Edvalds’ creativity lifts Bellarmine girls soccer over Enumclaw in district playoff game, 2-0

One moment of brilliance set the tone for Bellarmine Prep in Saturday afternoon’s West Central District III game against Enumclaw at Federal Way Memorial Stadium, a state seeding game which the Lions won, 2-0.

That moment came in the 23rd minute, when junior forward Grace Edvalds beat her defender on the goal line on the right side of the field, dribbled toward goal and sent in a low, hard cross to teammate Kylie Leverett, who redirected the ball into the goal with ease.

“Obviously, throughout the first half of the game, the outside and full backs were just stepping,” Edvalds said. “I recognized that and so I was just trying to capitalize on that opportunity and dribble through. Kylie made a great run through, so I just slipped right through it.”

And Leverett was ready when the ball landed at her feet.

“I saw Grace coming in to cross it and I just knew I had to get this one, do it for the team,” Leverett said. “I love this team so much and I just had to get it. Just any part of my body just had to get on it.”

In a game in which Bellarmine had the lion’s share of possession and chances, that one moment of quality was the deciding factor. And longtime Bellarmine coach Joe Waters wasn’t surprised to see the scoring chance generated by Edvalds.

“Grace is so good at that,” Waters said. “She’s so good at getting herself into tight spaces and being able to beat people. She’s been doing it all year. She scored some great goals. She’s a terrific player, she’s so high energy and she’s such a handful because she never gives up. She competes for everything.”

Getting players to make dangerous runs and play off Edvalds’ creativity is something Waters has stressed to his young side this season.

“It’s something we’ve talked to our players about all the time — that we need to get more people in the box,” Waters said. “So I had a feeling when I saw her in that position, I could see what was going to happen. She does that so well and the girls are so used to her doing that, that now they have the belief of getting in there and something is going to happen.”

Bellarmine junior Acacia Judkins extended the Lions’ lead to 2-0 with a goal in the 69th minute, slipping past the back line and poking the ball low into the right side of the net.

Both teams were already safely in the 4A state tournament prior to Saturday’s matchup. With the win, Bellarmine takes the district’s No. 6 seed into the state tournament, while Enumclaw will settle for the eighth seed. Bellarmine beat Kennedy Catholic in a loser-out game on Thursday in overtime to seal its spot in the state tournament. Abigail Ogard scored the game-winning goal in overtime to send the Lions to state.

“It was the best feeling,” Leverett said. “There’s nothing better than scoring in overtime. It was a great shot by Abby. Best feeling ever.”

And Bellarmine, which finished fourth in a stacked SPSL 4A, feels a run could be coming, after the win over Kennedy and a dominant, complete-team performance against Enumclaw on Saturday.

“This is what we’re all about,” Waters said. “When we play like this, we are at our best. We have to go full throttle. We can’t go half pace. If we go half pace, we’re not going to be successful. It really is a team effort. Our defense was magnificent, our midfield worked their tails off and stopped the other team from playing and our forwards just put their defense under pressure all game long.”