Redmond-Garfield game ends in scoreless blackout

The heated battle between the Redmond High and Garfield boys’ soccer teams ended in a scoreless blackout Tuesday night at Redmond High.

The 0-0 game, which was dominated by the Mustangs, was called off in the second overtime after a neighborhood-wide power outage struck Education Hill.

With just over a minute gone in the second overtime, Redmond had possession and was working the ball towards Garfield’s goal when a Woodinville power transformer, which supplies electricity to much of Education Hill and other areas in Redmond, was struck by lightning and caused tens of thousands of homes to lose power just after 9 p.m., ending the game prematurely.

“That was definitely crazy,” said varsity coach Kurt Ness, standing in for head coach Pat Scheibe who was out of town. “In my years of coaching I’ve never seen anything like that.”

Fueled by excellent defense, Redmond controlled time of possession, outshooting the Bulldogs 8-4 in the second half and 3-0 in the two overtime periods. The Mustangs’ offensive attack kept Garfield goalkeeper Jackson White busy as White made several spectacular saves to keep the game scoreless. Redmond outshot the Bulldogs, 14-8, for the game and seemed poised to pull out the win before the blackout.

SLIP-SLIDING SOCCER

Tuesday’s storm system wreaked havoc on the turf pitch, making the field of play akin to running on a giant “Slip and Slide” mat.

While the rain tapered off as the contest got underway, the players had difficulty controlling the ball on the slick surface, with many attempted shots flying high or wide of target.

“There was a downpour during the JV game so the pitch was wet,” Ness said. “On that astroturf stuff the ball was traveling quick.”

The first half featured a very close penalty kick at the 15-minute mark by Garfield that sailed a bit high, and a great save by Mustang goalkeeper Andrew Colleran with 5:20 left to play.

The Mustangs ratcheted up the intensity in the second half against the physical Bulldogs. Redmond had a golden opportunity in the 61st minute when forward Felipe Barros fed the ball to last year’s leading JV scorer Victor Martinez, who powered a clean shot toward the right corner of the goal.

White, the Garfield goalkeeper, made an acrobatic, leaping save to rob Martinez of his fifth goal of the season.

“Garfield’s got a good squad,” Ness said. “But I think our top played really well. Felipe and Victor helped create a few scoring opportunities.”

Ness also lauded his defense, sparked by 6-foot-6 basketball star Jared Alexander.

“I liked our defense,” he said. “Garfield’s real (aggressive), and they really put the pressure on our back guys.”

WIN LOSE OR DRAW

Although the Mustangs battled to a draw, Ness knows that ties don’t help much in the standings, which are extremely tight in Kingco’s Crest Division.

Garfield’s draw put the Bulldogs in a three-way tie for first with Eastlake and Issaquah, with all three schools possessing a record of 4-3-2 and 14 total points, with Redmond close behind at 3-3-3 (4-4-4 overall) and 12 points.

Tonight the ‘Stangs will match up against Inglemoor, and on Tuesday the Mustangs play in their regular-season finale against Issaquah, which will likely have a postseason berth at stake for the winner.

“We’re matched up against some high-quality opponents,” said Ness on his team’s remaining schedule. “We just have to come out and play our high energy, high pressure game and see if we can get a couple wins and make it to the playoffs again.”

Contact Redmond Reporter Sports Reporter Tim Watanabe at twatanabe@redmond-reporter.com or (425) 867-0353, ext. 5054.

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