Varsity - BHS vs Lake Washington 9-30-25

Bellevue 0-2 LW

55th min LW goal from striker
65th min LW goal from corner OG

"Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose. Nobody goes undefeated all the time. If you can pick up after a crushing defeat, and go on to win again, you are going to be a champion someday."  --Wilma Ruduoph

...and so we pick ourselves up and prepare to go again on Thursday against Eastlake. 

When I found that quote from Wilma Ruduoph (worth a background read if you don't know her story...remarkable woman and athlete), I honestly rankled a bit at the "learning how to lose" part of this sentiment. As you might have guessed, I'm a very competitive person. As a former player, current coach, and even during holiday board game sessions, I really prefer to avoid losses of any kind; however, I do believe in trying new things, experimenting, and those tendancies naturally come with failure. Then learning. Then improvement over time. And that's how we'll treat our loss to LW.    

Also in the "learning how to lose" category: I definitely believe in common decency, respect, and decorum..which to me means that if we do experience a hard loss, we conduct ourselves appropriately. With honor and grace: look your opposing team in the eye after the game, respectfully shake their hands (or fist bump in a post-pandemic world), and awknowledge the referees. Which we did. I was proud of how our girls conducted themselves after the game. Well done.     

We have had a long and sometimes tumultuous rivalry with Lake Washington. We met for several years in a row, '21-'23 in the 3A Kingco Championship game (all won by our Wolverines in very tight contests, including PKs in '22). But two years ago, during state-wide reclassification, LW moved from 3A to 4A as their school grew bigger. LW's coaching staff turned-over, and our rivalry went from a competitive boil to a respectful simmer. The point is, they are a very good program that has been competitive for years now. And this is the best LW team we have played against since their State Championship in 2019 (they beat Bellevue in the state final that year). They play excellent team defense, feature a very experienced striker, tenacious midfielders, and very tricky and speedy wingers. Also they have 12 seniors. Who, until tonight, had never beaten Bellevue.  

Which is why their celebrations after our game were so exuberant. We've been their "bogey" team in recent history, and it feels good to finally beat a rival. So kudos to the Kangs, they earned their victory; 

Overall, the game was very finely balanced. We would create a flurry of chances, and then LW would wrest control of the game and pin us in our defensive third until it would teeter-totter back again. The statistics reveal what it felt like on the sidelines: 9/7 vs. 7/2 shots/corners for Bellevue/LW. And an almost perfect 50/50 possession split.  

The first half was cagey and tactical with only a few shots created by either team. A midfield stalemate as both teams poked and prodded the opposing defense looking for a weakness to exploit. To start the second half, we grabbed the momentum and created several excellent chances, dominating the first 15 minutes of the second half, including a fierce shot at the near post from Saleen that drew an excellent save from the LW keeper. We were close several times to an opening goal, but it wasn't to be. And if you allow a good opponent like LW to hang around too long, the game can shift beneath you in an instant. The opening LW goal came from nowhere in the 55th minute. An innocuous throw-in deep in our end. We had the numbers back, and the proper cover, but suffered from a rare moment of miscommunication as two of our defenders thought the other one would clear the throw-in; instead, nobody did. Next, the ball squirted through yet another Bellevue defender that had a chance to possess and clear, and the LW winger accepted our gift and squared to LW's striker, who wasn't going to miss from six yards. 0-1 LW.  

The goal energized the Kangs who began to pile up the pressure in our own end. But we were battling hard and launching dangerous counter-attacks with the final result far from determined. But then in the 65th minute, LW got the insurance goal they wanted as a back-post corner deflected off of a Bellevue defender for an own goal. It happens. If you play defender long enough, at a high enough level, you will eventually experience the full roster of frustrating misfortune: deflected own goals, fouls for PKs, accidental hand-balls...it happens. I've experienced them all myself as a player. Nothing to do but "goldfish" the moment (short memory) until we get the opportunity to review the video carefully, note what we could've done better, and improve for next time.    

The second LW goal, especially how it was scored, deflated the game. We had a few more chances (Kendall with a great shot from a corner scrum narrowly missing...), but the final whistle was 0-2 for LW.

A loss stings, but in the hurly burly grind of high school soccer, we have an opportunity to learn from the experience and go again in less than 48 hours as we travel to Eastlake. It's more fun to take lessons from a victory, but more memorable in defeat. We have the experience of one side of that equation so far this week, let's balance it out on the other.

And let's not forget the ending of Wilma's quote...if we take our lessons in defeat, then..."you are going to be a champion someday."  Let's make someday happen soon.