Varsity - BHS vs Sehome 9-4-25

Bellevue 1 - 2 Sehome

28th min 0-1 Sehome goal
32nd min 0-2 Sehome PK goal
54th min 1-2 Nora (unassisted)

"I never lost a game in my life, I just ran out of time..." --Michael Jordan (paraphrasing Vince Lombardi)

And so it begins. Under an orange moon on a perfect late-summer evening, we began our 2025 campaign. With eleven of our sixteen Bellevue players making their varsity debut against the visiting Sehome Mariners, we knew ahead of time that our team would likely need a settling-in period. New experiences are exciting, and we want to preserve that excitment in every game we play, but there is value having gone through this process before, the muscle memory of long-term habits, the familiarity of teammates, even the tiny details of being comfortable knowing the logistics of pre-game warm-ups without wondering "what's next" or "where should I be" at any given moment. All seemingly inconsequential little taxes on our mental reservoir that add up in the margins. And with every successive game, our comfort level will grow and be replaced with a calm competitive confidence that translates into a bit more patience on the ball, in our passing, and in our decision-making. In short, I'm confident we will get better. It's a campaign, not a primary.  

Although we obviously would've preferred a different result, I'm proud of how we competed in our home opener. The Sehome team returned an identical roster from the team that we narrowly defeated a year ago in a very balanced contest...but with the significant addition of a senior division I college-committed-forward (that our freshman left-back handled without any fuss, danger, or drama...well done Maggie). So we knew before kick-off that Sehome would be even better than a year ago. And they were. The biggest change in moving up the levels in soccer is time and space: there is less of it. And Sehome did a very good job of pressing the ball in central areas which made it very difficult to build a consistent rhythm offensively. We had moments of beauty and quick ball movement. But those moments weren't linked together with enough consistency. However, on the other side of the ball, I was proud how we competed. We maintained a good defensive shape, were brave in our challenges, covered for each other, and held a very good and experienced Sehome forward line to just six chances on goal. Unfortunately, they scored on two of them. One a deflected fluke (it happens) in the 28th minute. And the other a "grey-area" coming-together PK decision that Katelyn almost saved just a few minutes later. All within a poor four-minute period late in the first half. 0-2 Sehome at halftime. 

We re-grouped in the shed at half. Discussed what was working and what needed addressing (communication, patience in passing, positional adjustments, technical execution, etc.), and played a very solid second half. Early non-conference games involve a lot of little experiments as we try to find our best positional rotation and player fit. We are learning new roles, or are being used in slightly uncomfortable positions as we attempt to assemble our formational jig-saw puzzle. And we learned a lot about what worked well, and what needs more practice. In the 54th minute we cut the deficit with a thunderbolt from Nora from 30yards out. Excellent strike from our senior captain. 1-2 Sehome and hope reigns for an epic comeback. For the last twenty minutes, we pressed hard for an equalizer that never came. Ava's last-second attempt looked like it would nestle just inside the crossbar, but missed by a whisker on the opposite side of the post. Final whistle. 1-2 Sehome. Final stats tell an honest story: 10 shots, 2 corners for Bellevue, 6 shots, 2 corners for Sehome: Tight-herky-jerky midfield contest decided by just a few important moments.  

So now we re-group and prepare for next week. Our remaining three non-conference games are against teams that all qualified for the quarterfinals of the 3A state playoffs: Wesco Champions Shorewood, 2nd place Metro League finishers Eastside Catholic, and defending state champs Seattle Prep. We don't schedule cupcakes. Time and space will be similarly squeezed. And I'm looking forward to seeing our team step-up to the upcoming challenges. On Tuesday we travel to Shoreline (first road trip, more new experiences) before traveling to Eastside Catholic on a rare Friday night game.
For those of you soccer junkies who want to re-watch varsity games, or for out-of-state grandparents and family who want to watch their grand-daughters play soccer, most of our games are streamed at NFHSnetwork.com (for a monthly fee). Also, for the benefit of our team, we upload games to the Hudl video review platform (like Veo, etc.). Each player will have access, and as the season goes by, we will edit highlights of each game for review and lessons learned. 

Thank you to the supporters who attended last night's game. And to our parent game announcer, who did an excellent job adding to the fun atmosphere. Also congratulations to our JV squad who used a magnificent second-half performance to win their home-opener 5-1. 
 
Again, congratulations to all of the players who made their varsity debut last night.
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It's a campaign, not a primary.