Bellevue youth team wins title

Bellevue Youth Soccer took home the girls U16/U17 Washington State Youth Soccer Founders Cup over a squad from Edgewood last month, after a two-week snow delay postponed the match from its original date.

Olivia Mack, Peggy Ferguson and Ellie Moran scored goals in the 3-1 championship game win, while Ashlyn Lutz dished out a pair of assists to help her team take home the title.

Former Wolverine now with Huskies

Bellevue will be without one of the most talented soccer players from the area this spring, but it wasn’t another high school program or academy program the Wolverines lost out to.

Garret Jackson, who was a member of the Class of 2014 at Bellevue, instead graduated in January to join his collegiate program at the University of Washington this spring as the Huskies begin training for the fall season.

After its Elite 8 appearance in last year’s NCAA tournament, with a team that included Sammamish grad Beau Blanchard, UW adds Jackson as a defender for its Pac-12 championship hunt.  Washington head coach Jaime Clark has a glowing review for his incoming freshman on the team’s official website.

“Garret is the best defender in the Northwest and one of the top in the country for 2015. He combines a big physical presence with the technical ability to play out of the back. He should arrive on campus this spring, which will give him the ability to challenge for playing time right away in the fall.”

Jackson played with Crossfire Premier’s Academy team.

Bellevue College coach playing professionally

Andrew Croft, the head coach of the men’s soccer team at Bellevue College, recently traveled to Chicago to compete for the Tacoma Galaxy as a goalkeeper in the Premier Arena Soccer League.

Croft’s wife, Tafara Pulse, is a midfielder for the Sounders Women.

BC finished the 2013 season 5-8-0 in NWAACC play and one spot out of the playoffs.