Bellevue, WA – June 17 – Sy Hoekstra
A Weekend of Drawing 🖊️🖋️🔏✏️
Midlakes United 1, West Seattle Junction FC 1
On Wednesday night, Midlakes’ play against West Seattle Junction was aggressive and energetic throughout the first half. But for much of that time, they had little to show for it. The team’s attacks were well-coordinated, particularly while Junction was in transition. They just couldn’t finish. One consistent issue was Midlakes players being caught offsides, killing momentum. By the end of the game, the ref had called Midlakes offsides ten separate times, an unwelcome team record.
But the players held their resolve during the first half. In particular, as in recent matches, Jack-Ryan Jeremiah was crucial in steadily driving the midfield and creating opportunities with skillful runs and crosses. On defense, newcomer Sacko Konate, recently coming to Midlakes from the UPSL’s Bellevue Athletic, was central in fending off Junction attacks. Often the last man between the ball and the keeper, Konate won possession several times and started quick, effective counterattacks.
Consistently dangerous for Midlakes was striker and Captain Francisco Magaña, who has strung together a few impressive games after he was left off the starting eleven for a couple matches following two lackluster performances. In the 41st minute, he was finally able to reward Midlakes’ steadfast attacking. With an assist from midfielder Allen Escalante, Magaña headed the ball toward the net. It arched so high in the air that the keeper didn’t make the slightest move to defend, assuming it was going over the crossbar. But the ball fell neatly into the goal for a 1-0 Midlakes lead.
As the second half went on, Midlakes’ aggression waned in favor of trying to run down the clock. In the final minutes, the change in tactics got too cute for the referee, who gave goal keeper Fred Reiter a yellow card for time-wasting. The upshot was that Junction had more and more offensive chances, finishing the game with 7 shots on target, 17 total on goal. Those numbers were 4 and 10 respectively for Midlakes.
In a story becoming familiar to Midlakes fans, Reiter performed admirably, but in the end he simply had too much to deal with. His five saves, a couple of them sparkling, weren’t quite enough. In the 85th minute, a smooth passing play through the middle by Junction’s attacking midfielder Riki Kobayashi found Joschi Schelb who whipped the ball into the net from just inside the penalty area.
A couple emergency substitutions and several scrambling attacks later, Midlakes had to settle for a draw. It was a disappointing finish for a game against the team currently at the bottom of the division table.
Bigfoot Football Club 3, Midlakes United 3
When a shot by midfielder Jason Buezo bounced off a Bigfoot defender for an own goal in the 13th minute of Sunday’s afternoon away game, it looked like Midlakes was going to have its first truly dominant match since pre-season play. It was already the team’s second goal. Just six minutes after kickoff, center back Angel Martinez played a long ball to midfielder Patrick Cayelli. Mid-bounce, Cayelli chipped it over the Bigfoot keeper’s head, plunking it over the line and into the net.
But as time went on, Midlakes spoiled a couple opportunities for additional goals. And once again, they hampered themselves with an outsized number of offsides calls. So Bigfoot’s defense was able to settle in.
Most of the rest of the half was quiet, with one notable exception. Reiter hurt his shoulder extending on a save. Midlakes’ trainer cleared him to stay in the game, but a few minutes later, a collision with a Bigfoot player sent him to the ground. The shoulder pain became too much, and back-up keeper Levi Bieber came in for the first time in several games. Later examinations revealed a rotator cuff injury that will keep Reiter off the pitch for the remainder of the season.
Less than ten minutes later, as the half drew to a close, Bieber faced his first test. Midlakes Midfielder Eiji Hata tackled Bigfoot’s Patrick Kearney in the box, earning Bigfoot a penalty kick. Kearney, a Seattle University forward, had no trouble finding the back of the net. The half ended 2-1 Midlakes.
The latter 45 began evenly matched, both sides maintaining respectable possession and earning a couple tries on goal. But Bigfoot struck first, Kearney firing a shot into the corner of the net from outside the box to level the score.
Midlakes retook the lead in the 78th minute when Jeremiah, making a beautiful outside run, sent it through to forward Alex Bazia. The two outmaneuvered the defense and caught the keeper flatfooted. Bigfoot’s back line played fairly far forward the whole game. Jeremiah and Bazia were finally able to find a way to take advantage of their position, and Bazia put the finishing touch on the goal.
But Midlakes couldn’t hold on to the lead quite as long as they needed to. Bigfoot scored again in stoppage time, and both teams came away with a point.
Midlakes is now just over halfway through the season, having played eight league matches with six remaining. They’re in the middle of the division standings and will need to hold on to their leads more effectively than this past weekend to have any hope of a playoff berth.
