Boys’ soccer beats Bellevue Christian, advances in post-season

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, May 11, 2016

The Vashon High School’s boys’ soccer team has been guaranteed a playoff spot, but the team had one regular season game left to play against Bellevue Christian.

That game was played at a hot Marymoor park on Monday, May 2. It was a scrappy game, and Bellevue plays a strong back line, led by senior Dylan Parsons, but Vashon plays a strong midfield and attack, with the defense there to usually sop up what gets through.

Parsons broke down plenty of Vashon’s plays this game and scored when Vashon’s sweeper-keeper Brett Beardsley came off his line, realized he was not going to beat Bellevue’s striker to the ball, backpedaled and then watched the ball sail over him into the net. This Bellevue lead held through the end of the first half and into the second.

Vashon put together plenty of chances, both with buildup through the middle, and on their own counterattacks from Beardsley’s clears, but it was a corner kick from Alden Hinden onto the head of Bohdin Mozeleski that scored the tying goal. The game became frenetic and hard charging right to the final whistle, and Vashon held on for a tie.

Bellevue is now tied for third in the league with Seattle Christian. With a victory against Coupeville last Wednesday, Bellevue was up for a rematch against Vashon Saturday.

The playoff picture for the Pirates was set to begin with a home game for this first round game, but, unfortunately, Vashon High School’s field does not meet required standards for playoff games. The nearest open field for the team was at Kentridge High School in Kent.

It was a hot day, and the game started at 1 p.m. SATs were scheduled for that morning, and the senior prom for that night, so the boys had plenty on their minds, including where to shower and put on tuxedos after the game. Kentridge made their locker rooms available for that.

The game started where the last one had left off, and about five minutes in, Hinden let loose and hammered a shot straight up the middle. The keeper bobbled it, and Gabe Reoux got the jump the moment the shot was taken. As it spilled two yards away from the outstretched keeper, Reoux nimbly danced through and put it in by the near post.

“I saw how hard that shot was, and I knew the keeper was not going to hold on to it,” Reoux said after the game.

The game settled in to a series of great battles in midfield. Keeper Beardsley must have had some extra adrenaline for this game, as his clears were huge and created a number of chances for Vashon. The game stayed tied. Bellevue’s #5 caused the Pirates plenty of trouble too, repeatedly conducting throw-ins, which landed in the center of the penalty area until Vashon’s defense finally caught on.

After halftime, Vashon came back with a vengeance, but it was good it had a deep bench, because it was hot and players were wilting.

Beardsley had one moment of lost focus and simply whiffed on a back pass. The ball dribbled right to an onrushing striker. The surprised striker stumbled through his effort at a shot and Beardsley gobbled it up. Now the adrenaline was running through the strong support from the home crowd — Vashon actually had half the stands full. Strong bench play from Rey Rivas and Finley Oswald gave much-needed spells to the midfield, and Zane Bork put in strong shifts at striker to spell Mozeleski and Reoux. It was Sam Foucault, though, who put a move on through midfield and gave Vashon a 2-0 lead.

At this point, Bellevue took a gamble and moved Parsons into an attacking role for the remainder of the game. This allowed Vashon to have more time with the ball up front, and freshman Elliot Eades did a great defensive job handling Parsons in some repeated battles up top. Vashon came out victorious in round one.

After the game, Parsons described this season, and Bellevue Christian’s loss to Vashon in this first round as “humbling.”

Next up, Vashon will face the test of the district championships. The Pirates played Klahowya on Tuesday after press time and will play Charles Wright. Two victories are needed to advance.

— Greg Martin is the father of two

high school athletes.