Lake Washington - Championship

Bellevue 1-0 (OT) Lake Washington

For the 4th consecutive year, the Bellevue Wolverines girls soccer team has captured the Kingco 3a league tournament title, securing a birth in the state tournament.    It wasn't easy. But it was dramatic. With only 2 minutes remaining in the second overtime, Katie found Kiley who turned her defender and blasted a shot from 20yds off the crossbar and into the net for a last gasp golden-goal winner. The pile of happy Bellevue players who tackled and jumped-on Kiley will be one of my most enduring images from this entire season, regardless of where we finally finish. Pure joy. A little relief. And a testament to the drama and fun of high school soccer.     It's difficult to beat a good team three times in a row. And to LW's credit, they had a very specific tactical plan for the league championship game: in a change from our previous games, they moved their quick no10 from midfield to forward hoping for a counter-attack, and assigned their regular striker (no2) the task of following Katie Foster around the field all night to disrupt our midfield distribution. Everyone else from LW sat behind the ball and tried to break up the rhythm of the game, regularly knocking it out of bounds (often way, way out of bounds), and delaying the game at every opportunity. It was pragmatic tactics, and kudos to the LW coaching staff for finding a way to frustrate and keep our attack in check for 87 minutes. They were playing for PKs, and it almost worked...   ...until Kiley happened. In almost a shot for shot replay of our MI victory a few weeks ago, Kiley was again our hero. Saving us from the roulette wheel that is penalty kicks, and giving our team a well deserved 8-9 days rest before we open the state tournament against the 4th place team from District 1 (wesco leagues up north...Arlington, Marysville, Edmonds, etc.  Link here to the wesco league tournament that determines our opponent).  We won't know our future until Nov. 5th, but the game will be hosted at BHS sometime between Nov 7-9th. Stay tuned for more details as we get them.    In the end, we dominated possession and all relevant offensive statistics, but in tournament play, the only statistics that matter are goals for and against:     Bellevue 1.  LW 0.      Highlights: I didn't have Paige Satterlee in the starting line-up vs LW due to a minor groin injury sustained versus Liberty on Monday....she warmed up for the LW game, and I watched her very carefully for signs of injury, ready to rest her if I saw even a slight limp. Finally, I asked her very directly if the injury was bothering her. Paige looked me straight in the eye, and without any hesitation told me that she was healthy enough to play. So play she did. Our entire defense was outstanding in only allowing LW 2 shots on goal all night, but Paige deserves special recognition for battling through an injury, and putting in a performance that was poised and dominant on her side of the field. Our freshman right back has grit and confidence, and I'm very thankful she has an extended rest period to get fully healthy for the state playoffs.       After being marked the entire game by the hard-tackling LW freshman, who made the game winning assist? Katie Foster. The LW man-marking tactics almost worked...almost. But Katie still found a way to influence the game when it mattered most;   Given more room to operate, Ellie was great against LW, bossing the midfield defensively and coming close to scoring several times from both the dribble and on our corners.   One of the most difficult things for a keeper is to do on a team like ours is to keep focused, even if you have nothing to do for long stretches of time. But when needed, Madi came up big. Making two vital saves at crucial times to keep us in the game.     Sophie and Kiley were dangerous all night on the wings; jojo jinked and juked as she probed for small pockets of space in a very very congested LW backline; Carly battled in the middle and did a good job of ball-winning and distribution; finally, Grace gave us very good minutes near the end of regulation and looked likely to break the deadlock every time she had the ball.   A final word about substitutions in playoff soccer: most of our roster didn't get a run out tonight and I understand that is frustrating. The only reason we were in a position to be Kingco league champions is due to the season-long contributions from our entire roster (Claire's minutes vs Holy Names, Joelle's timely goals and assists, Caylee's strong and efficient play at center back, Priya's toughness and touch at left back, Courtney and Ana's skillful contributions in midfield, etc. etc. etc.). Soccer is a team game, and some games need frequent substitutions, but others don't. It was my decision last night to limit the rotation because I liked our match-ups and LW didn't materially substitute or change tactics once they decided to pack it in. If you (or your daughter) didn't get into the game last night, I ask that you be ready for your next opportunity. I can't guarantee minutes in the future, but different games often require different tactics and personnel. Be ready.