With the season hanging in the balance, the Interlake Saints boys soccer team delivered a proverbial knockout punch against the Bellevue Wolverines.

Interlake kept their season alive courtesy of a 4-1 win against Bellevue in a loser-out KingCo playoff game on May 11 in Bellevue. Austin Ball got Interlake on the board after finding the back of the net in the seventh minute. Bellevue responded tying the game at 1-1 apiece on a Felipe Quintero header goal in the 10th minute. The sensational score came off of a corner-kick.

It would be the final time Bellevue scored in the contest.

Tay Aras recorded two goals (14th minute, 76th minute) and Noah Parsons scored in the 48th minute for Interlake.

Aras, who played with a mask after suffering a broken nose against Mercer Island on May 9, said things got a little tense on Interlake’s side of the field when Bellevue tied the game at 1-1 in the 10th minute.

“There was a little bit of worry but I had no doubt we could come out and beat them in the end,” Aras said.

Aras believes his team is peaking at the right time. The Saints had a 6-4 record on April 13 but have won five of their past seven games to improve to 11-6.

“Once we got into the middle of the season everything started to click. We started off a bit slow losing a lot of away games but we have built up the momentum and finally started winning a lot of games and scoring a lot of goals,” Aras said.

Despite the lopsided score, Interlake head coach Dan Peterson said the game was closer than the final tally indicated.

“We played really well early and got the goal and then we gave it back. It was really back and forth the whole way. We just really took advantage of our chances better than they did. We certainly didn’t control the match,” Peterson said.

Bellevue had several formidable shots on goal throughout the game. Interlake goalie Sam Dawson made key saves in the 50th minute and 74th minute.

“Sam has played well all season. We have a real solid goal-keeper. I like our back four (defenders). Whenever you have a good defense and a good keeper you always got a chance to win,” Peterson said.

Bellevue head coach Ron Feary was proud of his team’s showing during a 2016 season where his team finished with a 6-8-3 overall record. The Wolverines will graduate 10 players off of the varsity team his June.

“It is really difficult to say goodbye. It is a great group. They have worked hard, worked well together and they had great attitudes,” Feary said of his squad. “It is going to be a challenge for me to move on but I’m excited about getting ready for next season and building on from what we did this year.”