Varsity - Bellevue vs Redmond

Bellevue 5-1 Redmond
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4th min 1-0 Mia (Saleen)
6th min 2-0 Maddy (Saleen)
15th min 3-0 Saleen (Nora)
25th min 4-0 Leah (Lola)
49th min 5-0 Leah (Paris)
68th min 5-1 Redmond Wonderstrike

One down. One to go in our regular season. And all to play for.. Going into our game against Redmond, we knew that we had to get a result to put ourselves in a position to qualify for the 3A Kingco Championship game. The race is tight. But knowing that we needed a result against Redmond to earn 9 days of rest versus the prospect of two additional "loser go home" games next week, our girls got down to business right away scoring two goals in the first 6 minutes, adding another at the 15th minute, before adding two more on either side of halftime to coast to a convincing 5-1 victory. Our win, combined with a simultaneous loss by Inglemoor vs Woodinville, means that punched our ticket to the 3A Kingco Championship game on Saturday, November 2nd against Liberty. The only details left to settle are which team will host the game at their stadium as the #1 seed. With a 2-1 win against Issaquah, Liberty is a single point ahead of us with one game remaining. On Thursday in our season finales, Liberty hosts Woodinville while we host LW for our senior night. Our last regular season home game and we have something to play for...wonderful.  

We pressed Redmond from the opening whistle, creating three great chances in the first two minutes including a rocket shot by Kendall that pinged off the left post and somehow stayed out. Just a few seconds later in the 4th minute, we scored a tremendous team goal: six one and two-touch passes through our midfield before Saleen slipped a pass to Mia and our senior midfielder dribbled the keeper before depositing the ball into the open net. 1-0 Bellevue. Two minutes later, Paris won the ball at midfield and passed to Mia who turned her defender and scampered towards the Mustang goal before passing to Saleen on the edge of the Redmond box. Saleen patiently waited for either her own shooting angle on goal or a supporting run option, and got the latter as Maddy drifted towards the top of the box in support, received a perfect square ball from Saleen, and hammered a shot into the upper left corner with a one-touch blast. 2-0 Bellevue. And we were flying. At the 15-minute mark, Nora won the ball at midfield and launched an immediate counter-attack, feeding Saleen a simple direct ball down the left flank behind the Redmond defense. Saleen outraced all pursuers, cut back inside and fired a shot into the upper right corner. 3-0 Bellevue and all three goals were of the highest quality. In the 25th minute, Kendall won the ball at midfield and passed to Leah on the right wing with Mia already in full underlap sprint into the space behind. Leah fed Mia the ball, our senior captain beat her defender for pace on the wing and crossed back into the middle for...Leah of course, who had continued her run, spun to her left foot and smashed the ball in at the near post. Our Hollywood script-writers did an excellent job with tonight's episode, as our senior captain has been patient all season recovering from a serious ankle injury suffered a week before tryouts. Having Leah get a goal tonight in limited minutes after returning from injury is the feel-good story of the night. And it was so fun, she repeated it in the 48th minute, this time with Paris the provider and an equally lethal finish from Leah's left foot. 5-0 Bellevue. 

Redmond got a consolation goal in the 68th minute and it was tremendous. The Mustangs' speedy midfielder hit a shot from over 35yards that hit the upper left post before glancing into the net. Wondergoal. Well struck, and well celebrated. Deservedly so.  

So now we turn our attention to old rivals Lake Washington on Thursday night. Senior night. And the day before Homecoming. Emotions might be running high.

Bring on the Kangs. 

See you on Thursday as we honor our 15 seniors.