ROUND OF 16 Valley FC vs Bellevue Athletic FC
Valley 559 FC and Bellevue Athletic FC travel their respective 400+ mile journey Friday and Saturday ahead of one of the west coast’s most anticipated matchups of the season. Both teams faced similar paths to reach this stage of the tournament including a gauntlet of league play in their respective NorCal South and Washington conferences. The neutral site is set to go in Medford, Oregon this Saturday. Jose Tovar and his Valley FC crew have their hands full against Owen Gortner’s firing Bellevue machine.
Through their first seven matches, Valley held on at 3-0-4 chasing a playoff position as recent as early November. Along with qualifying for the US Open Cup, defeating Ballard FC in the dying minutes, Valley put together a six game win streak where they knocked out notable sides FC Folsom and Project 510 after sneaking into playoffs on Goal Difference. Washington’s Bellevue Athletic sat just out of playoffs when November came around; 5th position at 3-1-2. After falling to Sharktopus in Open Cup qualification, Bellevue claimed 7 points in the league to punch their ticket. They received some help as table challengers, Seattle Eagles & Dalul FC, dropped necessary points to close the season in Bellevue’s favor. Knocking out Seagam FC first, then regular season winners Seatown FC and Beaverton FC to show the country they can win when it matters.
We can expect goals, sharing just four clean sheets between their 24 matches on the season, but more importantly we can expect this 2024 Rd of 16 rematch to produce fireworks in Southern Oregon.
By Bruce Corrie of Lower League Scout
@lowerleaguescoutnw