Men’s soccer still undefeated, Bellevue trounces Edmonds

By Christopher Wood
On Saturday, September 27, the BCC Bulldogs trounced the Edmonds Tritons 5-1. This maintains their undefeated streak.
The game was played on a pleasant late September day. The play was tough and fast with the ball switching sides constantly. It was a physical game. Gary Hunter, Edmonds’ men’s soccer head coach, said “get into the game” to defender Aaron Walrath. Vinni Oliviera scored the first goal alone at 21 minutes. This was followed by a comeback goal by Edmonds a minute later by Farhad Rizvi, with an assist by Aldin Tirak. In the following minute, Oliviera, with an assist by Jordan Correa, scored the third goal of the game and Bellevue’s second. However, before he scored there was an off-sides penalty called on him that was recalled after the goal.
“How is reversing an off-sides penalty after they score a goal fair?” said Sharon P., parent of an Edmonds athlete.
“It’s not typical to reverse a call after a goal is made… the referee may have been mistaken where he was,” said Adam Fenster, BCC men’s soccer head coach.
A Keiichi Ando goal at 28 minutes, with an assist by Jesse Sorteberg, would give BCC a decisive 3-1 lead going into the half.
During halftime, Hunter told his team to stop crowding the ball and support the defense. BCC’s half-time consisted of a short pep talk by the coaching staff.
Oliviera would score two more goals in the second half to give BCC their 5-1 victory over Edmonds.
“It took us a while to warm up and play,” said Fenster. “We kept the ball under control.”
However, the amount of yellow cards in the second half of the game was greater than the first. BCC received their only one of the game in the second half, while Edmonds received three. Edmonds also suffered the ejection of a player, forward Brenden Rosgen, for a red card penalty.
“The ref’ing was questionable,” said Rosgen. “It was one sided.” In reference to the call in question, he “felt it was a fair tackle.”
After the game, when asked about the refereeing, the two head coaches gave their opinions.
“The calling was fair, but the referees were not protecting the players,” said Gary Hunter.
“The referees are doing their best. It’s a tough job,” said Fenster. “Fair [calls] cannot exist in soccer.”