Junior Varsity - Bellevue vs Redmond 10-22-24

​Bellevue JV 2-0 Redmond
 
35th min Devin (Olimpico!)
60th min Olivia (Elina)
 
 
I talk all the time about the style of play I want our team to execute. It is a free-flowing, possession-based style that features lots of defense. We move up and down the field as a team, we attack wide, defend narrow. Score when we create chances but keep the ball out of our own net.
 
Does it always work? No, but it is what we strive for each and every game. And when the Redmond Mustangs visited Bellevue High School on Tuesday for a JV girls’ matchup, we got to witness it in all it’s glory.  It featured two teams situated next to each other in the Kingco Crown-Crest standings so we knew we were in for a tight match.
 
Was it the fact this week is homecoming? What it the fact it was our last week of JV soccer? Was it the coaching (doubtful)? But our girls came out flying in this game. Everything we practiced all season long was on display. The possession and combination passing was the best we’ve seen. The defending was stellar. The girls were moving all around the field and supporting each other consistently. It was all I could ask for ….. except for our finishing.
 
Things were going so well, I knew a goal was coming throughout the first half. We peppered their goal with shots (16) and forced their goalkeeper to make save after save. But as well as we were playing, we just couldn’t find that one second of magic and focus to put the ball into the net. However, with the first half nearing completion, Devin, our speedy winger, came to the rescue. Just past midfield she corralled a loose ball and raced toward goal. We all thought this was the breakthrough. But as she neared the goal and just as she wound up to unleash her shot, a Mustang defender slipped in at the very last second and knocked the ball out of bounds. Ugh!
 
Devin dejectedly retrieved the ball and prepared to take the corner kick (one of six we had in the game). She unleashed a laser of a kick, which somehow missed the front-post defender and slammed  into the hands of the goalkeeper. The shot had so much pace on it the keeper could only push it into the net. Boom! Olimpico!
 
You may have heard the term before but for those that haven’t, an Olimpico is simply a goal that is scored directly from a corner kick. The name has stuck for nearly 100 years, since Argentina's Cesareo Onzari scored against reigning Olympic champions Uruguay from a corner kick in 1924 (though it didn't happen at the Olympics).
 
We celebrated our one-goal advantage at halftime and huddled in the equipment shed to stay warm. What I found most interesting at halftime was the reaction from the team when I told them I thought it was the best they had played all season. They were more focused on the missed opportunities and lack of goals. So, we talked about maintaining that stellar effort but cleaning up our work in front of the goal. We were dominating a very good team; we wanted to keep that up and not let them back in the game.
 
The second half was a little more even but we still were able to control most of the action and possession while playing our usual stout defense. Midway through the half, as action went back and forth, Bellevue earned a throw-in deep in Mustang territory. Elina took a quick throw to Addie N who tapped it back to E and she launched a cross into the penalty area. The ball skipped off a Mustang defender’s head, past Serena and found our left-footed defender Olivia waiting at the back door. She expertly took the ball first time and side-footed a nifty shot over the goalie’s outstretched arms and into the net. Wow. A great finish. 2-0 Wolverines.
 
The rest of the half was pretty uneventful except for Leia’s fantastic save. With just minutes remaining a Mustang midfielder launched a hopeful shot from about 40-yards out that caught Leia a bit off her line. But instead of watching the ball sail over her head and into the net, she back peddled exactly as she had been coached by our amazing coach Imad and tapped the ball over the crossbar a split second before it could cross the line. It was a world-class save to preserve our shutout. It was very exciting to see the team play so well and get a good result against a very good team.
 
One final JV game of the season comes on Wednesday for senior night. I hope everyone will come to the game to support our team in their final game and to see off our varsity seniors.