SNOHOMISH, WA—The Snohomish County FC Steelheads Women (0-1-1) earned their first-ever Northwest Premier League Indoor standings point with a 2-2 draw against the Tacoma Galaxy (1-0-1) on Saturday night February 19 at the Snohomish Sports Dome.
Big crowd, Big saves
Snohomish County goalkeeper Kaitlin MacKenzie made numerous big saves including stopping a penalty kick. A large and loud crowd supported the Steelheads, urging them on until the final whistle and saluting them afterwards.
No Galaxy of goals for Tacoma
Tacoma scored 11 goals in their opening win last week at Oly Town FC. They had three different players score hat tricks (3 goals).This week the Fish defense was up to the challenge.
It took until late in the first half for the game’s first goal. The Galaxy took a 1-0 lead into halftime on a goal from Madeleine Edbom with 5:17 left in the second quarter. The high-scoring Galaxy were being held in check, but the Steelheads were also having no luck converting their chances.
Jordyn stops the streak
The Steelheads finally broke a 4-quarter scoreless streak (dating back to the previous match at Oly-Pen) on a goal from Jordyn Bartlelson at 7:33 left in the third quarter to tie the match 1-1. Alicia Barker assisted on the goal. Barker turned towards the box and slotted a ball to the far side that Bartelson tapped home. The match was level and the goalless streak had ended.
Fish in front
The Fish kept battling and it paid off. Snohomish County took a 2-1 lead in the fourth quarter when Nikki Bowlden converted an assist from Memory Phiri with 10:55 to go in the match. The play began on the right side of the Tacoma box but switched when Bowlden battled for a ball that came loose and rolled over to Phiri. Memory returned a pass that Bowlden tapped in right on the goal mouth. Suddenly it was 2-1 Fish and the large, loud crowd was rocking.
Tacoma fights back
The Galaxy hammered the Steelheads goal much of the rest of the way. Kaitlin MacKenzie preserved the 2-1 lead when she stopped a penalty kick, but the Galaxy came right back and evened the score at 2-2 when Nicole Williams scored at 9:10 to go.
Kailtin Saves
Tacoma was fighting back and the Fish needed to measure when to counter-attack. The rest of the match tested the Snohomish defense as Tacoma rocketed multiple shots into the Steelheads penalty box. Near misses, timely tackles and important saves from MacKenzie preserved a hard-earned draw.
Next for the Fish
The Steelheads return to NWPLi play with another home match on Saturday March 5 at 7 PM at the Snohomish Sports Dome against the Oly-Pen Force.
Coach Sean Large Praises Players
“I was really happy with how the team rebounded after last week’s result,” Steelheads Women Indoor Head Coach Sean Large said after the match. “We had a great week of training, and the players carried that into match day. They all bought into the game plan and took the teeth out of Tacoma’s attack. We had players step up and maintain a high quality of play.”
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