A constant, heavy Puget Sound spring mist came down for the full 90 minutes in Evergreen High School Wolverine’s Friday night game against the Foster Bulldogs, making for tough playing conditions and 75 scoreless minutes in the 1-1 tie on April 1.

Foster HS scored in the 76th minute and held the lead until the 84th minute when Evergreen's Kevin Ventura put in a set play equalizer, leading to the tie.

Most of the game was played in the midfield with a slippery ball and soaked pitch slowing the game down at points and skipping through balls beyond streaking strikers’ reach.

Evergreen had the majority of possession in the first half, getting a handful of shots on Foster’s goal and winning four corner kicks. Evergreen’s midfield dominated possession around the center line, finding their greatest success working the ball to the outside.

Dylan Laquire, left midfield, caused Foster’s defense problems making runs down the sideline and working the ball back into the forwards, but to no avail.

Evergreen didn’t find much luck throughout the first half playing through balls to their forwards, likely a combination of weather conditions and a Foster back line that played solid in the first half.

Foster was unable to get much going on offense, rarely developing plays close to the 18-yard box before they were broken up by Evergreen’s defense.

Second Half

Foster came out with a stronger showing in the second half, taking over in midfield possession and creating several chances for their fast front line.

In the 58th minute a Foster midfielder drove a cross from near the corner flag across the 6-yard box which Evergreen goalkeeper Chris Ruiz got a slight hand to going up against an airborne Bulldog forward, sending the ball across the field and out of play.

Four minutes later Foster was on the attack again, their forward breaking free from Evergreen’s defense at the half-line on a through ball. The pass put him one-on-one with goalkeeper Ruiz but a long touch just before the 18-yard line gave Ruiz the chance to push the ball aside with his boot rather than going down to smother it.

It was starting to look like Foster was destined to go one up.

A few minutes later Evergreen midfielder David Garcia was taken down 15 yards out from Foster’s 18-yard line, resulting in a yellow card for Foster’s guilty party. Jorge Delgado, Evergreen’s set play specialist, took a shot from the foul spot but his drive quickly knuckled away to the right of goal. Delgado would have a chance to redeem himself later in the match.

The goals start coming late

In the 76th minute the deadlock was broken. Foster worked the ball between two players on the left side of the 18-yard box with one breaking free enough to lay a pass across to a waiting Bulldog at the 18-yard line. He one-touched a solid shot that rolled the side-netting, well out of a fully-stretched Ruiz’s reach.

“As you see they had a lot of speed up front and they surprised us with a goal … we weren’t expecting that,” Evergreen coach Omar Lara said after the game.

Evergreen didn’t take kindly to their possible demise and began dominating from that point forward, attacking with a second wind that began breaking down Foster’s defense. They had two good shots on goal in the next 10 minutes, but Foster’s goalkeeper was up to task.

In the 84th minute Foster’s goalkeeper took the ball in his hands and signaled for his team to push forward for a long kick.

Instead he dropped the ball to his feet and slowly started dribbling towards his 18-yard-line, a time-honored time-wasting technique when up by a goal in the waning final minutes.

Evergreen’s Coach Lara yelled from the sidelines to pressure the keeper, so Evergreen’s frontline sprinted towards him, causing a momentary lapse of reason as the keeper picked the ball up again (it is illegal for the goalkeeper to pick the ball up for a second time after playing it to their feet).

The referee was on the call, giving Evergreen a free kick just inside the 18-yard box (not a penalty shot).

Jorge Delgado ran onto the set play ball, faking a shot and instead flicking the ball slightly back to incoming center midfielder Kevin Ventura who struck the ball low into the left side of the goal, past Foster’s wall of defenders and goalkeeper, tying the game up at 1-1.

Evergreen kept the pressure on for the last five minutes, keeping the ball almost completely in Foster’s half.

Midfielders Erik Lopez and David Garcia both had shots that were on frame, but Foster’s keeper wasn’t letting anything else by that night.

Evergreen’s record stands at 2-2-1 (two wins, two losses, one tie) and their next game is against Highline at the Highline Stadium on Monday, April 11.

Correction: Next game is April 12, Tuesday against Highline at Highline Stadium.