KIRKLAND – Facing one of the top teams in the Western Washington Premier League on the road with a short bench was too much for the Grays Harobr Gulls Football Club to overcome as the Gulls were shut out by the Kirdland Goats, 6-0, on Saturday.
The long holiday weekend played havoc with Gulls’ bench, leaving them with only 14 players to work with entering Saturday’s match-up against the league’s No. 1 team.
Gulls head coach Drew Grannemann, who played significant minutes on the backline to give some of his players a breather, said his team knew it was going to be tough to pull off the upset.
“We knew we were outmatched going in, but we still competed for 90 minutes,” he said. “What more can you really ask for from a group of guys besides going out there and trying. We’ll just move on from that one and call it an outlier.”
Grays Harbor (5-1-5) had a particularity rough day getting things organized at the back while Kirkland (10-0-1) displayed the ball movement that has them atop the standings in the WWPL.
Kirkland got the scoring started in the 29th minute when a pass from a midfielder found an unmarked Kirkland forward.
Three minutes later, the Goats struck again to go up 2-0 heading into halftime.
With players playing out of their normal positions Kirkland continued to move the ball around and racked up another four goals in the second half to put the match out of reach.
“They did a lot of quick passes up the middle, they sent a few crosses that they finished and overall they just kind of passed around us,” Grannemann said. “We couldn’t keep a defensive shape and they just poked holes in our defense for every goal.”
Gulls assistant coach Ben Barene didn’t think fatigue was factor in the outcome since players are in better shape since the start of the season. He also gave credit to the Goats for the fluidity of their ball movement.
“They’re a really good team. They really knew how to pass the ball around and they spread us out,” he said. “They were able to play the ball through those spaces that they created with their passing like the last time we played them, and we weren’t able to adjust in time.”
Despite the one-sided nature of the game, the Gulls got some good play from goalkeeper Alexis Garcia who helped keep the defenders organized and saved a penalty kick in the second half.
Barene and Grannemann also both highlighted the play of midfielder Coby Castillo who helped move the ball around to create scoring chances.
Grannemann was disappointed with the loss but said he’s still watching the scoreboard to see where other teams are in the standings heading into the final weekend of play.
The WWPL crowns its champion at the end of the regular season and does not have postseason play. With one game left on the schedule the Gulls still have a chance of meeting their goal of finishing in the top three of the table. They face second-place Lacey FC on Saturday with a shot at clinching third place with a victory.
“We came in not knowing what the talent level would be like but after the first six weeks we set a goal of finishing in the meat of the pack in third or fourth place,” Grannemann said. “We want to finish third since it’s in our sights, but we’re really happy with the progress we’ve made this season.”
