Bellevue, WA (June 3 by Sy Hoekstra)
A Devastating Loss and a Thrilling Win
Midlakes United 0, Ballard FC 5
There is little happy to report about Thursday night’s loss against Ballard FC, one of the league’s most well-known teams and the current division leader. Ballard crossed the lake and won an imperious victory at Bellevue College, scoring five and permitting none.
Most of the goals were not very close calls. The exception was a penalty kick from forward Elliot Spatz. Keeper Fred Reiter guessed the correct direction, but the shot had too much velocity for him to handle.
Particularly dangerous were the defenders Khai Brisco and Davis Mungomba, who combined remarkable speed and strength to command the midfield from the back line and lead several attacks. Both effectively shut down Midlakes’ offense and scored a goal apiece. Brisco plays for the Tacoma Stars’ MASL team and was on the Seattle Sounders’ USL Championship affiliate for two seasons. Mungomba plays for Seattle University after his time on a U-19 side in the Bundesliga.
Midlakes began the game with some life, coming out aggressively for the first several minutes. But the initial Ballard goal took the wind out of their sails. Energy was low and the side was cautious. They had only two shots on goal all game, neither on-target.
When asked what the team needed to do to create more offensive opportunities, Head Coach Felix Vu did not mince words. “A lot. I think right now we’re having a few issues once we get into that final third getting support from behind, and in front as well.” He noted that combinations on the offensive end would be a priority for the team to work on moving forward.
Snohomish United 1, Midlakes United 3
Whatever Vu did with the team between Thursday night and Sunday afternoon, he should do more of it. It was his first win in USL Two league play. And it took a lot of grit from Midlakes, despite the fact that the game was never all that close.
It was an afternoon away match versus Snohomish United. Midlakes came out swinging. They created a lot of chaos around the opposing side’s goal in the early minutes. And a scramble in front of the net 16 minutes into the game resulted in Jason Buezo passing to Alex Bazia for a clean finish. In addition to the assist, Buezo would have three shots on goal himself, one on-target.
Eight minutes after the first goal, Left back Eiji Hata placed a perfectly weighted cross in front of Midlakes’ top goal scorer, forward Alex Notzka, for a header at the near post. Midlakes was rolling.
Then, a moment that could have been a real gut-punch. Hata got a yellow card in the 22nd minute, and another just a few minutes later. The ref sent him off. Midlakes would play a man down for over two-thirds of the match.
But they did not back down. Less than ten minutes later, Bazia gave the ball to University of Pennsylvania midfielder Patrick Cayelli who fired a rocket into the back of the net from just over 25 yards out. It was Cayelli’s first goal of the season, and it was a statement. That would be all the scoring for the first half.
The key to Midlakes’ post-red-card success was the goal keeping of Western Oregon University’s Fred Reiter. With well over a dozen saves in the latter 60 minutes, Reiter outshined anyone’s expectations. The only goal conceded came in the 69th minute when Reiter saved a penalty kick only to have it take a bad bounce right in front of Snohomish forward Scott Menzies who immediately launched it between the posts. Reiter is a returning player from Midlakes inaugural team, and he didn’t have significant experience in goal before last year. So this performance was particularly gratifying for his coaches. And the Man of the Match award was not a difficult choice.
Snohomish is a new team to the league this year, and the match against Midlakes was their home opener. They won their first four games on the road, outscoring opponents 7-1. On Sunday, Midlakes rudely awakened them from their dream start.
