EVERETT — It was a good week of firsts for North Sound SeaWolves coach Alex Silva.
On Monday, Silva and his wife Melissa welcomed their first child – Gabrielle – to the world. On Saturday, Silva’s team picked up the first win in franchise history as Marshall Kosaka scored two goals within a minute of each other to lead the SeaWolves to a 2-0 victory over the Victoria Highlanders in front of about 150 fans at Goddard Stadium.
The win improved North Sound to 1-2-3 in the Premier Development League Northwest Division, and Victoria dropped to 2-3-2.
“It takes a weight off my shoulders,” Silva said. “I think my daughter brought us luck.”
Perhaps, but it was mostly an impressive display of ball movement and a stout defense that led the SeaWolves to the win in physical game that featured some minor confrontations late in the game.
“It was brutal,” said center back Brandon Gonzalez, who rallied from getting a speeding ticket on the way to the game to lead the defensive effort. “Their style was sending long balls in the air at us but we did a good job going up and clearing them. It was a battle.”
The first half featured most of the offensive action, with Arturo Brambila hitting the post in the 14th minute for North Sound and a minute later, SeaWolves keeper Claudio Lazar charging out and making an outstanding kick save on a one-on-one with Victoria’s Mike Marousek. It was one of several quality saves by Lazar, who picked up his second shutout.
Finally in the 35th minute, North Sound got its first home goal in three tries this season. Kosaka, who plays at Seattle University, handled the ball at about the 20 yard line and fired a low shot to the far post that beat Victoria keeper Trevor Stiles for a 1-0 lead. A minute later, Kosaka chested down a cross to his feet from about 15 yards out and scored to the near post.
“We were playing well in their attack zone and handling the ball and when you control the ball, good things can happen,” said Kosaka, who said he’s never scored back-to-back goals that quickly before. “Both times I broke towards the top of the box and they did a great job of finding me. It was almost the exact same play both times.”
“Earlier in the game Marshall had the ball near the same spot and didn’t take the shot,” Silva said. “I told him ‘Next time please take the shot’ and he did. If we don’t take shots, we can’t score goals.”
From that point, the SeaWolves defense took over. Near the end of the first half, Jack Pearson’s header off a corner kick was cleared by Brambila on a header at the goal line. The Highlanders’ next best chance came with five minutes to play when Victoria striker Ashley Burbeary’s shot was knocked away on a flying save by Lazar.
It was the second time North Sound defeated Victoria, the first coming May 1 in with a 2-1 preseason victory in Canada. In that game the offense brought the SeaWolves back but Saturday is was the defense that came up big. The backline was helped by the return of Gonzalez, who missed the previous two games with a hamstring injury but teamed with Ray Lind in the middle to shut down Victoria’s air attack while outside backs Kevin Cook and Craig Tomlinson along with midfielders Chris Morris and Demaci Roussos made it tough for the Highlanders to get many good looks.
“We were consistent today,” Gonzalez said. “We won balls in the air and came up big when we needed to. Soccer games are won in moments and we won those moments.”
North Sound has a chance to go on a bit of a run, playing home games Wednesday against Tacoma and Saturday against Abbotsford before heading back on the road.
“Today I asked them to go out, have fun and play and I’m sure a win will come,” Silva said. “We played a very consistent game and you can see we’re playing better together and that makes a big difference.”
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