Ballard FC Reaches Second USL League Two National Championship with Victory Over Flint City

The tension finally breaks as the final whistle sounds throughout Interbay Stadium. Euphoria erupts across the hometown crowd as their team has punched their ticket to the national final.

The match against Flint City FC, unlike most of the games Ballard FC have played this season, was a grind against a tough opponent. The visitors went up 1-0 in the beginning of the second half, but the home side roared back for two goals to punch their ticket to the national final.

“Our Monday meeting, it’s called our leadership and culture meeting, and we just said, ‘guys, it’s not if we face adversity, it’s when,’” Ballard head coach James Riley said after the game. “Can we be battle tested and just stick to our training, stick to our habits, stick to our culture – a never die mentality – and battle right back with every roll of the ball.”

This was something that wing Joe Dale, one of the team captains and longtime Ballard FC player sometimes known as “Mr. Ballard”, echoed when reflecting on his team’s victory.

“We just stick to our principles and the way we play, and that put us right back in the game,” Dale remarked. “We nicked one and nicked another, and right there, we’re winning.”

Flint went with a 4-4-2 formation while midfielder Wes Carnevale pressed the Ballard backline. And for much of the beginning of the game, it was Flint with the advantage, as the visitors kept possession for most of the time, while Ballard tried to work with quick transitions up the field.

Right back Omar Grey showed some good defensive legwork in the seventh minute to fend off a potential breakaway by forward Dominic Ayella. The tenth minute had another near-perfect chance as fellow forward Donavan Phillip stole the ball from defender Christian Engmann near the box and passed to Ayella, but left back Isaac Ketcham caught up him and cleared the ball away.

Ballard’s first chance came in the 12^th on a Charlie Kosakoff breakaway, but Flint was still on the front foot for the beginning of the match. Phillip got the ball in the 16^th minute and tried to power into the box, but was fouled by Engmann, and Flint had a free kick barely a foot outside the box. The kick came; Ballard’s wall held. Flint brought it back around to 10, who took a curling shot aimed at the upper right corner – but it missed by a hair.

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A collection by Stockton Short in the 21^st kept the score knotted at zero while Christian Engmann, seemingly injured, was subbed off for Davis Mungomba. 9 took advantage of the new sub in the 26^th minute and broke past him into the box, but Short made a phenomenal block to prevent a goal and cede a corner.

The home crew finally had a shift in momentum. Ballard won their first corner in the 30^th minute, but Kosakoff’s header flew over the crossbar. A half-chance a couple minutes later with Richie Aman working into the box ended as a goal kick. The second corner ended up overcooked; the third was batted over the net.

Flint briefly regained their advantage and a yellow was given to Ketcham for a foul in the 39^th minute. But Ballard kept a strong defense throughout the field and kept Flint from gaining a strong chance. The home side had a corner in the 45^th, but it was cleared without much threat, and the half ended with clean sheets for each keeper.

Ballard opened the second half with some ball quality issues, ceding some potentially dangerous half chances and struggling to connect on chances on the attack.

Flint finally struck in the 51^st minute. Defender Roman Kedgley sent a long ball well up to the top of the pitch, catching Ketcham off-guard as Carnevale flicked it to Ayella in excellent position, and the Flint City forward knocked it under Short for the first goal of the match.

Now Ballard was fiercely fighting for the equalizer. A few pushes up, a few pushes back.

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Grey pushed up the far corner and crossed over for Rafi Otero and Kosakoff on the other side in the 57^th. The ball passed between the two of them as the Flint line finally cracked, just enough for Kosakoff to weave the ball into the net.

Just as quickly as Interbay Stadium fell silent, it roared back to life. Riley used the opportunity to make his first subs, bringing on Beto Apolinar and Harrison Bertos in for Otero and Ketcham.

The battle was tight after this, each side pushing with every last ounce of their will to gain something of an edge. Ballard’s back line was especially solid during this time, breaking up budding chances for the visitors. Ballard center back Abeselom Zemenfes deflected a 65^th minute set piece shot; another Flint free kick in the 68^th was airmailed halfway to Puget Sound.

