Snohomish Gets Revenge
Snohomish United 2, Midlakes United 1
photos by Sandra Agbotse
As Goalkeeper Coach Elmer Rodriguez noted before kickoff at Friday’s away match, Snohomish United was looking for revenge after Midlakes spoiled their home debut last season in dramatic fashion. Unfortunately, the home squad got what they wanted.
The match was a tale of two halves, one deeply frustrating and one more promising. Snohomish dominated the first 45. Their possession advantage was overwhelming; first-half shots went 13-1 in their favor, and 8-1 for corners. The defense did quite well under the pressure, throwing bodies in front of shots and blocking passing lanes. Dylan Wojdyla got Player of the Match for anticipating attacks, winning several duels, and making clever decisions on the ball. And some unexpected, though certainly welcome, aid came from forward Idin Fakhri. He dropped deep and made key challenges on his side of the pitch all half, drawing praise from the traveling Midlakes supporters.
But Midlakes’ inability to keep possession meant the relief from the pressure was nearly always short-lived. Snohomish finally broke through in the 42nd minute when Nicolas Wiskel took a throw-in at midfield, shrugged off a defender, and crossed to former Midlakes player Cooper Brunell, who sent in the opening goal against his former club.
The game was a physical one throughout: three yellow cards were issued, two to Midlakes players. Both sides threw themselves in front of shots and made bold challenges. The whistle blew regularly throughout the match.
Midlakes came back out after halftime with more hunger on offense, outshooting Snohomish 10-4 in the second half. In the 47th minute, Trey Mitchell played a short ball to Fakhri on the right wing. Fakhri dribbled through a pair of defenders before one poked the ball loose. It found Mitchell, whose shot deflected off a defender directly to Riley Cotton. Cotton finished one-on-one with the keeper to level the score. Following Cotton’s impressive freshman campaign at Robert Morris University, this was his first USL League Two goal.
But the equalizer didn’t last long. Four minutes later, Zack Meier booted a long ball from his own half to Oscar Santana. Santana got around Wojdyla to break through the backline and finished past Fred Reiter to put Snohomish back ahead. Midlakes kept pushing but couldn’t find an answer. Defender Tommaso Casadei came on as a substitute and kept the opposing attack largely quiet in the closing minutes, but the result held.
photos by Ruben Becerril-Geiger
With Sunday’s trip to West Seattle Junction FC still ahead, the road trip isn’t over yet. Eight games remain in the season. After three straight losses, Midlakes will need to turn things around quickly if they want to make something of their strong start.
