Two late goals for Roosevelt spoiled a thrilling season opener for Federal Way’s boys soccer team as they fell 5-3 to the Rough Riders on March 12.
Federal Way applied the offensive pressure early but were unable to get any good looks at the goal.
Instead, it was Roosevelt who struck first.
About five minutes into the game, Roosevelt found themselves with an opportunity to get a quality look. Their cross from the right side of the box was handled by Federal Way goalkeeper Cooper Hutchins, however.
In the sixth minute, the Rough Riders opened the scoring. Avery Jacobson found himself in space at the edge of the box after Federal Way defenders mishandled the ball.
He took the first shot of the game and buried it into the top right corner of the net.
The Rough Riders didn’t let up their attack after the first goal. Just seven minutes later, their second shot of the game netted them their second goal.
Federal Way had an opportunity to capitalize on a corner kick in the 19th minute but were unable to get a shot on goal.
As the wind and rain of the first 25 minutes of the game gave way to a brief period of sunshine, the Rough Riders found the goal once again as Alex Low gave them a 3-0 lead.
“Defensively, we were a wreck,” said Federal Way head coach Jason Baumgardt. “They had three goals in the first half on four shots. We weren’t marking.”
The game began to look dire for the Eagles and seemed as though it would get worse once their star midfielder and Pacific Lutheran University commit, David Opanasevych, went out with an ankle injury after an aggressive tackle by a Roosevelt player.
During stoppage time of the first half, Federal Way began to gain some ground when a cross found Chris Williams for a headed-in goal.
That momentum stuck with the Eagles as they began the second half.
In the 45th minute, Oscar Guzman broke free of the defense and nearly scored from about eight yards out, but the Roosevelt keeper managed to make a diving save and the ball rolled just outside of the net.
The Eagles ended up with two corner opportunities in the next three minutes but could not convert them into goals.
In the 49th minute, Guzman got another chance to beat the keeper and made it count. The Eagles only trailed 3-2 and had dominated the first 10 minutes of the second half.
Eleven minutes later, the Eagles tied the game at 3-3.
Williams and Guzman raced down the field with two Roosevelt defenders trying to mark them. Williams made a cut with the ball and one of the defenders fell down, leaving the Eagles with a two-on-one advantage.
Williams passed the ball to Guzman, who deposited it to the back of the net for the third Eagles goal.
Looking to take the lead, the Eagles kept the pressure on. Eventually it cost them.
After another save by the Roosevelt’s goalkeeper in the 71st minute, the Rough Riders initiated a counterattack.
Jacobson got past the Federal Way defense and found the net for the second time in the game. The Rough Riders were back in front 4-3.
In stoppage time, Jacobson would score once more to cement the 5-3 win for Roosevelt and complete the hat trick.
“First game, we weren’t ready to play. Plain and simple,” said Baumgardt. “We gotta clean some things up. Offensively we were fine, but we’ve got to do a better job keeping the ball and we’ve got to be better defenders.”
Federal Way (0-1-1, 0-0-1) drew 2-2 against Decatur (0-1-1, 0-0-1) to open league play.
Decatur lost to Auburn Riverside 1-0 on Wednesday night.
