Two home games on Wednesday, Oct. 8 had the Bulldogs fighting hard out on the field, leading to flawless winning games against Edmonds Men and Women’s Soccer. Bellevue College’s men’s team earned a final score of 5-0, while the women’s team brought home a win of 2-0.
Kicking it off with Bellevue College Men’s Soccer, the Bulldogs went back and forth with the Edmonds Tritons for the majority of the first half. Edmonds played aggressively and attempted multiple goals, but goalkeeper Mason Duarte and the defensive players worked together to guard Bellevue’s side of the field. With time nearly coming to a close, striker Benjamin Huller scored the first goal of the game at 43:25, bringing Bellevue to a lead of 1-0, ending the first half.
Led by Coach John Buttle, the Bulldogs have been challenging themselves this season as they are determined to get to the Northwest Athletic Conference Championship and steal the first-place prize. The team keeps good communication during plays, and they motivate one another to perform their best out on the field.
“Last year we missed the playoffs by a point and this year we are in the hunt … When you get a team that believes in themselves and the playoffs, anything can happen, and I think this group is fully capable of doing that,” said Buttle.
Picking up motivation in the second half, the Bulldogs scored their second goal at just 2:20 into the half. Central midfielder Sergio Mercado hit a corner kick, assisting Santiago Vergara in scoring. Bellevue continued to dominate from then on, leading Vergara to make another shot at the back of the net, earning Bellevue their third point at 64:35.
Keeping good teamwork, Loic Charles-Antoine set up right winger Hongfan Wei to score Bellevue’s fourth goal at 82:49. With the clock ticking towards the final minutes left of the game, the Bulldogs pulled through with a fifth goal at 87:43. The corner kick by center midfielder Kingston Darocy allowed Charles-Antoine to score, making an impressive final score of 5-0 for Bellevue.
When asked about obstacles faced throughout the season, left winger Hamza Elmetwally stated, “Just adapting to a new team. It’s not easy, but I think that it’s impossible to avoid challenges and obstacles; it’s how you get around them.”
Bellevue College Men’s Soccer has put in substantial effort, not only in this game but throughout the entire season. Facing off against Edmonds has exceeded their expectations, and there is plenty more fire built up in them. You won’t want to miss their next home game against Shoreline on Oct. 22 at 2 p.m.
Getting into Bellevue College Women’s Soccer, the Bulldogs played a fiercely competitive game. At the beginning of the first half, Bellevue got the chance to corner kick, attempting a goal that was met with Edmonds’ goalkeeper successfully defending their net. Minutes later, forward Oteta Kitiona scored the first goal of the game, with the assistance of forward Kiara Scheidt at 11:23. Earning themselves an early lead, the Bulldogs stayed confident and defended their net throughout the rest of the half.
Coach Richard Romain-Dika is extremely proud of this team when it comes to strategy, communicating, tackling obstacles and overall dedication to the sport. He believes the Bulldogs have what it takes to make it to the Northwest Athletic Conference Championship after earning their position in the playoffs last year for the first time in program history.
When asked about the difficulties of this season, Romain-Dika mentioned, “We have a lot of good players and we cannot play every single one of them, so in certain games some of them don’t get to play. It’s a bit hard because you want to build confidence in every player.”
By the second half, the Bulldogs persisted in taking ownership of the ball from Edmonds. The Tritons had made multiple attempts at a goal, but Bellevue’s goalkeeper Lilian Johnston followed through in protecting Bellevue’s lead. After plenty of back and forth between the two teams, Bellevue put away a second goal at 69:41. Forward Natalie Jas hit a cross kick from the corner, setting up Scheidt to strike the back of the net. Winning with a final score of 2-0, Bellevue is now standing in second place in the North Region with an overall record of 4-1-2.
After an intense game with a satisfying ending, the Bulldogs are happy to have won the match against Edmonds, whom they had previously tied with earlier in the season. Defensive player Ila Bezzant commented, “Last time we played this college, we tied 2-2. That was heartbreaking for us because we know that we can play better, so the 2-0 outcome was really beneficial for not only our self-esteem but our ranking.”
Bellevue College Women’s Soccer has made an outstanding start to the season so far; the team has pushed itself to do better with every game, and the hard work shows. Catch them at their next home game against Shoreline on Oct. 22 at 4:15 p.m.
