nicely off her chest and sent a hard, one-touch cross all the way to the back post where a streaking Anna was waiting to slip it past the goalie. A great effort all around.  

Eight minutes later Mack emerged with the ball at midfield after a prolonged tussle with an MI player and after a nice cut back, found Morgan headed toward goal. Morgan twisted her defender in knots, twice, and poked home her sixth goal of the season. Anna capped the scoring on the night with a thumping header off a Calla corner kick as the game was nearing conclusion. Kudos for the header goal!!!

On the night we held MI to just two shots on our goal (18 shots for us) and forced their keeper into eight saves. So in spite of the gloomy conditions our offense showed up in a big way. We’ll need that Thursday night as we travel to Liberty for our final JV game of the season. A win or a tie gives us the KingCo 3A crown so I hope everyone comes out to cheer us on.

As our season ends, the varsity season continues as they clinched their league title and will move on to the playoffs. What that means for our team is that a few players will be called up to join varsity in their playoff push. Please take into mind Peter and I have had conversations all season long about which players are deserving. But those selections are based mainly on the players he thinks he will need positionally while rewarding players for a great season.

***After the close of our season on Thursday, as I always do, I will be offering any player interested a chance for some feedback on their season. This is a chance for me to offer evaluation on their year and to give them things to work on in the offseason in preparation for next season. For those juniors that plan to tryout next year, it will be a frank talk about areas for improvement and development in order to make the varsity roster. I will offer a chance to talk either Monday before the varsity game (7pm). I will be at the field about 6 pm. Or we can chat at varsity training on Tuesday. Just let our captains know if and when you would like to talk and they’ll let me know.

See you Thursday. Go Wolverines!!