It’s early in the season, but a rivalry game is a rivalry game at any time of year.
Sehome dealt Bellingham its first loss of the season Friday night in a 2-1 win over the Bayhawks.
Bellingham got the scoring going early when senior Kaden Potts found the back of the net in the fourth minute.
The Mariners had some chances in the first half to answer and tie the game, but couldn’t get any of their shots past Bellingham goalkeeper Henry White.
Shots were close, but none of them changed the score on the scoreboard.
Until the 38th minute.
Sophomore Noah Allen found the ball coming to him and said he decided to just shoot it.
Allen’s shot tied the game up at 1-1 late in the first half.
“It felt great afterward, but we had to go out and get another, so I just stayed focused,” Allen said.
It didn’t take too long for the Mariners to get another. Sehome kept up the pressure and maintained control of the ball for the last two minutes of the first half.
In the final minute of the half, junior Gilberto Andrews gave Sehome some the lead, adding another goal before the break.
“The first 20 minutes are always frantic and you have to remember they haven’t played in front of fans like this for two years,” Sehome head coach Richard Henderson said. “Once they calmed down, we really started to play and I was really happy with how we played in the first half.”
Even before the Mariners got on the scoreboard, they were shutting down just about everything the Bayhawks wanted to do offensively.
Bellingham had its opportunities to add on throughout the game, but Sehome always seemed to be in the right spot to turn the Bayhawks away.
Henderson said the best thing that could have happened in the game was Bellingham getting on the board first.
“We had to be more direct and play forward which is what we want to do,” he said. “Once that happened, that kicked us into gear and I thought we played great, especially in the second half.”
It might be lost on some that the Mariners are still the defending state champions from 2019.
Most of this year’s team wasn’t part of that championship run and the few that are were only freshmen and didn’t see the field much.
“It’s funny because the team has that label, but I don’t think they feel they’ve earned it,” Henderson said. “But that’s the reality.”
The Mariners improve to 2-1 this season with the win. Their next game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday at Oak Harbor.
Bellingham falls to 2-1 with the loss and will play at 7 p.m. Monday against Ferndale at home.
