For the third time in four years, the Bainbridge Island Football Club Boys Under 15 Blues team came home with the hardware from the recent Virginia Mason President’s State Cup Tournament at the Starfire Complex in Tukwila.
Winning once is a major accomplishment for any club, Coach Zachary Conner said, but this BIFC squad has shown they have the talent, skill and teamwork to more than match teams from across the state year in and year out.
Conner said whether it’s a practice or during games, “these kids simply love to knock the ball around and really enjoy the game and each other.”
In January, the Blues traveled from Bellingham to Olympia for the preliminary rounds of the tournament. They advanced to host FC Alliance from Woodinville in the quarter finals. A 2-0 victory moved them to the semifinals where they put up an identical score against the Federal Way Football Club.
For anyone who thinks soccer is not a contact sport, Conner said, this physical contest showed otherwise as the Blues made first-half goals from Andrew Masters Rao and Grant Wolff stand up to a fierce effort from the Federal Way side.
An early ferry the very next day had the boys matched in the finals against Crossfire Select.
The Blues controlled the ball in the first half with spirited midfield play from Wolff and David Nikunen.
Andy Von Bereghy, despite a broken nose sustained the day before, led the attack with several probing runs that opened up the Crossfire defense.
A steady backline defense highlighted by Daniel DeBellis and Cooper Hanson complemented the tournament-long great goalkeeping of Andy Becker to hold Crossfire at bay.
Midway through the first half Von Bereghy split the defense once again and slid a beautiful cross to Wolff who hammered the ball home — a repeat of their second goal the day before — for a 1-0 halftime lead.
The second half showed that Crossfire was in the finals for good reason, Conner said, and their increased pressure led to a far post equalizer halfway through. The intensity ramped up on each side and the game winner came off a corner kick where Max Johnson nearly cashed it in but his header hit the crossbar and Hanson alertly fed the rebound back to a waiting Nikunen 10 yards outside the box. Nikunen calmly took measure and rifled the ball home to the back corner over their outstretched keeper.
The final 10 minutes showed that Crossfire would not go away easily but the defense held on and the Blues brought home the trophy with a 2-1 final score.
“Congratulations to coach Zach Conner and the boys,” said BIFC Director of Coaching Ian McCallum.
“Back in 2010 this group was Bainbridge Island FC’s first Development Academy age group. Their success is testament to the long term development plan the club implemented,” he added. “As director of coaching, it has been a joy to watch them grow and advance, through hard work and dedication. As BHS head coach, I now reap the rewards of the hard work from the BIFC coaching staff, players and families.”
