The Ballard High School boys’ soccer team suffered a heart-breaking loss on Friday night against the Woodinville Falcons at the Interbay Sports Complex. Despite controlling the game for most of the 80 minutes and heavily outshooting their opponent, the Beavers fell 1 to 3. Compounding a sluggish start, Ballard was scored on within the first ten minutes when the ball took an unlucky bounce off of one of their defenders and into their own goal. By halftime, the Beavers were down 0-2.
Ballard gets psyched up in their halftime huddle. Captains Sofien El-Mehrik and Brent Campbell lead the charge.
When the guys took the field for the second half, however, they came out flying – two shots within the first minute. A rocket in the fifth minute fired by midfielder Sam Zisette that careened off the crossbar, shaking the goal visibly and moving the 100-person crowd to cheers. They kept the pressure on and the intensity up until they were rewarded with a free kick from 30 yards out. When captain Sofien El-Mehrik sent the ball on goal, it once again ricocheted off the crossbar, only this time it bounced straight to co-captain Brent Campbell, who was ready for it. “I was trying to get the guys pumped up. I was shooting from everywhere I could,” said Campbell after the game. This time it worked and he one-timed the rebound into the back of the net to bring the Beavers to within one goal.
In the end, though, despite their dominance on the field for the rest of the game, the Beavers took on another fluke goal in the final minutes, making it 1 to 3 and putting a win out of reach.
Action at midfield. Ballard (in white) moves to steal the ball from Woodinville and go on the attack.
You can bet that Coach Gary Hunter noticed a few things to work on in practice before the next game. Hunter grew up playing at Lakewood High School and later at Seattle Pacific University (where he was a striker). He received his teaching degree from SPU and a Master’s in Sports Administration from Grambling State University in Louisiana. Hunter, now living in Seattle, teaches physical education at BHS and has been the boys’ varsity soccer coach since 1999. His goal for this season is to qualify for the Kingco Tournament in early May. He’ll first have to get his team through some tough competition to get there, though.
The Beavers’ next game, versus Bothell High School, is this Tuesday, April 5th at 7:30pm at their home field at the Interbay Sports Complex. Come support your local soccer team!
Contributor Ben Lee is passionate about soccer. He lives in Ballard and enjoys watching the BHS team. If you’re interested in writing about high school sports for MyBallard please email us at tips@myballard.com.
so ballard dominated the game but took 3 “fluke” goals? lol must have a son on the team there….
It’s soccer, no one cares!