Missing three key starters heading into Tuesday night’s 4A Kingco boys’ soccer matchup against a solid Bothell squad, Redmond High School was unable to score in a 3-0 shutout loss.
In both halves, the Mustangs came out of the gates strong and aggressive, yet lacked the punch up front to get good shots at scoring, something that coach Pat Scheibe attributed to the holes in his starting lineup.
Sweeper Elliott Wyse and midfield/defender Preston Horner, both juniors who have been seeing a lot of time on the pitch, were out with injuries, and senior forward Victor Martinez is out for the season due to academic ineligibility.
“We got a lot of the guys back fit, but being out three starters today really hurt us, guys that had been playing 80 minutes every game,” he said. “The guys are used to them taking control in certain situations. When they’re not there, it’s (difficult).”
MISSED OPPORTUNITIES
The Cougars, known for their unrelenting offense led by a talented group club players, kept up the offensive pressure throughout the game.
The Mustang defense held their own for the most part, until a couple of defensive lapses allowed two goals in the first half, including a perfect feed from the corner off of Cougar sophomore Mauricio Aguilar to senior standout Yordan Rivera.
“We just made too many mistakes, especially goalkeeping mistakes,” Scheibe lamented. “It’s that point in time where you have to make a good choice over a bad choice, and it cost us. We created some good chances early on, especially in the first 15 or 20 (minutes), but their keeper made two good saves and after that we didn’t get an opportunity.”
Even in the loss, Scheibe noted that he got to start a lot of younger players in this game, giving them valuable experience. One of them was diminutive freshman Marcus Bircher, who drew the admiration from Bothell head coach Alex Zahajko.
“(Bircher) is quite something, he was very impressive,” Zahajko said. “Redmond came out and played the ball nicely and quickly… then we settled in and put the clamps down.”
Redmond took a total of seven shots on goal in the second half, including one that slammed into the top crossbar. For Bothell, senior defender Ryan Schroeder recorded two assists in the game, and fellow upperclassmen Russell Kilgannon, Rivera, and midfield/forward Alberto Valle each scored for the Cougars, who improved to 3-2-0 on the year in league play.
STAYING AFLOAT
Redmond, which dropped to 1-4-1 in league play and 1-6-1 overall, has shown flashes of brilliance, highlighted by 4-1 win against league power Woodinville on March 26.
“Kingco 4A is so strong, I mean (Redmond) went out and beat Woodinville 4-1,” Zahajko said.
With the struggles the Mustangs have faced on the injury front and experience-wise this season, Scheibe hopes to have some breaks go his team’s way and finish the season with some credibility as his younger players continue to develop their skills.
“Younger guys getting experience is always an important thing,” Scheibe acknowledged. “We have had periods of time where we’ve really come together.”
The Mustangs play Ballard at home on Friday night at 7:30 p.m.
To view or purchase photos from this game, visit photographer Matt Campbell’s Web site at http://www.sportspixs.com
