EDMONDS
Abdul Aman and Quinton Beasley both missed the North Sound SeaWolves’ loss to the Kitsap Pumas on June 3. They made up for it the next time the team stepped on the field.
Beasley scored his first goal of the season off an assist from Aman in the first half and Aman added a spectacular left-footed goal from 30-yards out in the second half and an assist on his team’s third goal as the SeaWolves defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps U-23 team 3-1 in a Premier Development League match June 6 at Edmonds Stadium.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the SeaWolves, who improved to 2-3. Vancouver lost its second in a row to fall to 2-4-2.
“I think we’re coming together,” SeaWolves coach Alex Silva said. “We moved the ball well, everyone played disciplined and now we’re back in position to move up in the standings.”
Beasley, a University of Washington player who played last PDL season for the Tacoma Tide, missed the Kitsap game for personal reasons. Aman sat out that match with a red-card suspension. Against the Whitecaps, they showed why Silva lamented their absence.
In the 39th minute, Beasley took a long pass from Aman and beat Vancouver keeper Callum Irving one-on-one for the game’s first goal. It broke a 174-minute scoring drought for North Sound, and gave it a lead for the first time since the season-opener on May 20.
After narrowly missing two other shots in the second half, Aman made it 2-0, blasting a long left-footed shot from 30 yards out over the head of Irving and into the right side of the net. It was Aman’s team-high third goal of the season and proved to be a big one, as Vancouver closed the gap to 1 five minutes later on a goal from Coulton Jackson.
But in the 80th minute Aman touched a pass to an open Brady Ballew in front of the net and Ballew, a Marysville native, finished into the right side for a 3-1 lead. It was Ballew’s second goal of the season.
“Abdul probably could have had two other goals,” Silva said. “But you can see why he’s so dangerous. He has to keep being aggressive and he can take over a game.”
The SeaWolves’ defense, which has struggled to contain long crosses into the box this season, was better, though Silva still feels there needs to be more improvement. Keeper Claudio Lazar punched away several balls in the box to help his defense out. A tactical decision to move midfielder Junpei Tsuji back to center defense paid off as the Whitman College player, in his first game with the SeaWolves, helped fill in gaps that had been open on the backline.
“We still have to figure out why we keep getting beat on crosses,” Silva said. “But Junpei really made a difference for us. We still made some mistakes, we have to be quicker but it’s a good win for us. We needed it.”
The SeaWolves next play the last-place Fraser Valley Mariners at 7:30 p.m. June 8 at Edmonds Stadium before going on the road June 10 to play the Seattle Sounders U-23 team at Franklin Pierce Stadium in Tacoma.
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