Looking for satisfaction, Mount Si holds off hungry Wolverines; Seniors get the goals | Photo Gallery

Both Mount Si seniors put in goals on Senior Night, in a win over the Bellevue Wolverines.

Yet neither coach Darren Brown nor the players were resting on the laurels of their 3-1 win over an outnumbered team.

“I’m not satisfied,” said junior midfielder Evan Betz. “We should have won by a lot more.”

Within minutes of the start, a hand-ball called on a Bellevue player meant a red card that left the Wolverines a man short for virtually the entirety of the game. Senior midfielder Alex Dolewski took the penalty kick and sunk it to make it 1-0 just before the third minute.

Co-captain Aaron Baumgardner got the game’s second goal with a rocket from just under 30 yards out. Junior Connor Williams passed it, a Bellevue defender stole it, so Baumgardner stole it back.

“I stripped a kid and shot it,” the Pacific Lutheran University-bound senior said.

Williams had a lot of opportunities on the night, but none made net.

“You’re saving the love for the big games,” Baumgardner told him.

Betz made the final goal in the last seconds of stoppage time, charging on a breakaway with a feed from Williams.

“He should get all the credit for that,” Betz, who was in the right place at the right time, said of Williams.

Betz shot it right into the sweet zone under the defender’s right side; the goalie dropped, but too late the block the shot.

Trying to draw the goalie out, “I took a touch out wide, so I could get it to the far post,” Betz said.

Now, the Wildcats need to “finish our chances and pass better,” the senior said.

“If they didn’t get that red card, they would have pressured us, 100 miles per hour,” Baumgardner said. Instead, “they could just sit off. We had a bunch of time on the ball. When that happens, you feel like you have too much time on the ball. You can’t really get at them much.”

Mount Si weren’t possessing or moving off the ball—playing and moving effectively when they didn’t have possession—as well as they could, commented Betz. The Wolverines, by contrast, “got hungry off that first goal.”

All that said, the Wildcats remain one of the top teams in Kingco, tied with Liberty for first place with an 8-2-2 record in league, 10-2-2 overall.

With the loss of the league’s two top scorers last year, 2013 graduates Alex Censullo and Kody Clearman, “we weren’t expected to be so good right now,” Baumgardner said. “Bouncing back after that, getting to the top of league when people underestimated us, is a great feeling.”

“Each game here on out is playoff atmosphere and intensity,” wrote Brown in a post-game message. “Time to get busy!”

“My two seniors have been great all year setting the tone of expectations and getting it done when we need them most,” Brown told the Record.

At defense, Colton Oord, a junior, and Baumgardner “are our rocks out of the back,” the coach said.

At goalkeeper, junior Bruce Corrie has been doing an outstanding job, Brown said.

Among forwards, “Reid Howland is a very crafty player who distributes very well for us and is a key player for us.”

Williams, Mount Si’s hard-charging junior forward, “is D1 caliber and will shine at the next level. A very intelligent player who thrives under pressure.”

• Mount Si plays tonight, at Liberty; game time is 7:30 p.m. Follow Mount Si soccer schedules at mshsboyssoccer.com.