Varsity - Bellevue vs Liberty 10-17-24

Bellevue 0-0 Liberty

Not every painting is a Picasso. Perhaps a purist could've watched our tense and nervy game against long-time 3A Kingco rivals Liberty and saw art, but for most neutrals, our 0-0 contest was...kinda...dull? We didn't play poorly. Nor were we at our very best. To our credit, we worked hard. Our team defense was excellent. The game was two coiled cobras waiting for a blink that never came. Concentration and discipline were required for every minute of regulation and overtime as the slick and compacted Liberty turf made playing possession soccer very challenging for both teams. And instead of taking tactical risks in formation changes or player rotation, both teams settled for a cagey battle at midfield with very few chances for either side. Substitutions were few and infrequent, as both coaches opted for stability over fresh legs. Also a contributing factor to why the game didn't feature more changes is that there is a reasonable chance that we will face Liberty again in the Kingco playoffs, so showing too much too soon could be detrimental in a future contest that might earn a birth in the state playoffs. A milquetoast 0-0 tonight didn't hurt either team in our mutual pursuit of qualifying for the 3A championship game (whereas a loss would've been difficult to overcome). So stalemate. All cards held very closely to the vest. Trench warfare. Unblinking snakes. Pitchers duel. Austria vs. W. Germany (if you know, you know).   

Final stats were 6 chances for Bellevue with 2 corners, to 5 chances for Liberty with 2 corners. A parity party. 

So with two games left in our regular season, the three 3A teams in the Kingco CrownCrest division are separated by just two points (Liberty 17pts, Bellevue 16pts, Inglemoor 15pts with three points for a win, one point for a tie). Two games left for each team. If all 3A teams earn the maximum 6 points available, then Bellevue would qualify for the championship game as the #2 seed and have to play at Liberty's stadium again in two weeks. However, any blemish from any 3A team in the closing stretch could dramatically rearrange the playoff race. Nobody has anything clinched, and nobody is out of it. Yet.  

We can only take care of what we have in front of us: game vs Redmond on Tuesday, and Lake Washington on Thursday (senior night). 6 points will get us into the championship game on Saturday, Nov 2nd, anything less than that will require help from others.

We still control our destiny. 

We'll bring our cubist sensibilities, paintbrushes, and more free-spirited ambition. Masterpieces only. 

See you next week.  

Peter 

ps. if you care about these types of things...despite our draw with Liberty, Bellevue girls soccer earned the #1 RPI ranking for the first time this season after last night's game. However, as I will repeatedly inform the team on Monday, a #1 ranking in the regular season is nice, but ultimately useless. We can't trade it in for more wins. However, finishing the season, and Kingco playoffs, with a high RPI ranking IS useful. So let's check back in with the RPI algorithm in two weeks time and see what we have earned then.