Bellevue, WA – July 7 – Sy Hoekstra
A Tough Week with Some Silver Linings
West Seattle Junction FC 2, Midlakes United 1
Last Wednesday night’s game was the best chance Midlakes had to notch one more in the win column before the end of the season. West Seattle Junction came into the night having drawn four times—one against Midlakes—and lost every other game. They were at the very bottom of the division table. They have been extensively experimenting with their formation and their starting 11 in the hopes of finding anything that would work.
Against Midlakes, something clicked. Junction had greater possession throughout the game, stronger attacks, and more than double the shots on goal (25 to Midlakes’ 12). It was not for lack of opposition though. Midlakes earned several opportunities at Junction’s end of the field during the first half—including a wide-open net in front of a Francisco Magaña header—but could never quite finish.
Then, in the 41st minute, midfielder Lukas Shriner found himself defending in the box when a Junction player collided with his back. Shriner was going after the ball, which he touched first, and the contact was clearly unintentional. Nevertheless, the referee called a penalty, and keeper Brian Lanier guessed the wrong direction. It was 1-0 Junction.
But it didn’t stay that way for too long. Midlakes’ opportunities kept coming. In the 59th minute, Jason Buezo drove skillfully into Junction’s box and crossed to midfielder Cooper Brunell who sent a clean shot into the back of the net. It was Brunell’s second goal after his first the game before. His goal, plus his effectiveness in connecting with attacking players through the middle of the field all game, earned him the Man of the Match nod.
The rest of the second half was similar to the first. Midlakes had several chances, particularly on counter-attacks, but couldn’t get a shot over the line. And they permitted Junction too many opportunities. The final goal was not pretty. Junction created mass chaos in front of the net, and Lanier came out to defend. He collided with the attacker who had possession, and the ball unluckily dribbled slowly into the goal. That was the 88th minute. Midlakes got six minutes of additional time, but couldn’t answer. Junction had their first win of the season.
There was one scary moment when defender Eiji Hata, a stalwart member of Midlakes’ back line all season, took a hard kick in the leg when he went in for a tackle. A substitute came on amidst fears of a significant injury. But fortunately, after examinations, he was cleared to play and was back on the field for Midlakes’ next match.
Ballard FC 3, Midlakes United 0
Midlakes fans could be forgiven for failing to see the upside of losing once again to the team that is a perennial standout nationwide among the USL League Two’s almost 150 squads. But there were definitely some bright sides in this 3-0 loss.
Generally the defense did quite well. They demonstrated aggression and ferocity, with some excellent tackling and much more winning possession than their previous contest with Ballard. Outstanding on the defense was Philip Kleemann, who got the Man of the Match award. Hata did well too, and played all 90 minutes despite his injury the previous game.
Neither of Ballard’s first two goals were down to defensive misplays. The first came in the 38th minute after a great save by keeper Levi Bieber, but an unfortunate bounce on the rebound made it easy for Ballard forward Joe Dale to score. The second, also before the half, came off of a corner kick.
Ballard had the majority of possession throughout the game, though Midlakes moved the scales somewhat in their direction during the second half. The attacking end of Midlakes’ formation had several excellent passages of play with quick movement. But there weren’t enough of those moments, probably due to some fatigue from the energy expended on defense.
The final goal came in the 87th minute when Ballard switched its plan of attack and came down the left side, the opposite of where they had been attacking all night. There was a long footrace that Midlakes defenders lost, and a cut-back pass made it through to Ballard forward Elliot Spatz, who took a quick shot into the back of the net.
With the win, Ballard clinched their third division title in a row. And Midlakes was officially knocked out of playoff contention.
