Ballard FC Overwhelms Tacoma Stars, Scores Eleven in Record-Setting Road Win

Ballard FC delivered a dominant performance Tuesday afternoon, defeating the Tacoma Stars 11–0 at Bellarmine Memorial Field in what became a statement victory on the road. With kickoff at 4pm under warm and sunny conditions, the match included hydration breaks in both halves—but the only thing hotter than the weather was Ballard’s relentless attack.

The scoring started early in the seventh minute, when Khai Brisco delivered a pinpoint cross from deep on the right side into the six-yard box, where Charlie Kosakoff rose to meet it with a composed header at the back post. The lead doubled just eight minutes later when Charlie Kosakoff latched onto a lofted ball from Andre Philibbosian, sliced in from the right, and bent a stunning strike into the upper-right corner from distance.

Ballard didn’t let up. In the 22nd minute, Cameron Cruz, surrounded in the box, smartly laid the ball off to Zach Ramsey, who calmly placed a left-footed shot into the top left corner. Kosakoff completed his first-half hat trick just minutes later, racing past his defender on a breakaway and slipping a low shot past the onrushing keeper after a through-ball from Cruz.

The floodgates burst further in the 29th minute as Cruz weaved into the box, faked out a defender, and calmly slotted the ball home after the keeper dove early, with Austin Brummett providing the assist. In the 38th minute, it was Ramsey turning provider, chasing the ball to the end line before cutting back a cross that Brummett calmly finished. The duo connected again in the 44th minute, as Cruz found Kosakoff on the right flank, who returned the favor with a perfect ball to Ramsey for a close-range tap-in to make it 7–0 at halftime.

Second-half substitutions didn’t slow the tempo. To start the half, Ballard made two changes: Arjun Venkat and Rafi Otero entered the match in place of Brisco and Luke Hammond. Just one minute after entering the match, Otero got on the end of an Brummett pass and finished into the top right corner with his first touch of the mass. A yellow card to Tacoma’s Diego Hernandez in the 48th minute briefly disrupted play, but Ballard responded immediately with another goal. Brummett capped off a well-worked sequence from Zach Ramsey, who had slalomed through defenders along the left sideline before squaring the assist. Brummett’s brace and Ballard’s ninth goal broke the previous club record of eight goals in a match.

Wholesale changes came in the 60th, but the newcomers continued Ballard’s offensive clinic. Kaydin Wall, Nii Engmann, Elliot Spatz, Sean Sent, and Juan Alvarez all entered the match, replacing Ramsey, Cruz, Kosakoff, Brummett, and Philibbosian. In the 67th, Alvarez slipped a pass to Nii Engmann at the edge of the 18, who quickly turned and fired a grounded strike past the keeper to make it double digits and score on his Ballard USL 2 debut. With nine minutes left, Wall fought to keep the ball in play near the end line after his initial cross was deflected. He quickly recovered and sent a low ball across the face of the goal through traffic, where Nii Engmann timed his run and tapped it home despite being pulled down by two defenders.

The 11–0 win is Ballard’s largest margin of victory in club history and 11 is the most goals scored in a single match by Ballard FC. Tuesday was a showcase of the team’s attacking depth, discipline, and composure.

Player of the Match honors go to Charlie Kosakoff, who notched a first-half hat trick and was a constant threat on the attack. His pace, finishing, and vision helped Ballard seize control early and never look back.

MATCH DETAILS 

FULLTIME: Ballard FC 11 – 0 Tacoma Stars

Starting XI: Short, Hammond, Ketcham, Zemenfes, Brisco, Philibbosian, Apolinar, Brummett, Ramsey, Cruz, Kosakoff 

Subs: Otero, Venkat, Alvarez, Spatz, Wall, Sent, N. Engmann, Dutra, T. Wilson 

Player of the Match: Charlie Kosakoff – the hat-trick hero who scored three goals in under 30 minutes.

WHAT’S NEXT? 

Ballard FC travel to Eugene on Friday, June 27th for a battle with Lane United. Then, their next home match is Wednesday, July 2nd in a rematch against the Tacoma Stars, with a 7pm kick off at Interbay.

Get tickets to Wednesday’s match!

Written by Emily Battistoni

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