By Quint Turner

More tough luck for the North Sound SeaWolves. After their brief, two-game road trip where they lost both games against the Sounders and Timbers, the Edmonds-based Premier Development League soccer team finally returned home to face the Washington Crossfire for the second time this year.

In the last game between the teams, a goal by Adam Bonifacio in the 73rd minute propelled the Crossfire to a 2-1 win. This time, it was an 89th-minute tip by Ben Fisk that got past goalkeeper Claudio Lazar to boost the Crossfire to a 3-2 win at Edmonds Stadium. Rafael Sanchez and Connor Moe scored the other two goals for the Crossfire while Quinton Beasley scored both goals for the SeaWolves. Andrew Holte got the win in goal for the Crossfire.

The first half started fast. In the fourth minute, Crossfire player Matthew Fischer sent a pass back to Holte that was picked off by Abduwali Aman. Aman dribbled to the left side of the net and got into the six-yard box before trying to send a cross past Holte and to the wide-open Beasley, but Moe managed to knock the ball wide of the goal and out of bounds to save a goal. Four minutes later, the Crossfire scored. Brady Ballew sent a pass back to the defense that was picked off by Sanchez 30 yards out from the goal. Sanchez took a few dribbles into the box, and sent a shot past Lazar to make it 1-0. In the 11th minute, Ballew almost redeemed himself when he sent a through ball to Beasley, but Holte came out at the right time to prevent any opportunities.

The Crossfire came right back in the 16th minute. Nate Sackeyfio got the ball at the top corner of the box, and he took a low shot that was deflected by defender Gene Tibbetts. The deflection was on net, and it took a diving save by Lazar to stop the goal.

Sackeyfio got a through ball and took it into the box in the 23rd minute. He tried to juke out Lazar, but with a defender coming back, all he could muster was a shot straight to Lazar. Then, in the 32nd minute, Brayton Knapp hit a through ball to a wide open Sanchez near the box. He was pressured by Lazar to take a weaker shot than he could have, and Lazar made the save.

The SeaWolves’ Buba Jammeh got a yellow card for a dangerous tackle on Nikolas Besango but no additional damage was done. In the 37th minute, the SeaWolves had a golden opportunity. A foul was called just outside the Crossfire box. Aman sent a low shot to the corner of the goal, but Holte managed to save the shot.

The Crossfire used a common tactic on offense throughout the game. One of their defenders would bring the ball up, and then hit a ball to the opposite side of the field while trying to stay onsides. It was good at producing chances, but none of the opportunities were cashed in.

Jammeh was substituted for Nasyir Rodriguez, and instead of putting a midfielder or forward to fill in the hole left by Jammeh in the defensive line, SeaWolves coach Alex Silva decided to switch to a more offensive formation. It worked. In the 45th minute, a free kick from Kevin Cook found its way into the Crossfire box, and bounced around between the defense and Rodriguez before going straight to Beasley in the six-yard box. Beasley pounded the ball in, and the teams were tied at one going into the half.

The second half started slowly but it ramped up the excitement as the half progressed. In the 55th minute, a free kick by Marshall Kosaka bounced to Devin Thomas on the other side of the field. Thomas took a rushed shot while the ball was still bouncing and shot it over the net. The Crossfire got back to back corner kicks in the 57th minute, but Lazar managed to punch away both of them to keep the game tied. A minute later, Ballew got the ball around the 40-yard line, and sent a switch to Beasley. Beasley took the ball to the goal line with two defenders trailing him. He cut into the box by juking out the first defender by going even closer to the goal line, then jived around the second defender to the corner of the six-yard box, and hit a booming left-footer past Holte on the far side of the net to give the SeaWolves the lead. It was a highlight-of-the-year goal for sure for the SeaWolves.

Unfortunately, three minutes later, the Crossfire tied the game at 2. Knapp hit a corner kick into the box that got through to Besagno, who hit a chip over Lazar that was going wide of the goal before Moe knocked the ball in to the wide open net. Both sides put pressure on over the next 10 minutes, with the teams going back and forth, corner kick after corner kick, but neither side could score. Jordan Burt tried to send a through ball in the 78th minute to Leland Matthaeus, but Lazar managed to snag the ball out of the air to prevent any chances.

Then, in the 81st minute, Kosaka hit a through ball to Ballew in the box. Ballew dribbled towards the net, while Holte came out. Ballew was unable knock his shot past Holte, and the best chance for the SeaWolves in the half went unconverted. In the 83rd minute, Tibbetts got a yellow card for a dangerous tackle as Matthaeus was trying to get an open shot while dribbling. The subsequent free kick from 30 yards out was a low shot that was saved by Lazar. The SeaWolves earned a corner kick in the 87th minute, but nobody was able to get a head on the Beasley cross, and the Crossfire went the other way.

Matthaeus went screaming down the right side of the field with a defender chasing him. He ran out of room at the goal box and sent a desperate cross into the box that was knocked into the goal by Fisk as he was dashing with a defender on his heels. The goal came in the 89th minute, and the SeaWolves were unable to get any more chances to try and tie the game. The Crossfire won the game by a score of 3-2.

With the win, the Crossfire improve to 7-3-1 (22 points in the standings), and are now second in the league (tied with the Kitsap Pumas for first, but the Pumas have played one more game). Their next game is at home vs. the Vancouver Whitecaps next Wednesday at 7:30. The SeaWolves fall to 3-6 (9 points in the standings), and remain in 6th place in the eight-team division. Their next game against the Victoria Highlanders on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Edmonds Stadium.

Sports correspondent Quint Turner is a student at Meadowdale High School.