The last few years have been a work in progress for Coach Eduardo Millan and his men’s soccer team. After coming over in 2018, the team went a dismal 0-14-1 record in his first season. The next year they went 4-9-3, including a decisive upset win over Highline near the end of the season. Now, Millan and company are keeping a steady flow of improvement, with Bellevue going 2-1-1 in their first four games, with one left on the schedule.
The first two games were perhaps the more forgettable matches so far, a 4-4 tie with Highline and a 5-0 shutout loss against Tacoma. Highline, who remain the only undefeated team in the West Region, was pushed to the limit by the Bulldogs, especially with six total goals scored in the first half. While Thomas Nguyen and Lucas De Araujo both had goals of their own, the glory goes to Leandro Anaya who picked up two of them, with key assists by De Araujo and Masahiko Kaneko. In fact, there were only five total shots on goal against Highline goalie Sam Prusynski, giving Bellevue an 80% success rate. Meanwhile, Lucas Richardson was kept busier for BC, coming up with nine saves in addition to the four goals that Highline did score. It was also a more aggressive game from both ends, with Highline picking up three yellow cards throughout. Marcos Lopez from Bellevue also had one. The only thing holding Bellevue from a win was Nick Peterson accidentally scoring on his own goal at the 72-minute mark.
Bellevue only managed two shots on goal against Tacoma in their second game, both saved by Jim Beam. Meanwhile, despite even playing time by Richardson and his fellow goalie Preston Livingston, neither came away spotless from the Tacoma assault. Nine different members managed shots at the Bellevue defense, with five different players scoring the five goals.
As for the last two, while no statistics are officially on record, it would appear that Bellevue has its defensive struggles largely figured out. After allowing nine goals in their first two games, they bounced back with two consecutive victories over Pierce by scores of 6-1 and 2-1.
Millan has never been one to shy away from a challenge, expressing enthusiasm constantly throughout even their winless 2018 season. At the pace that Bellevue is going, it shouldn’t be long before Millan can bring the BC team to the standards set for him through his previous coaching experiences. He has a track record including taking the Highline High School women’s soccer team to three consecutive district tournaments and then getting the boy’s team to make their first district tournament in over a decade. Bellevue is in good hands.
