Tomorrow night, under the lights at Bellevue High School, the Issaquah Eagles will challenge the Bellevue Wolverines. Both teams have undefeated in-conference records, with Bellevue only losing so far to Claremont Secondary of B.C., and Issaquah only dropping games to out of state foes Faith Lutheran and Austin. According to the computer at laxpower.com, Bellevue is a 3 goal favorite in this game, but games this season have had a reputation of turning out different than expected.

Bellevue of late has received a lot of coverage from our staff, and rightly so. Between the wins in Virginia, the strong and sometimes dominant play in each aspect of the game, and their recent convincing win against Oregon power West Linn, they have been impressive. Seniors Hank Bethke and Eric Haehl have 47 points on the year, and on the defensive end, Bellevue has yet to allow 10 goals this year. Bellevue will have to simply stay their course in order to earn a win.

Issaquah has also consistently improved, and seen seniors continue to step up. Senior Mikey Giannopulos has been remarkable - Georgetown committed, he is winning the lion's share of face-offs in their games. He should meet a great matchup in Bellevue's Ryan Eastes, who has been no slouch this year. This is a key battle in the game and one we look forward to seeing.

Issaquah has been one of the most impressive team offenses we have seen this year, with a balanced attack and strong off-ball play. Though senior Zach Fritz leads the team with 31 points, Issaquah is remarkable in that they have significant scoring from 6 other players, all who have 10 or more points on the season. According to coach Brandon Fortier, the biggest challenge for their offense is "to be prepared to handle their defensive pressure offensively and be patient. We can't afford forces or silly turnovers. Every possession will of course be huge." Issaquah's defense has also performed strongly throughout the season, only allowing 10 goals once over 13 games.

This has the makings of a great mid-season match. One team will leave with their first conference loss, and We hope to see you on Friday at 8pm! Share your thoughts with us on twitter @Walax.