Bellevue Athletic fall 3-2 at SeaGam for first loss of 2025

Written by Adam Race

Shoreline – Bellevue Athletic were handed their first UPSL regular season defeat in 16 matches on Saturday against Seagam. The hosts came back from an early 2-0 deficit to win 3-2 and shock Bellevue, registering their first ever UPSL victory in front of an energized crowd at Einstein Middle School field.

The defending back-to-back USPL Washington champs got a dream start to the match when Jacen Stein played a perfectly weighted through-ball to Jackson Finn, who slotted it between the legs of SeaGam Goalkeeper Ebou Barrow with just 60 seconds gone. The first-minute goal from Finn was deja vu to last week when the big center-forward broke the seal in the opening minutes against Thurston. This was Stein’s first assist of the UPSL season.

After taking an early gut punch from Bellevue, SeaGam settled in defensively and began to mount threats of their own down the wing, with a couple of shots sailing over Bellevue goalkeeper Matt Janke’s crossbar. 

Bellevue doubled their advantage in the 15th minute when Kaydin Wall played a ball over the top for Stein, who found a yard of space in the box between three SeaGam defenders, just enough room to turn towards goal and drive the ball into the far bottom corner for an excellent finish. Stein has now scored seven goals in just three competitive matches for Bellevue in 2025 and furthers his lead atop Bellevue’s all-time goal-scoring list with his 16th tally in black and gold.

Despite the early deficit, SeaGam continued to find their footing and began imposing their will on the match with physical play defensively and scorching runs directly at Bellevue’s defense.  A far-post header from a corner kick forced Matt Janke’s first save of the match. The SeaGam breakthrough came in the 28th minute after a Bellevue giveaway in their own half led to a 2-on-1 opportunity, which was calmly taken by Badou Ngum to make it 2-1. After that point, SeaGam was able to disrupt Bellevue’s build-up play, keeping the ball from getting into the middle and restricting the wing play of Jacen Stein and Scott Burkholder. The hosts also benefited from a couple of saves from Ebou Barrow, including a point blank save off a Kaydin Wall corner, which found Tyler Hopp for Bellevue’s last chance of the first 45. 

The two sides went into the break with the score at 2-1 and everything left to play for. Liam Raney played a crucial role in the first half as the left center-back and main connection between defense and attack, with Bellevue often pushing their defensive line as high as the midfield stripe.

SeaGam kept the momentum to start off the second half despite the halftime introductions of Nii Engmann, Cam Vickers, and Nico Lopez from Bellevue Head Coach Mike Mata. SeaGam looked dangerous going forward, especially down the left wing through the creative attacking play of Babucarr Cham, who the Eastside Boys had trouble containing on the run, forcing Matt Janke to make a big leg save from an acute angle in the 52nd minute to keep it 2-1. Janke was once again called into action in the 55th to deny Ngum from a free kick as SeaGam began to pile up opportunities. The hosts finally found their equalizer in the 57th minute when a bouncing ball across the box found the left foot of Lamin Dampha, who sent a rocket into the far corner of the net, nestling itself under the bar and just beyond the reach of Janke to make it 2-2. 

The pressure from SeaGam did not let up after the equalizer, and with a loud and energetic home crowd behind them, they peppered the Bellevue net with attempts, forcing multiple stops from Janke and a goal-line clearance from Liam Raney. Bellevue’s best chance of the second half came when Jackson Finn got on the end of a ball over the top with room to run on the left side of the box, but his shot was stopped at close range by an onrushing Ebou Barrow in net. 

Bellevue seemed to struggle to stay on the ball as SeaGam’s physical and direct style of play kept the black and gold on the ropes in the latter portions of the second half. The hosts continued to look dangerous in transition as the visitors pushed further up the pitch in search of a go-ahead goal after the introduction of former Gambian international Kenny “King” Mansally.

It would be SeaGam who found their first lead of the game when in the 79th minute substitute Chukwudi Nwokoye found himself on the end of a through ball and one-on-one with Janke who despite getting a paw on the shot was unable to deny a tidy finish, sending the home crowd into hysterics as SeaGam made it 3-2. 

With 10 minutes to play, the Bellevue boys found themselves battling for an equalizer, but the SeaGam backline held firm, sending clearance after clearance back into Bellevue’s defensive half. Janke made his 6th and arguably most impressive save in the 85th minute, swiping a shot away to his left to deny Ngum a brace, but SeaGam were able to wind away several of the dying minutes deep into Bellevue territory. 

Eight minutes of added time gave Bellevue hope as they sent as many as seven men up to their front line. Despite a flurry of late attempts, Bellevue were unable to register a convincing shot on goal as SeaGam held on to pick up their first UPSL victory and hand Bellevue their first regular season UPSL loss since the final matchday of the Spring 2024 season, 10 months and 16 games ago.

After the loss, Bellevue assistant coach Dawda Dibba spoke about the game’s switch in momentum. “The game started off well, we had control, but they started to become more dominant when they started to take over the middle, and that gave them the confidence to go on the attack,” said Dibba. “In the second half they (SeaGam) did a lot better, and they deserved that goal. We could have done better in controlling and managing the game.”

While the postgame mood for Bellevue was somber and frustrated, the message was clear: this is a wake-up call. “It’s a good lesson for us, you can’t take your foot off the gas when you go 2-0 up, especially against a good team like that.”

Dibba, a former SeaGam player in their pre-UPSL days, said of the league newcomers, “I think it was just a matter of time for them… with the talent and the community behind them, I think they should have been in this league for a while. They are really strong and are going to do well this season.”

Center-back Liam Raney made his second UPSL start of Spring 2025 for Bellevue and looked excellent, playing a full 90 minutes as the team’s backline anchor and a key distributor out of the back. Raney made a number of key challenges, interceptions, and a crucial goal-line clearance while being tasked with defending a skilled and direct SeaGam attack all afternoon. “I think there’s a mentality of being a fantastic team here at Bellevue, but even fantastic teams can be beat,” said Raney postgame. “I think it’s a great learning point for us that we’ve got to go out and be scrappy and be able to play that type of ball while still holding our own style… Getting the second ball after an initial header or tackle, SeaGam’s last couple chances came off of those kinds of plays, and the whole second half was full of that so I think that’s one of the main things we can pick up.”

For a center-back, saving a goal is as good as scoring one, and Raney talked about his goal-saving block postgame. “When you’ve been around the game for a long time you can see stuff developing. I found myself at the right spot at the right time and there’s nothing quite like that feeling.”

Bellevue goalkeeper Matt Janke had a big performance on the afternoon despite the loss, making six saves, some of which appeared net-bound off the boot. “Being last season’s champions, it’s important that we continue to learn and continue to play our game and not the opponent’s.” Janke, who was optimistic about how the team could grow from the loss, spoke about the importance of effective build-up play from the back. “I think it’s mostly mental. We showed in the first half that we have great players who can keep the ball and keep calm, but as it went on we began to feel the emotions of the game and the crowd. We have the capability to keep the ball, and we have the players to possess it, it’s all about the mentality.”

Bellevue’s next match will be back at home at Bellevue College on Saturday, April 19th, against 3 Cities FC, where the defending back-to-back champs will look to rebound and start another unbeaten run. Assistant coach Dibba said he’s looking for the team to regroup and get a few key players back on the team sheet for their upcoming match. “It’s matchweek two, there’s a long way to go.”

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