Spokane Velocity made the trek across the Evergreen State Wednesday night for their second straight opening matchup against The Bridges of Ballard FC. These two sides have become familiar foes in the last two renditions of the Open Cup.
In the 2024 Open Cup First Round, Ballard FC found themselves in a deadlock through 97 minutes before Andre Lewis of Spokane dealt the final blow. Spokane took the result in stride, sneaking through to the USL League 1 playoffs only to lose out in the league Final vs Union Omaha 3-0 in their debut season; paired with an Open Cup exit in the Third Round against Las Vegas Lights in a 2-1 loss.
Ballard FC brought a roster bolstered with some of the best amateur players the Pacific Northwest has to offer. Former Seattle Sounders legend and Ballard Coach James Riley would face yet another test getting his squad up to speed in their toughest match of the season against the fully professional in-state foes.
Ballard would not be out of their depth in the slightest. Big-game pedigree runs in the Ballard veins coming off of a USL League 2 National Title in 2023, and 2024 Northwest Division Champions in their first two seasons. With excitement in the air for a 2024 Open Cup Round 1 rematch, late addition Kelyn Rowe, former Seattle Sounder and USMNT player, joined the ranks of Ballard’s midfield to bring the experience and stability of an experienced professional to hopefully turn the tide.
You couldn’t have asked for a better night of classic PNW soccer. Wind and rain would never stop the Ballard Faithful packing Interbay Stadium. The sellout crowd was mixed with Spokane’s traveling possie who hoped to see success following a weekend match and with eight new signings taking part in the game.
The match kicked off at 7:36pm. Ballard approached the game with physicality and work rate at the forefront of their tactics.
In the 11th minute the newfound rivalry showed its colors. Charlie Kosakoff stuck right in with a crunching tackle on Spokane Captain Colin Fernandez. Kelsey Harms under center as the night’s match official had her hands full moments later, in the 14th minute, she found herself managing a shove-scuffle with Spokane providing an equally bold sliding challenge that couldn’t feel any more retaliatory to Kosakoff’s antics just a few minutes prior.
It took 20 minutes until attacking football could shine through. Spokane had Ballard pinned in their defensive third, working the ball around from right to left before service was whipped into a busy penalty area. Unfortunately for Spokane, Ballard blocked several attempts ultimately clearing the box with a shoulder-ed deflection. Ballard goalkeeper Charles Lanphier easily scooped the deflected ball and found the counter down their right side indicating that until they could relieve the forward pressure of Spokane, this would be their main success to disrupt Spokane’s high position.
Spokane kept pressure on in the 24th Minute. Bryce Meredith got the positioning edge over Ballard captain Joseph Dale on the left flank. Reaching to stop the advance, Dale caught Meredith on a sliding challenge. Spokane kept possession so advantage was played, but it wouldn’t be long before the official returned to Dale to take his name down awarding a rightfully earned yellow card.
Ballard’s disruptive and aggressive challenges began to take a toll on Spokane. Spokane’s reliance on direct action played into Ballard’s hands. Previously victimized Bryce Meredith didn’t forgive the force shown against him minutes prior; and in the 28th minute chopped down Andre Philibbosian in a late tackle from behind after losing the ball at his feet.
The first half saw both sides level at 0-0. Aside from Spokane’s intermittent advances and Ballard’s hopeful counter-attacking runs, it remained a fairly uneventful first 45.
The second half kicked off at 8:41pm, Ballard having the chance to close the match out attacking toward their standing supporters on the East–end of the stadium.
It was relatively quiet in the first quarter of an hour in the second half; however with the score in a deadlock and both teams antsy to find the net, the field began to open up giving the Ballard faithful all the more reason to will their club into an advantage.
Ballard saw their countering pay off in the 65th minute. Davis Mungomba cut off a Spokane probing pass through the midfield. With Spokane caught spread out, he found Philibbosian on the counter with a ball, completely taking Spokane out of the defensive phase. Alex Mejia took a run across Spokane’s right back, settling the ball on his left foot at the top of the box and with a quick-snap strike forcing Spokane goalkeeper Ryan Bilichuk into a decisive save down to his left.
Spokane was woken right back up. Bilichuk’s save injected the confidence and momentum they needed to get back on the front foot. Wave after wave of testing crosses and advancements down the wing ensued from then on.
Even through the Spokane pressure, Ballard was adamantly refusing easy play in their defensive third. Ballard goalkeeper Lanphier was called on to punch a 70th minute cross clear through traffic, but as the clock neared 90 minutes it was destined to see extra time. The Bridgekeepers and the rest of the Ballard faithful would be treated to free soccer.
In the first half of extra time, Spokane connected down the right side of the pitch as Ballard gave away a questionable throw in. In the 100th minute Masango Akale was found through the center of the 18 yard box and taken down after a heavy touch put him out of reach to do anything more in the attack.
The ensuing clearance allowed Ballard to work down their right side immediately. Alex Mejia beat the Spokane defenders on the end line after a failed clearance, serving a cutting ball across the 6 yd box. To the anguish of the Ballard Faithful, Mungomba scuffed the shot to relieve Spokane for the time being.
It appeared both sides were content going to penalties. For the next 18 minutes, going into the 120th minute, threats toward goal didn’t amount to more than half-chances.
Then, to the horror of Ballard, Spokane’s Nil Vinyals took advantage of a high-stepped Ballard midfield getting the ball to the feet of Neco Brett 30 yards out in the center of the pitch. With an easy turn to goal, Brett slipped a pass to Anuar Peláez sitting at the top of the penalty area – who fired toward goal. Ballard’s Harrison Bertos reached for the block, which took a nasty spinning deflection down into the turf and over Lanphier’s top hand.
1 – 0 to Spokane.
Ballard pushed back with seconds as a luxury. Throwing numbers forward. Desperation hanging in the air at Interbay Stadium.
In the 123rd minute, Ballard collected the ball in the middle of the field and into the path of Austin Brummett. Brummett had a window from 25 yards out, and smashed the ball toward the back post. Bilichuk used every inch of his wingspan and tipped away the ball just as it seemed to be dipping in for a sure-fire goal.
In a last gasp as the clock ticked into the 125th minute, Ballard’s Lanphier collected a recovered pass at the top of his box to distribute to Sean Sent in acres of space in the center-circle. With a driving run forward Sent picked out Nii Engmann with a driven ball onto his head, bypassing Spokane’s exhausted midfielders. Engmann’s deft flick forward found the overlapping run of Harrison Bertos. Bertos beat his defender, redirecting the ball in the back of the net! To Ballard’s dismay, the checkered flag shoots up for offside amid a chaotic, celebratory, Interbay Stadium. Heartbreak…
Following two hours of soccer, nail-biting late drama, and Bilichuk’s heroics, the victory was sealed for Spokane.
After the match Spokane’s netminder was “buzzing” with the result after celebrating the victory with the Velocity away supporters.
“It was a tough game, tough conditions, but we just grinded through the game. Props to the team for fighting through 120 minutes” said Ryan; ultimately highlighting the intensity and skill Ballard brought to Interbay Wednesday night.
Once again, Ballard had come within a hair’s breadth of open cup glory. Once again, it was snatched away at the death by the Spokane Velocity. For Nii Engmann, the brother of Ballard FC veteran Christian Engmann, it was his first experience in what is becoming a macabre tradition for The Bridges.
“We brought it right from the start. came out with an energy that I don’t think was matched. At the end of the day the professionals had their say and even though it was a pretty fair game, sometimes the football gods are not on your side…”
“It’s a tough way to lose.”