Team bests Bothell, Roosevelt

By Michael Harthorne

The Ballard High School girls soccer team halted a four-game losing streak by defeating Bothell High School 2-0 on Oct. 7 and used the momentum from the win to beat Roosevelt High School 3-2 on Oct. 9.

Ballard (5-5-1) used early goals from juniors Sarah Ives and Rosemary Spracklin to distance itself from Bothell and was able to hold on for the win.

Coach Val Seid said the team did almost exactly what he wanted them to do - one goal 10 minutes into the game and another goal five minutes later - in order to put Bothell on its heels.

However, Ballard's intensity dropped during the second half, and the team let Bothell control the ball for a greater amount of time than they did in the first half.

Seid said the team will need to keep up pressure in the second half in the future.

Junior Adi Braun said it felt pretty good to finally be able to get a win because the team had been frustrated with the stretch of losses.

"We wanted it because we were tired of losing," senior captain Lauren Ives said.

Seid said the four losses preceding Tuesday's victory were against some of the top teams in the league, and because Ballard put itself in a position to win a number of those games, he doesn't take them as losses.

The Beavers need to keep the intensity going for the next games when they play a stretch of easier teams, he said.

"We have the momentum to win the next games," Ives said.

On Thursday the Beavers let Roosevelt score in the first minute of play, but were able to stay close and scored two goals in four minutes to close out the game.

Sara Ives added two more goals Thursday, bringing her season total to a team-leading 10. Ives is second in KingCo 4A in scoring behind Eastlake's Emily Hurd, who has 11.

The two wins were Ballard's first in the KingCo conference this season.

Michael Harthorne may be reached at 783.1244 or michaelh@robinsonnews.com