Closing out the regular season with a coveted second-seed to the 4A West Central District tournament on the line, the Bellarmine boys soccer team fought madly to the final whistle, but was unable to break free of a 3-3 draw with the top-seeded Gig Harbor Tides and find themselves on a much more difficult road as the fourth seed into the tournament.
On several occasions, including twice in the waning minutes of the match, Bellarmine senior forward Drew Barker missed his chance at finalizing a hat-trick for himself and a victory for his Lions.
Shortly after the opening whistle, Gig Harbor struck first as junior forward Edwin Brown weaved between two Bellarmine defenders on the right wing, made his way toward the goal, and as goalkeeper Dylan Zurfluh committed to leaning to his left, punched the ball into the other side of the goal and the Tides had a 1-0 lead four minutes into the match.
Ten minutes later Bellarmine junior midfielder Luke Witker looped a perfect pass across the box to Barker, who paused just long enough for Gig Harbor goalkeeper Matt Stephens to charge out after the ball. Barker delivered a perfect shot to the back right of the goal and the score was tied 1-1.
Bellarmine would strike again seven minutes later as Witker launched a long throw-in deep into the box. A defender got a head on it pushing the ball away from the goal, but onto the waiting foot of Bellarmine sophomore defender Ryan Clark who deposited a shot into the back left of the net. Bellarmine led 2-1.
Thirty minutes in on a free kick, Barker skipped a short pass to Clark who nudged it right back to Barker who lofted a shot over the goalkeepers head, only to find the bottom edge of the crossbar and the ball bounced back out. However, a Tides defender had gotten a hand on the ball and a penalty kick was subsequently awarded.
Barker lined up the penalty, hesitated for a moment, and delivered a strong kick just wide right of the goal. Bellarmine would go on to miss the chance badly, as Gig Harbor took advantage of the situation and went back on the offensive, breaking down the Lions defense at the 39-minute mark when Gig Harbor’s Tommy Martin found a slashing Tyler Vu open in front of the goal and crossed a solid pass to the freshman who put it into the back left of the net. The teams would enter halftime tied 2-2.
“It was our last game at our home field this year,” said Barker. “We came out strong and pretty much dominated the whole game. We just didn’t finish our chances and come away with the win. Hopefully we can get them next time.”
During the break, injured Bellarmine senior Eric Musica exhorted his teammates to make the most of the opportunity in front of them and to leave nothing left on the field for the next 40 minutes.
His teammates responded quickly as junior forward Chris Hanson crossed a pass from the right-wing to a cutting Barker who put the Lions up 3-2 with his second goal of the match.
Bellarmine remained on the attack for the next twenty minutes but came away empty on four solid chances at the Gig Harbor goal.
At the 28-minute mark following a questionable no-call on a tackle from behind, the Tides flashed the ball forward with three quick passes and Ike Northstrom found the inside of the right post and the equalizer goal for a 3-3 tie.
Gig Harbor (11-1 Narrows) amplified the pressure over the next ten minutes and it looked as though they were sure to find a game winner during the run. However, the Tides’ best was three shots, fired much too strong, that all sailed high over the goal.
In the final minute, Barker made two solid runs at the Gig Harbor goal, and like his opponents, put too much foot on the ball and the shots sailed high and the final whistle blew.
“The guys did a great job and did everything we asked them to do,” said former Tacoma Stars icon and long-time Bellarmine head coach Joe Waters. “The only thing we didn’t do was put the extra goal in the back of the net to give it to us. I’m happy the way they played.
“They were committed right to the end and never gave up. We nearly scored two goals in the last minute. The guys did a fine job. We came out and showed our true colors – how we can play. Now we’ve got to make sure we do that the rest of the way.”
Bellarmine (6-5-1 Narrows) will play a loser-out match against Federal Way (11-3-2 overall) on Thursday night in the opening round of the WCD 4A tournament at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup at 7:00 p.m.