A 3-1 loss left the Spartans with a 2-1 record Friday, March 16 following a chippy defeat at the hands — and feet — of the visitors from Seattle Prep. It was the island team’s first loss of the year, having bested Kingston and West Seattle earlier in the week.
The Panthers scored first, with about 33 minutes left in the first half, but the Spartans evened things up rather quickly — nudging the score to 1-all with about 27 minutes left before the midway mark.
There the score sat until the second half when, with about 32 minutes of play left, the visitors took the lead. Less than five minutes later, they stepped further ahead (3-1), and the Spartans proved unable to respond in time.
It was no shortage of skill but a failing of nerves that allowed the Panthers to leave victorious, said BHS Head Coach Drew Keller.
The island squad let themselves get rattled — and it showed on the board.
“That’s the game,” Keller said. “The score line doesn’t always reflect what’s happening in the game.
“I thought we had more of the ball, our pass completion was, I think, stronger than theirs. That being said, they took their chances when they were given and that’s soccer.”
It was a “frustrating game,” the coach said, but one the team had always expected to be tough.
“I expected a physical game with them,” he said. “I thought for the most part it was well controlled by the referee.”
The brute force of the Panthers’ attack, plus the mid-game loss of some staple Spartans, Keller said, put the team in a bad place mentally by the second half.
“I think the physicality of the game and also just the circumstances of the goals, that, coupled with a couple guys having to come off at halftime that are solid center, midfield players, I think with the combination of that — our heads dropped a little bit,” he said. “We lost our heads a little bit with the frustration there.”
For about 15 minutes in the second half, Keller said, it was a Panther game all the way — and it was in those 15 minutes that they secured the lead that led to their win.
“It’s early and we just got to take what we can from this,” Keller said. “On a different day, I think we’d see a different result.”
The loss would have no effect on the team’s overall tactical strategy, or areas of focus in practice, the coach said, as the island squad moved into a two-game run of road matches — against Chief Sealth and Ingraham — before returning to play again at home at 6 p.m. Friday, March 23, against Lakeside.
“I don’t think it was a catastrophic result,” Keller said Friday.
“I don’t think it’s going to change our approach or how we play our game, other than just keeping our heads so that we can play our game. I think that’s the biggest takeaway.”
