Bellevue falters at Regionals

In its final tune-up prior to next weekend’s State tournament, the Bellevue Wolverines stumbled their way to a fourth place finish at the North/South Regional Tournament. While the Wolverines earned the Region’s fourth and final spot in the upcoming eight-team State tournament, their lackluster play cast doubt over their status as the State tournament favorite.

North division rivals Roosevelt and Mercer Island took first and second place, respectively, while Curtis High School shocked the Wolverines and earned third place. By falling to fourth place, the Wolverines will face the East/West Regions’ #1 seed in the opening round of the State tournament.

Bellevue 17, Lakes 4

In opening round play, the Wolverines defeated Lakes High School 17-4. Eight Wolverines scored in the victory, including two from freshman Jack Witham in the first varsity action of his career. Junior Zack Rossman led the Wolverines with five goals, while senior co-captain Liam Naughton had a season-high five field blocks. Freshman Ethan Wlaschin also saw the first varsity action of his career, making six second-half saves.

Bellevue 6, Roosevelt 7

On October 29th, with the Kingco Regular Season Championship on the line, an inspired Bellevue squad soundly defeated Roosevelt 19-10. However, nine days later at Regionals, the result could not have been more different. Roosevelt goalie Conrad Gordon turned back shot after shot and the Wolverines were held scoreless in the first half for the first time all season. Down 6-0 at half, the Wolverines battled back in the third quarter by scoring four unanswered goals to make it 6-4. But Bellevue could not complete the comeback and fell 6-7. The Wolverines shot 24% in the contest and went a paltry 1-for-5 on man-up opportunities.

Bellevue 15, Newport 9

By virtue of its loss to Roosevelt, the Wolverines squared off against Newport in a winner-to-state, loser-out game. Bellevue rode five goals from sophomore Cameron Hayes and five goals from senior co-captain Marco Stanchi en route to a 15-9 victory. Senior Quinlan Hughes posted 13 saves, while Wlaschin added six.

Bellevue 10, Curtis 13

Playing for the Region’s #3 seed at next weekend’s state tournament, Bellevue jumped out to a 3-1 first quarter lead against Southern Division power-house Curtis High School. But the lead was quickly erased as Curtis evened the score at 4-4 at halftime. Curtis then won both the third and fourth quarters on their way to a 13-10 victory. The Wolverine loss marked the first time that Bellevue had fallen to a non-North Division team in over a decade. Stanchi scored five and Hayes scored four in the loss.