Bellevue Athletic Win Eastside Derby 2-1 Against United Sports FC

Written by Adam Race

The first ever UPSL Eastside Derby went the way of Bellevue Athletic on Sunday, with BAFC defeating in-city rivals United Sports 2-1 at Bellevue College. Goals from Owen Gortner and Eli Peterson provided the Black and Gold with their second straight UPSL victory, putting them at 3-1-1 on the season and keeping them at third place in the conference table. The win also extended a now 12-game home undefeated run going back to Spring of 2024. 

The opening minutes of the match were a familiar sight for the Eastside Boys, with the hosts finding themselves on the back foot and surrendering several good chances on goal to United Sports. Bellevue’s offense in the first 10 minutes came almost entirely from Owen Gortner, making his Spring 2025 UPSL debut, who put a pair of chances from distance wide of net.

The first moment of real danger came for United Sports in the 8th minute when Ignacio Brandan found himself in space to shoot on the left side of the box, but was denied by a sliding block from Kaydin Wall. Bellevue goalkeeper Matt Janke was called into action for the first time in the 12th minute when he held a direct free kick attempt from Marc Itond, before having to parry away a Cristian Chel Lara shot just a minute later.

Despite the early pressure, it would be Bellevue who found the game’s first goal in the 26th minute. Immediately following Janke’s fourth save of the first half BAFC would put on a perfect display of counter attacking soccer, with a long ball finding Jackson Finn who played a quick one-two with his strike partner Owen Gortner before dribbling to the end line and putting a chipped cross the far post where Gortner would head home from point-blank range. This was the first UPSL goal of 2025 for Gortner, and an impressive first assist of the season for Finn.

The seal-breaker seemed to immediately shift the momentum of the match, with Bellevue going on the front foot and not allowing another chance on Janke’s net for the remainder of the period. Bellevue would have multiple chances to make it 2-0, including Gortner firing just wide of an open net from a tight angle in the 31st, and Marc Pedrosa having his close-range chip attempt swiped away by United Sports’ netminder in the 36th. Finn would come inches away from his second goal contribution of the half when, in the 41st minute, he cut inside from the wing and rattled a left-footed curler off the crossbar from just outside the box. 

BAFC’s second goal would come in the dying seconds of first-half extra time when a free kick led to Gortner’s shot being cleared off the line by Inaki Santamarina Padrino but directly into the outstretched leg of Eli Peterson and to the back of the net. This was the first goal as a member of Bellevue Athletic for Peterson, and gave Bellevue a 2-0 advantage headed into halftime.

The second half started much as the first had ended, with Bellevue controlling the majority of possession and goal-scoring opportunities. However, another insurance goal was hard to come by, with multiple saves from Unitede Sports’ keeper fending off the hosts from running away on the scoreboard. The visitor’s defensive efforts would be rewarded when, in the 68th minute, a long shot from Lukas Shriner was saved by Janke only for the ball to rebound straight to Inaki Santamarina Padrino, who slotted it in to make it 2-1. This was the first goal Bellevue had conceded in over 200 minutes of UPSL action going back to matchday two against SeaGam, and broke Matt Janke’s two-match shutout streak. 

The remaining 20 minutes of the match were tense and hotly contested, with both teams hitting the woodwork. United Sports’ best chance to equalize came in the 81st when William Winklercook sent a lightning bolt of a shot beyond the reach of Janke but off the crossbar. Late substitutions from Bellevue brought in Edgar Lopez-Ramirez, Ernesto Arevalo, and Beckham Mischel, who all proved clinical in game management and killed off the remaining seconds deep in United Sports’ defensive end of the pitch. 

The Eastside Boys would hold on to take the match by a score of 2-1, winning the first-ever UPSL iteration of the Eastside Derby and remaining within the playoff qualification zone. This was United Sports’ fourth consecutive loss, and second time falling to Bellevue this season after being eliminated by BAFC in the first round of the Washington State Super Cup prior to the start of their inaugural USPL campaign. 

Despite not showing up on the scoresheet, the performances of Sacko Konate in defense and Aiden Drought in the midfield were crucial for Bellevue’s victory. Konate, a veteran of the professional ranks and recent addition to the squad, stepped into the back line and seemed unbeatable, winning countless duels on the ground and shutting down one of United Sports’ main offensive spark plugs in Andrew Wei. Drought was a ball of energy in the middle of the park, flying around the pitch and being a thorn in the side of the opposition all night. Drought and Konate both put themselves in the conversation for player of the match as Bellevue held a United Sports squad, which has averaged over three goals per game, to only a single tally on a handful of opportunities. 

Assistant Coach Brian Burkholder and General Manager Anastacio Rivera were on the touchline for the match as co-managers in the absence of usual head coach Mike Mata, and were able to see Bellevue through to a derby-day victory with heavy playoff implications.

“We saw this team a month ago in the Super Cup and beat them 5-1, but this time around they played hard and really stepped it up, and I think we struggled a little bit in the beginning,” said Burkholder. “We were able to get a couple goals and get our feet under us, put the pressure off us and onto them. I have to give it to United Sports though, they really made it hard on us.”

The final five minutes of the match were highlighted by excellent game management from Bellevue, who were able to follow the textbook, get the ball to the opposition’s corner flag and see out the result. “Marc Pedrosa came out and showed a lot of leadership at the end of the game,” said Burkholder. “Killing the time near the end in the corner was remarkable. In the past I think we would have panicked and just played run-and-shoot kickball, but we controlled it, and that’s what we want to see.”

The result marks Bellevue’s first UPSL winning streak of 2025, and after a slow start, the squad is hoping to keep pace near the top of the table and lock up another playoff appearance. “Sometimes when you have ties or even a loss it’s a good motivator, it’s a reality check and puts things in perspective,” said Burkholder. “If you get in the top four, you’re in the playoffs, and anything can happen. We saw that a year ago. What we’re looking for now is to continue to build chemistry, keep guys healthy, and with some of our players shifting over to USL-2 we’ve got to be a little more dynamic. The subs that come off the bench certainly contribute quite a bit.”

One of the feel-good stories of the match was Owen Gortner scoring on his return to UPSL after missing time with an injury. Gortner was Bellevue’s second-top scorer in Fall 2024, and after tallying a brace in a friendly against USL-2 Bigfoot FC midweek, was able to tally his 7th career UPSL goal for Bellevue in his first league game of 2025.

“It feels very good,” said Gortner postgame on his first UPSL goal since coming back to the squad. “I don’t know if I’ve scored an easier goal than that. Props to Jackson Finn for the very nice assist. It feels great to get back, feels even better to get the win.” This was Finn and Gortner’s first UPSL match playing as Bellevue’s front two, and the pair played off each other well throughout the game. “He’s a creative player, I’m a creative player, we love creating chances, we love playing off each other and off our midfielders. We’ll put more chances away next game.”

Gortner gave a lot of credit to Bellevue’s midfield and backline engines for the result, “The effort was amazing throughout the whole game, not just the end. In the end we were very smart, but we won that game because everybody was winning 50-50s all game long. Aiden Drought in the middle of the field, the center backs, the outside backs, we were all pressing forward and winning the ball, and that’s what led to the win today.”

Bellevue go on the road next Sunday to take on Gala FC in Arlington as they look to continue their three-match unbeaten run in UPSL play and remain in the playoff qualification zone. 

SCORING RECAP