Ballard transitioned into a brief attack on the final third, but their initial push lacked that final bit of quality to create a good chance. The home side regrouped and attacked once more, winning a free kick in the 71^st; Aman’s ball was beautiful, but no one was quite there, and the pressure briefly eased. Then came a 75^th minute corner kick.

The cross came in. Apolinar got the ball and was attacked by an army of Flint City men. At the last possible moment, he slipped the ball up to Kosakoff. The striker had one chance to swing his leg at the ball.

Kosakoff took it, surprising Flint City keeper Jakub Grzesiak. The ball slipped beside him as he realized his mistake far too late. Interbay Stadium entered a state of pandemonium as the Bridge Keepers roared louder than they had all season as they witnessed the most important goal of the most important game so far in 2025.

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Kosakoff had his brace. Ballard had the 2-1 lead, about fifteen minutes to go. For Kosakoff, Apolinar’s miraculous service to him was something was sure not to forget.

“I went and gave him a big hug after,” Kosakoff said. “Assists like that are much appreciated.”

Riley also mentioned how important of a piece Apolinar is to the Ballard side.

“We knew [before Apolinar joined] that we needed some pieces in the center of the park that live to disrupt play, similar to an Ozzie Alonso type,” Riley said. “Once we got his player profile, we knew that he was the missing piece; we were able to shift to a double pivot.”

Riley sent off Grey and midfielder Sean Sent while bringing on midfielder Zach Ramsey and right back Khai Brisco.

The home crew nearly doubled up on the lead, as Brisco brought it up for Dale, who sent it across the box intended for Bertos – but his target had overrun what would have been an easy tap-in goal.

Time was winding down for Flint, so they brought in some substitutes of their own, and they soon after had a free kick in the 83^rd as Mungomba was shown the yellow card. But Arntsen’s attempted long shot was wide of the net. Short nipped potential drive in the bud a minute later. The best equalizing chance yet for Flint City came in the 88^th as Phillip danced with the ball at the edge of the box, but once more, Ballard cleared the ball away.

The pressure lifted for a brief moment while a couple injury breaks stopped the flow of the game. Momentum shifted rapidly between the two sides as stoppage began, but more stoppages kept occurring after heavy tackles by both sides. Every passing second built up a tension in Interbay as Ballard inched ever closer to a Finals appearance.

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Flint City was determined to battle it out to the end. Cole Werthmuller, in as a reserve, nearly tied the game up with a highlight-reel bicycle kick – but it fell less than a meter wide of the right post.

At the turn of the 99^th minute, the whistle blew. For the second time in three years, Ballard FC is in the USL League Two final.

Ballard’s Sunday hero at the end of the day was Kosakoff. The man had a brace that turned a 1-0 deficit into a climactic 2-1 victory, and Riley made mention of the many ways he invigorates the team.

“He was on full display today. Not only does he get a brace, but his pressing, his ability to battle, back press, take bumps, take tackles from center backs, demand from guys – it’s absolutely tremendous,” Riley said. “Big time players show up for big time games.”

But it cannot be forgotten the role that the back line played in keeping the Flint’s powerhouse forwards from accumulating goals. Despite Engmann coming off early, the final line came up big time and time again even when they had no room for error.

“Defense wins championships, so they knew that they would be called upon to make the plays that they needed to make,” Riley stated. “We’ll never ask the players to play hurt … but we have the mentality that it’s next man up, so we have the next man up be ready to play.”

The final match of the USL2 season will be played in Burlington, Vermont against Vermont Green FC. This will be a change of pace from the four games that got Ballard to this point. Riley shouted out the Pacific Northwest as a “soccer mecca,” but didn’t want to overstate his team’s importance.

“The history of the game that we have in the area is tremendous. Dynasty? I’ll hold off. If you can win two out of three, you can be in that conversation,” Riley said. “But until that happens, I think it’s just a product of the leadership, the culture of the team, and the players that we’ve had the joy to coach.”

Cover Photo: Jon Brennan / Area Sports Network