Prep soccer: Bellarmine Prep keeps postseason pizzazz going, beats Puyallup, 1-0, for top seed

The Bellarmine Prep girls soccer proved that it was clutch this week by picking up three keys wins to earn the No. 1 seed out of the West Central/Southwest bidistrict playoffs.

With seconds left to play, Lions midfielder Lindsay Rudd put away the game winning goal, 2-1, after Bellarmine’s goalie booted the ball 70 yards that surprised Puyallup’s defense, allowing Rudd to put away the goal.

Bellarmine Prep (10-6-3) finished fifth in the 4A SPSL, and to get the top seed out of district, it had to go through a myriad of opponents to meet runaway league champion Puyallup (14-1-2) in Saturday’s earlier seeding game at Sparks Stadium.

“We always felt we were better than the fifth seed,” said Bellarmine Prep coach Joe Waters. “When you get to the playoffs, then it’s the real deal. You have to be ready for the playoffs.”

Bellarmine has been more than ready for the district playoffs.

After escaping Federal Way, 1-0, on Tuesday and then outlasting Todd Beamer, 1-0, in a shootout on Thursday, Rudd’s last second goal proves that Bellarmine Prep is playoff tested and ready for the 4A state bracket next week.

“We played 90 minutes on Tuesday, and followed that with a 90-minute game and a shootout on Thursday,” Waters said. “This is three games in five days that we just played. So my admiration for these girls is unbounding.”

With the win, Bellarmine Prep will be the No. 1 seed out of district and they will host the Woodinville-Issaquah winner next week. The loss hands Puyallup the No. 4 seed and they will travel to Skyline (13-0-4) on Wednesday in Sammamish.

“It was sloppy weather and it was a sloppy goal we gave up,” said Puyallup coach Matt White of the game-deciding goal. “We can’t really do anything about that – or when their keeper kicks it 70 yards to set up the goal. You can only say ‘What can you do?’”

Sumner 4, Kennedy Catholic 0: The Spartans came away with three goals in the second half as they handed the Lancers a district playoff loss in the night-cap game at Sparks Stadium.

The win gives Sumner (12-5-1) the No. 6 seed out the WCD III and the loss gives Kennedy the No. 8 seed.

This story was originally published November 6, 2016 at 1:03 AM with the headline "Prep soccer: Bellarmine Prep keeps postseason pizzazz going, beats Puyallup, 1-0, for top seed."