Ballard FC win an Instant Classic over Utah United in a Penalty Shootout After two Goals at the Death

Perhaps the most insane game, and certainly the most insane five minutes that Interbay Stadium has ever seen, took place Friday night in the Western Conference quarterfinals.

After a frustrating 120 minutes where Ballard could not find a breakthrough, Joschi Shelb provided the latest tally in club history. Utah responded with a goal of the season candidate, a bicycle kick in the 125th minute to force a penalty shootout.

Noah Newman would come up clutch, saving two and giving Ballard the boost they needed to move on to Sunday’s Western Conference Semi-Final against Colorado Storm.

Utah came out sprinting in the first five minutes of the match, pressing hard and putting in crunching tackles on Ballard. The first chance came for the visitors as a result of the pressure, with an Owen Knecht effort forcing a tipped save from Noah Newman.

Ballard’s best look at net came from Michael Divano, who received a cross-box ball from Anton Hjalmarsson and put a shot on net but too close to goalkeeper Jackson Medina, who parried it away.

Noah Newman was the hero of the first half for Ballard, making four saves as Utah put all four of their shots on net. Ballard was actually outshot through 45, tallying three shots to Utah’s four.

The second half was full of could-be moments for Ballard, as they controlled the run of play but struggled in the box, racking up shots and corners but unable to beat Medina in net.

An 80th-minute side-foot volley from Elliot Spatz was perhaps the most dangerous moment, but Medina held the save. Joschi Schelb put a first-time strike of his own wide in the 86th.

With no score through 90 minutes, Ballard and Utah headed to an extra thirty minutes of added time. The first trip beyond regulation in Ballard’s home history.

Just a minute into added time, Jack-Ryan Jeremiah was served a lovely chipped ball by Ray Mendez, and poked it beyond Medina but also wide of the post.

Utah looked committed to taking any flow out of the game, and holding on for Penalty kicks, and did well to slow the pace of play, spare a few frantic moments.

Medina delivered more clutch saves, a scrambling clearance to deny Elliot Spatz 1v1, and was then helped by a crucial block on a Spatz rebound effort in the final 10 minutes.

Just when it looked like Utah had done everything needed to force a shootout, a moment of brilliance gave Ballard the lead. A one-two combination between Joschi Schelb and Ray Mendez led to Schelb loosing a vicious first-time strike beyond Medina, sending Interbay into a flare-lit frenzy.

With 30 seconds left to play in the allotted two minutes of added time, Ballard thought they had the game in hand, but one more moment of pure madness was still left in it.

Five minutes beyond the 120th minute, Utah was allowed one last corner kick, and went to a short corner to whip in a cross. Late bench addition Nico Golesis produced a stunning bicycle kick into the top corner, the goal of the season, with the last kick of the match, stunning the crowd and sending the match to a shootout.

Joschi Schelb stepped up to take the first shootout penalty of Ballard FC’s history, and delivered a perfect pen to the side netting to make it 1-0.

Noah Newman set the tone early with a strong dive and right hand to deny Zach Lifferth and give Ballard the edge.

Jack-Ryan Jeremiah would cement that advantage with a low and true penalty of his own, 2-0.

Francisco Tita responded by sending Newman the wrong way and getting Utah back in it.

Juan Alvarez would be next to take, and as you would expect, calmly rolled it in after the dive of Medina to keep the pressure on.

Jonny Guadarrama kept it within one with a composed take, sending Sean Sent to the spot.

Sent would be the lone miss of the shootout for Ballard, skying his shot over the bar and giving Utah a lifeline.

Noah Newman however would sever that lifeline. Diving to his left to parry Jon Fritcher’s kick away and give Ray Mendez a chance to win it.

Mendez delivered, roofing his effort to end perhaps the most exciting 20 minutes in club history on a high note.

Match Facts:

Ballard wins their first shootout in club history
At 126 minutes, this was the longest match in Interbay Stadium history
Joschi Schelb has now scored in four straight home matches and has six on the season
Noah Newman has established himself as a Ballard FC hero just a couple of weeks after locking up the #1 spot
Ballard finished the match with 18 shots and an incredible 15 corner kicks
Ray Mendez came off the bench to assist the late Schelb goal and score the final penalty kick of the shootout
Ballard push their home playoff record to 9-0-1 all-time
Ballard remain perfect at home in 2026

Scoring Recap:
121’ (BFC): Joschi Schelb (6), assisted by Ray Mendez (1)

125’ (UTU): Nico Golesis, assisted by Francisco Tita

Starting 11:
Tanner Dutra, Beto Apolinar, Anton Hjalmarsson, Joschi Schelb, Luke Hammond, Angel Martinez, Etienne Veillard, Noah Newman, Sean Sent, Michael Divano, Juan Alvarez

Subs Used:

Isaac Ketcham, Ray Mendez, Elliot Spatz, Jack-Ryan Jeremiah

Written by Adam Race