Bellevue Athletic Face Seattle Eagles in Search of State Three-Peat

Written By Adam Race

For the third straight season, Bellevue Athletic will compete in the UPSL-Washington finals, as they play host to league newcomers and two-seeded Seattle Eagles Saturday at Bellevue High School.

Bellevue is coming off a commanding 3-0 win over SeaGam FC in the semi-finals, with Seattle Eagles having beaten the three seed, 3 Cities FC, 3-1 in Tukwila on Sunday. The two teams finished on top in the regular-season league standings, and also at the top of the form table, with both teams entering this weekend on eight-game UPSL winning streaks.

The teams faced off in the regular season in Tukwila, with Bellevue coming away as 3-0 victors in a match that kicked off their outstanding run of form. Seattle Eagles were able to bounce back from the result, and have not dropped a single point since. 

Over Bellevue’s last nine games, they have kept five shutouts, including in both of their last two UPSL matches. BAFC holds the best defensive record in the division, conceding just 0.8 goals per game. The Eastside Boys have paired this with an attack that has produced almost five goals per game this year to stand as the team to beat in UPSL-Washington. When it comes to matchups against the other playoff-bound teams in UPSL Washington, Bellevue have kept three shutouts in five games, scoring 2.2 goals per game and conceding just 1.0 per game.

During Seattle Eagles’ current winning streak, they have scored at least two goals in every match, including 12-0 and 14-0 results over last-place Thurston County. Their 3-1 win last week over 3 Cities was their second win over a playoff team this year, joined by their matchweek one victory over SeaGam.

The goal throughout the season for Bellevue players and staff has been to once again win the state and region to reach the national playoffs. The black and gold are one win away from achieving the first of those goals, making UPSL-Washington history by completing a possible three-peat of state titles. 

Bellevue head coach Mike Mata has had a focus on mentality all season, and there is no bigger test of mentality than having to perform in a final. “One of the main approaches to how I coach is the mentality and psychology side of the game. They showed that against SeaGam, and I’m very happy with it.”

Bellevue will hope to have a repeat performance of their first matchup with Seattle Eagles, in which Eyal Shechtman, Tyler Hopp, and Ernesto Arevalo scored, and Matt Janke saved a penalty en route to a clean sheet.

The match will take place at 7 PM at Bellevue High School, as well as being live-streamed.

Seattle Eagles: League Debut to League Final

Three matches into their inaugural UPSL campaign, Tukwila outfit Seattle Eagles had a win and two losses, having just suffered back-to-back shutouts, and sat outside of the playoff places. This weekend, they will play for the UPSL-Washington title against the back-to-back state and regional champs, Bellevue Athletic.

Seattle Eagles have been one of the best stories in the division this season, but the first few games of the season were rough for the former Seattle African Premier League side. Eagles beat SeaGam 3-2 in their first ever UPSL match, but then lost 4-0 on the road to 3 Cities and 3-0 at home against Bellevue Athletic. “The start of the season was difficult for us,” said club owner/founder Dauda Sanoh. “We had to reflect on the games we lost to identify the areas of improvement and set clear goals for future growth.”

The lessons learned in the first few weeks were taken in stride by the squad, as they have been perfect since their loss to Bellevue, winning eight straight league games, including getting revenge over 3 Cities by beating them 3-1 in their semi-final match last weekend. “I’m very proud of my players. They have been working so hard every practice and game to reach this stage,” said Sanoh. 

Seattle Eagles have been outstanding over this run, especially on the defensive side. They have conceded a total of just five goals over their last eight games, posting four shutouts along the way. “As a team, we share experiences and insights to help us build trust and a sense of collective purpose. This has been the key to our incredible run of form. Outworking our opponents defensively has made us stronger.”

Going into their week three matchup with Bellevue Athletic, Sanoh’s message about the club’s goal for the season was “to simply make our first season in UPSL memorable, have fun, and win.” Eagles have achieved that and more in Spring 2025, and if they are able to avenge their 3-0 loss to Bellevue early in the season, they will make history with a debut state title. “Going into the game on Saturday, I’m expecting the players to keep trusting the process and execute the game plan with maximum effort. We are excited to create memories on Saturday. We will have fun.”

Bellevue’s History of UPSL-Washington Excellence

Saturday will be Bellevue Athletic’s third consecutive UPSL-Washington Final, a historic achievement for a club which has established themselves as perennial state title-contenders. But the road to the top for BAFC has not been an easy or direct one. 

To get perspective on where BAFC are now, it helps to look back at where they started three years ago. Bellevue’s first season in the UPSL was Spring 2022. At that time, the Pacific Northwest division was composed of 7 teams, two of which now compete in UPSL-Oregon (St. John’s FC and Deportivo Rose City), and two of which still compete in UPSL-Washington in 2025 (Bellevue, Thurston County). 

In their inaugural UPSL season, Bellevue finished sixth out of the seven PNW Division teams, only above Thurston County. Over 10 matches, Bellevue won two and lost the other eight, winning just one of their five home games at what now serves as their postseason home, Bellevue High School. Not only did Bellevue struggle in the win column, but struggled on the stat sheet, scoring just one goal per game and conceding over three on average. 

St. John’s, who have continued to be a power in UPSL-Oregon and could be a possible regional opponent this season if Bellevue is to advance, won the division in Spring 2022.

Fall of 2022 saw big improvement from the Eastside Boys, as they finished second in a five-team league, only behind Deportivo Rose City. Bellevue went 4-2-2 and were undefeated at home, a pattern of dominance on the Eastside which we can still see today. However, they were still unable to advance beyond the divisional stage.

Despite improvement in Fall 2022, Spring 2023 would once again see Bellevue struggle in the PNW division, as they finished fifth in a six-team league, going 3-0-7 and owning the league’s worst goal difference at -12.

In the Fall of 2023, Bellevue would once again fall just short of their first piece of hardware, going 5-0-3 and finishing second behind St. Johns.

It was a year ago in the Spring of 2024 that Bellevue would finally find its breakthrough. In the first season of the modern UPSL-Washington system, Bellevue would scrap their way to the last playoff spot by just a single point and head into the postseason as underdogs. But first season Head Coach Mike Mata was able to inspire BAFC to an incredible postseason run, beating Dalul FC 5-4 in an extra-time thriller before defeating Snohomish Sky 2-0 for the club’s first ever state title. 

Bellevue came into the Fall of 2024 with the momentum of the Spring and put together an incredible campaign in which they went unbeaten en route to their first regular-season title. They would also remain perfect in the UPSL-Washington playoffs, beating Dalul in the semis again, this time in a shootout after a 4-4 result, and dispatching Sharktopus FC 3-0 in the state final. 

After their 3-0 Semi-Final win over SeaGam last weekend, Bellevue remained undefeated in the UPSL-Washington playoffs under Head Coach Mike Mata, going 5-0 and winning back-to-back championships.

Bellevue Athletic UPSL-Washington Playoff History

Bellevue’s rise from league newcomers to league dominance over the last year has been nothing short of meteoric, and BAFC will look to remain perfect under coach Mata this weekend against Seattle Eagles FC, a team that features several familiar faces from former playoff opponents Dalul FC.

Bellevue Athletic 2025 UPSL Stats 

Individual: Outfield

Individual: Goalkeeping

Team: Overall

Final UPSL Washington Standings/Schedule

Playoff Qualification Zone

C = Regular-Season Champions

x = Clinched Playoffs

e = Eliminated

How To Follow

Fans can follow Bellevue Athletic online at bellevueathletic.com and via social media on Instagram (@bellevueathletic), Facebook (@bellevueathletic), and YouTube (@bellevueathletic).