ISSAQUAH, WA—The Snohomish County FC Steelheads and Kirkland FC Goats played to a 2-2 draw on Saturday afternoon August 14 at Beaver Lake Middle School in a WWPL match. It was the third straight draw between the clubs dating back to 2019 (1-1, 2-2, 2-2.) The sides also drew 2-2 in April in Smokey Point.
Carlos Rodriguez put the Steelheads up 1-0 early on. He struck in the 9th minute with a volley from around 18 yards out. The play built up down the sideline. Andrew Escalante received the ball and delivered it to Rodriguez for the assist.
The first half belonged to SnoCo FC and things looked even better after Jared Davis made it 2-0 in the 29th minute. New player TJ Rowley (Gala FC Pro Focus, Stanwood High School) showed full-field potential on the play, coming up from a defensive role to create space for his own shot on goal. TJ’s shot was saved, but came back to him. Rowley then found Davis for the scoring shot.
“We had many chances in the first half,” Head Coach Dagi Kesim says. “I am proud of how the new guys worked with the veterans. We need to convert more of those chances.” The Fish saw strong efforts from Henry Keineker Jr. (Redmond HS) and Mamudou Fofana, (Lakewood HS) also up from Gala FC. Fofana was a day-of-game add to the roster after Dylan Shoenfelder was unable to go.
The chance for a full 3 away points slipped away in the final 20 minutes of the match as a makeshift Steelheads back line finally was solved by the Goats. First came a corner kick that went in directly and completely untouched. Then in the late stages a penalty kick decision went the way of the home side and the conversion evened the contest at 2-2. Both goals were scored for Kirkland by Obi Esonu. Esonu is a Lynwood High School / Edmonds CC graduate now playing for Northwest University in Kirkland.
The Steelheads remain in second place in the Western Washington Premier League (WWPL) on 21 points after 10 matches played. The Fish have won 6, drawn 3 and lost 1. Kirkland inches into third place in the table on 17 points. The Goats have a record of 4 wins, 5 draws and 3 losses.
Next up for Snohomish is a Sunday night August 22 6 PM home match against the Lacey Pocket Gophers. The match will be played at Snohomish Veterans Memorial Stadium in the City of Snohomish.
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