The Eastlake Wolves played virtually the entire second half and the two five-minute overtime sessions on the Bothell Cougars side of the field but couldn’t get the go-ahead goal as the two Class 4A KingCo squads battled to a 1-1 tie on Oct. 9 in Sammamish.

Eastlake (6-3-1 overall) tied the game at 1-1 when Erica Jung scored in the 60th minute of play. Jung’s goal from about 25 yards out was a hard shot on the ground that skipped into the lower left corner of the goal. Bothell (0-2-2 league) scored their lone goal of the game when Erin McElligott’s found the back of the net in the 26th minute.  Bothell head coach Shawn Warner felt fortunate his team was able to escape the plateau with a tie.

“We did a good job of marking (covering) up in the back and I thought our goal keeper (Rachel Randall) was phenomenal. She made some really good saves,” Warner said. “Eastlake is such a good team. They came at us pretty hard. I think we got a little lucky tonight. We’ll definitely take it.”

Eastlake started off the game sluggish but picked it up a notch after a pep talk given by captain Jodi Ulkekul during an injury timeout in the 36th minute. Following Ulkekul’s spirited speech to her teammates the Wolves dominated the remainder of the game. Ulkekul’s leadership qualities didn’t go unnoticed by Wolves’ head coach Chuck Krieble.

“Jodi is the most vocal player of all our captains and is a remarkable leader. You would expect every coach to say that about their captains because they are there for a reason but she’s a cut above any of the team leaders I have had here in the past 10 years,” Kreible said.

Despite the Wolves 1-3-1 record in KingCo league play, Krieble expects his team to be in contention for a playoff berth as the regular season winds down this October.

“We know that we have to scratch and claw our way to get there. We see ourselves going to the playoffs,” he said.

Shaun Scott: 425-453-5045; sscott@bellevuereporter.com