Ballard FC’s 2-1 victory on the road against United PDX on Monday kept them perfect on the season and top of the Northwest Division standings.
The match was Ballard’s toughest test this season, both conceding and trailing for the first time in league play. However, the team showed resolve to fight through and ultimately come away with a big three points.
The match itself started quite chaotically as neither team were able to gain control in midfield. However, in the 15th minute, United PDX put together a complete counterattack which ultimately ended with a shot being blocked by the arm of a Ballard FC defender, Lesia Thetsane. Thetsane would see yellow as the referee awarded a penalty. The penalty was dispatched well by United PDX forward CJ Tibbling and Ballard FC was down 1-0.
Things almost went from bad to worse only 8 minutes later as Lars Helleren had to make a diving stop to deny United PDX their second. A rocket from outside of the box was destined for the top corner but Helleren pushed it away for a corner. This is Helleren’s second match back with Ballard FC after training with the Colorado Rapids.
After Helleren’s save, Ballard FC started to build their way into the match and were the better side to finish the first half. Right on the stroke of halftime, Peter Kingston was controversially taken down in the box by United PDX goalkeeper Kash Oladapo. Although no foul was given, it was a sign of things to come in the second half for Ballard FC and Oladapo.
Ballard FC went into the break down 1-0, needing to pull off a comeback to keep their perfect record intact.
Head coach Jason Farrell became much more tactically aggressive in the second half, bringing on the likes of Charlie Gaffney, Luke Thomas, Taketo Onodera, Kevin Galiano, and Alex Mejia.
Although Ballard FC was knocking on the door all half, the equalizer wouldn’t come until the 71st minute. Alex Mejia scored with his first touch of the match, heading in a Peter Kingston cross right after subbing on.
The presence of both Alex Mejia and Stas Korzeniowski up top was seemingly too much for the United PDX defense to handle as their size continued to create issues.
Ten minutes after scoring his first, Mejia would capitalize off a goalkeeper mistake to strike again. After battling in the air with Ballard FC center-back Christian Engmann, Oladapo claimed the ball with his hands. Mistakenly believing a foul had been called on Engmann, Oladapo put the ball down for a free kick. As soon as the ball was put down, Mejia took it and put in his second goal of the match.
Mejia’s brace and Man of the Match performance off the bench secured a 2-1 comeback victory for Ballard FC and will definitely give coach Farrell some selection headaches next match.
Ballard FC returns home to Interbay Stadium Friday, June 2nd to take on PDX FC at 7:00 PM. Ballard FC were 3-0 against PDX FC in 2022 and will look to continue that trend this season. Gates will open at 5:30, make sure to grab your tickets before they are gone!
Photos courtesy of Marissa Lordahl
