Who’s Hungry? The Sausages Are Done
Midlakes United 2, Portland Bangers 0
A year ago, Midlakes defeated Lane United at Bellevue College, ending the visitors’ hopes of a playoff run. History sometimes repeats itself.
Midlakes closed out its 2026 home schedule on Friday night with a commanding win over the Portland Bangers, knocking the third-place visitors out of playoff contention.
Midlakes controlled the run of play from the opening whistle, registering a shot on target in the first minute. By full time, the team had 14 shots to Portland’s 10, with five on target to the visitors’ two.
The breakthrough came in the 31st minute. Trey Mitchell slipped a clever pass through to Lucas McAllister, who penetrated the Portland back line and drove a dangerous ball across the face of goal. Scrambling to clear it, Portland defender Nicolas Mancilla mistakenly redirected the cross into his own net, and Midlakes had the lead.
Midlakes doubled the advantage in the 66th minute. Denilson Velasquez whipped in an in-swinging corner kick, and Dan McKay rose above the crowd to power a header past the keeper. It was a deserved goal for McKay, who distributed play effectively across the pitch all evening and used his physicality to command the central midfield.
McKay nearly had a second. In the 83rd minute, Kavi Badh got him on the end of a pass near the box. McKay carried it forward himself to create a two-on-one and slipped a shot through the goalkeeper’s legs. But a Portland defender swept it away just in time.
McKay and McAllister shared Man of the Match honors. McAllister was dynamic in tight spaces all night, creating a string of strong chances. He finished with four shots to go along with his part in the opening goal.
There was plenty of good work elsewhere. Captain Miguel Regino thwarted attack after attack down his right side and kept the defense organized through Portland’s attempts to fight back into the match. Reise Corpuz turned in another lively performance, using his speed down the right wing and linking play with effective overlapping runs. And in the 87th minute, Trey Mitchell turned under pressure at the top of the box and rattled a shot off the crossbar, drawing shouts from the home crowd.
Veteran Tommaso Casadei drew a loud cheer from the Lakes Loyalty when he was subbed on in the 70th minute. Over his 20 minutes of action, he was strong at center back and frequently pushed higher into a pseudo-defensive-midfield role, delivering several key passes.
At the back, Will Ficek turned aside both shots on target he faced to record his second complete-game clean sheet of the season.
The win capped an impressive run of home matches for Midlakes, whose record this year at Bellevue College was 4-2-1. Along the way, it gave perennial powerhouse Ballard FC a real run for their money for the first time and had its first wins in club history against both West Seattle Junction FC and the Bangers.
Two road matches remain this week to close out the season: Tuesday against the Tacoma Stars and Sunday against Bigfoot FC.
photos by Ruben Becerril-Geiger
