PORTLAND, Ore. — West Seattle Junction FC’s struggles continued last weekend, as the Blues suffered their fourth loss of the season in a 4-2 defeat on the road against Portland Bangers FC. Damoni Mckenna and Alex Hristov each tallied a goal in the second half of Saturday’s matchup, but it wasn’t enough to get the visitors across the line after having fallen behind earlier in the contest.
The Bangers started the game on the front foot and were rewarded early with a goal from Drew Pedersen in the fourth minute, after the forward managed to get beyond Junction’s backline and fire his shot past Liam Ryan in net.
The hosts were relentless on both sides of the ball throughout much of the first half, with the Blues being held to just one shot in the first 45. Portland’s pressure continued to pay off, as Pedersen went on to complete a first half hattrick with goals in the 24th and 41st minutes.
The halftime interval could not have come sooner for the visitors, with the Blues seemingly unable to find any sort of answer to the challenge poised by Portland.
Despite the three-goal deficit, Junction looked like a completely new team in the second half, with the momentum swinging in favor of the visitors. The Blues looked to be the more dangerous of the two sides, with Mckenna pulling one back in the 73rd minute with a scrappy, hard-fought goal.
Junction’s momentum was quickly cut short, as the hosts managed to tack on a fourth through Andrew Lovell, who got on the end of a poorly played back pass and poked his shot past Ryan in goal. Hristov added a second for the Blues in the final minutes of play after tapping in the rebound from a saved Jacen Stein penalty, but Portland’s dominance from earlier in the afternoon was enough to see out the contest.
Up next for the Blues is arguably their hardest test up to this point, as they face division leaders Ballard FC on the road this Friday at 7:00 pm. West Seattle will need all the support they can get, with tickets still available for purchase online. Fans unable to make it to Friday night’s match in person can still tune in to the livestream on SportsEngine Play.
