Varsity - Bellevue vs Woodinville 10-1-24

Bellevue 0-3 Woodinville
39th min 0-1
47th min 0-2
49th min 0-3

Woodinville is an excellent soccer team. The best I've seen on video during game preparation, and the best I've now seen from the sidelines. They are well-coached, organized, technical in midfield, athletic, and quick in the wide channels. So all credit to Woodinville, they beat us soundly. We take responsibility for the result and move on to the next challenge.    

Despite the lopsided scoreline, our team defense will always give us a chance. Yes, Woodinville had an advantage in possession and field position, but they didn't have many chances before their opening goal just before halftime. We blocked shots, we covered for each other, we won our 1v1 duels, and we were compact defensively. In the final calculation, Woodinville had 9 shots and 4 corners, and we created 7 shots and 6 corners. Instead, the game hinged on a few key moments that didn't go our way.   

Like our Skyline game a week ago, the dam broke in an unfortunate ten-minute span. It started in the last minute of the first half (tough time to concede), when Woodinville scored their opening goal: a well-taken free kick hit to the back-post where the Falcon's excellent center-back rose highest and headed the ball back across the goal for her teammate to head home from 1 yard away. In watching the post-game video, there isn't much to address but humbly congratulate Woodinville on a well-executed free-kick. The delivery was inch-perfect. Both Woodinville players were marked and well-challenged. The conclusion: good teams will score good goals. And this was a good goal. It's still frustrating to concede on the stroke of halftime, but not a mortal wound.  

Our halftime talk was positive. We knew what we had to do, and again, we hadn't allowed many actual chances, and the offensive spaces in midfield were beginning to open up as the game progressed as we expected from scouting. We started the second half playing in the Woodinville half of the field, controlling tempo and possession. It was a bright start. But then...we lost a bit of concentration on a Woodinville counter-attack and conceded a very soft goal. Then three minutes later we did it again. And the tone of the game fundamentally changed, as we found ourselves 0-3 down and facing a Woodinville defense that wasn't interested in a reciprocal gift exchange. To our credit, we never quit, nor hung our heads. But the die was cast and the game ended 0-3 Woodinville. 

Our next opportunity is on Thursday away at Mt. Si. The Wildcats are coming off a win against Eastlake and will be eager to continue their recent momentum. We will be ready for the challenge.