From First Minute to Final Whistle: Bangers Dominate Junction
Seattle, WA - The Bangers traveled up to West Seattle on a windy and warm Sunday afternoon to take on the winless West Seattle Junction in a match where the Bangers look to continue their unbeaten streak. With a 4-2 win at home the last time these two teams met, Portland headed into this game confident that they would take care of business. It was Drew Pedersen who led the heroics with a hat trick last time, and yet the West Seattle announcer believed it would be a “4-goal thrashing by the home side”.
GOAL!!!! Loic Baures, with a beautiful curled ball from the left-sided touchline, finds a wide-open Vala Saghafi to open the scoring, not even a minute into play at the Nino Cantu SWAC in Seattle. The 4-goal thrashing narrative only lasted one minute of action before the Bangers struck early.
The 16’ brought the next bit of action in this game. The short corner kick played by the maestro Loic Baures caught the West Seattle defense lacking as they left Jaime Villanueva wide open on the edge of the 18-yard box. Villanueva hit a dipping knuckleball that seemed destined for the top right corner, but forced an incredible save from the keeper.
A Portland attacker seemed primed to make the score 2-0 in the 28th minute as a pass from Jaime Villanueva went all the way across the box and fell to him with no defenders around him. On their not-preferred left foot, the shot skidded wide of the goal post and out for a goal kick. A prime chance wasted for Portland early in the game.
GOAL!!! Andrew Lovell finished off his original chance to put Portland up 2-0 in the 43rd minute. A turnover from the WSJ goalkeeper spilled to the feet of a rushing Jaime Villanueva from the Portland Bangers. Villanueva picked the ball up around the 30-yard line and looked to find the feet of Nico Lopez. Lopez let the ball go through his legs to a waiting Andrew Lovell. Lovell’s first touch caused a goalkeeper save, which got parried back to his feet for an easy pass into the back of the net.
The two teams entered the half with Portland leading at the break, 2-0, in a dominating performance that left the home side shell-shocked.
The first action of the second half came after a water break. A 68th-minute Marcus Norris goal kick led to an uncontested header that fell to the feet of Ian Mejia. Mejia hit a wonder strike from 35 yards out, and Norris could not do anything but watch the beautiful strike from Mejia.
Straight from the restart kickoff, Vala Saghafi found the substitute Andrew Lovell sprinting down the right flank. A beautiful pirouette turn saw Lovell find Saghafi back on the back post, and the half-volley connected to give Portland a 3-1 lead in the 70th minute.
A barrage of chances from the Bangers was cut short by a long WSJ throw-in. A deflected shot looked to be careening into the back of the net until Loic Baures sprang into action and headed it off the line. This brave action from Baures led to multiple corner kicks at the other end.
The Portland Bangers put in a commanding shift in West Seattle, walking away with a well-earned 3-1 victory to extend their unbeaten run. From the opening whistle, it was clear who the better side was, and it was the trio of Vala Saghafi, Loic Baures, and Jaime Villanueva who stole the show. Saghafi opened the scoring and later added a clinical finish to seal the match, while Baures and Villanueva delivered vital assists, and Baures saved a sure goal off the line with a heroic clearance.
Match Timeline: Portland Bangers 3 – 1 West Seattle Junction
First Half:
1’ – ⚽ Goal: Vala Saghafi (Portland Bangers)
1’ – 🅰️ Assist: Loic Baures (Portland Bangers)
18’ – 🔁 Substitution: Andrew Lovell enters for Portland
43’ – ⚽ Goal: Andrew Lovell (Portland Bangers)
43’ – 🅰️ Assist: Jaime Villanueva (Portland Bangers)
Second Half:
46’ – 🔁 Substitution: Etefobo Aror enters for Portland
66’ – 🔁 Substitution: Vance Sheffield enters for Portland
66’ – 🔁 Substitution: Whylie Trujillo enters for Portland
68’ – ⚽ Goal: Ian Mejia (West Seattle Junction)
70’ – ⚽ Goal: Vala Saghafi (Portland Bangers)
70’ – 🅰️ Assist: Andrew Lovell (Portland Bangers)
80’ – 🔁 Substitution: Alex Perez-Hernandez enters for Portland
80’ – 🔁 Substitution: Jadon Dubon enters for Portland
Starting XI – Portland Bangers:
GK: Norris
Defenders: Baures, McDowd, McClellan, Villanueva
Midfielders: Mendoza-Soto, Jeppe, Lopez
Forwards: Saghafi, Pedersen, Fisher
Substitutes Used: Lovell (18’), Aror (46’), Sheffield (66’), Trujillo (66’), Perez-Hernandez (80’), Dubon (80’)
Unused Subs: Glock
