Stars catch Hammers in six goal thriller

BELLINGHAM, WA — Seattle Stars FC continued their run of positive results on Saturday as they rallied to draw 3-3 with Bellingham United FC.

The Stars were in a good mood before the match on July 12 in Bellingham. (Facebook)

The high-scoring contest didn’t get its first goal until the 26th minute. That’s when Bellingham went ahead 1-0 thanks to the 12th goal of the year from Tyler Bjork.

Right away the Stars got even when Rob Lansche sent a ball in from the right wing that Guillermo Heraldez dove for and headed nicely into the goal.

It was a hot afternoon in Bellingham, and the players and officials were happy for the halftime break that came with the score still tied at 1-1.

Tye Hastings was active in the second half for Bellingham. He was putting pressure on the Seattle goal. After both Hastings and Stars goalkeeper Scott Barnum got dual yellow cards, Hastings got a reward for his hard work. In the 65th minute he scored to put Bellingham up 2-1.

INTENSITY: This is quite an angle for a photo as the Hammers' attack is slowed down by two Stars players sliding for the ball. (Facebook) — INTENSITY: This is quite an angle for a photo as the Hammers’ attack is slowed down by two Stars players sliding for the ball. (Facebook)

The script called for more drama, and the Stars didn’t wait to deliver. In the 68th minute they evened the match at 2-2 when Corneliu Leremie bent a perfect strike on a free kick into the upper area at the near post.

Bellingham regained the lead just a few minutes later when Mo Mareneh scored his third goal of the year. It was 3-2 Hammers and everyone was trying to catch their breath.

No time for that, though.

Wyatt Hill found Buba Jammeh on a through-pass that gave the Seattle attacker a one-on-one with Bellingham goalkeeper Brian Swanson. Jammeh converted his fifth goal of the year and the thriller was tied 3-3.

The heat and the pace of things meant the late stages were a bit chippy.

The Stars and Hammers finished without further scoring. Seattle is unbeaten in their last four matches.

#7 Buba Jammeh scores the sixth goal of the match. (Facebook)

Here is a match report from Bellingham United Insider Brandon Enyeart:

You know those people who have an answer for everything? Well that just happened to be the Seattle Stars Saturday afternoon at Civic Stadium in Bellingham, WA. No matter what Bellingham had to say, Seattle had an answer for it.

Both teams entered the match mathematically out of the title hunt, but certainly playing for pride. Bellingham United FC (6-5-1) resided in 4^th place in the EPLWA, while Seattle Stars (4-7-1) found themselves in second to last place, but had recently found a spark as of late with a 2-0 win over league leaders (at the time) South Sound FC.

There wasn’t a whole lot in the match until the 27^th minute when goal scoring wizard, Tyler Bjork netted his 12^th of the season for Bellingham after a beautiful through ball from Rene Caro. Moments later in the 32^nd minute, Guillermo Heraldez equalized with a perfectly placed header that beat a flying Brian Swanson. The match would remain 1-1 heading into the half.

The second half opened up with two huge saves for Seattle Stars’ keeper, Scott Barnum. By the time the 64^th minute came around things started to get ugly. Seattle Right Back, Jose Chavez was fouled by Bellingham’s Tye Hastings and remained on the pitch for some time. This drew a reaction from Seattle’s French Center Back, Bastien Catrin who made his feelings known with certain words that could be heard across the stadium. Players from both sides were shown yellow cards.

After everything was sorted out, Bellingham took the lead once again and it was none other than Tye Hastings who found the back of the net. The goal shortly after the skirmish found Hasting in the crosshairs of the Seattle backline prompting Head Coach, Lance Calloway to make a substitution, replacing the tall forward with Mo Marenah.

In the 69^th minute, Seattle would equalize once again off a free kick from Corheliu Ieremie. Tensions continued to be at a high even with Hastings watching from the bench.

The Hammers would take the lead for the third time in the 76^th minute when super sub, Mo Marenah collected a beautiful pass from Tyler Bjork and slotted it past Barnum. However, just when it was starting to look like the Hammers would hold on for the 3-2 win, Buba Jameh ended Bellingham’s hopes for three points when he popped in a goal at the 86^th minute to make it a 3-3 match.

A late red card to the aforementioned Seattle Star, Bastien Catrin for an alleged “hand to face” would have no impact on the match as the center referee limited stoppage time to about a minute give or take, much to the shock of the players and crowd who had just witnessed a second half full of skirmishes and injuries. The match would end with a 3-3 score.

Head Coach, Lance Calloway had this to say about the match:

“Yesterday’s 3-3 draw against the Seattle Stars was an entertaining match, but disappointing from a coach’s perspective. It was disappointing in that we gave up the equalizer in the 86^th minute. We should have done a better job closing out the match. I give Seattle credit as it was a great strike to earn them the draw.

I was relatively pleased with our play as we created several chanced on goal. Our forwards were continually getting in behind and creating opportunities on goal. Again need to give credit to the Stars’ keeper as he came up with several good saves keeping the Stars in the game.

I was definitely disappointed we didn’t come away with three points, but I can settle with one point. Seattle has been hot as of late as they beat league leaders, South Sound 2-0 on Thursday. I think this is a great testament to the new EPLWA as it seems the league is very competitive that if your squad isn’t prepared to play, you will not get the points. Makes it fun match in match out through the season.

We are looking forward to next weekend’s showdown as we host South Sound in our season finale. It will be a very great game as they are a good squad that we have developed a good rivalry with.”

Your Hammer Man of the Match was Mo Marenah. The draw brings Bellingham’s record to 6-5-2 and Seattle’s to 4-7-2. It is also worth noting that over the weekend, Spokane Shadow FC did take the lead league away from South Sound FC for the time being. As Coach Calloway stated, Bellingham will end their season this Friday at Civic Stadium with a match against South Sound FC. Kickoff is at 7:00pm.

Jammeh decides to go to the other end and "share" his accomplishment with Hammers supporters. (Facebook) — Jammeh decides to go to the other end and “share” his accomplishment with Hammers supporters. (Facebook)

We need more lightbulbs. (Facebook) — Half a dozen. (Facebook)

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