By Tim Clinton

SPORTS EDITOR

Something had to give.

West Seattle and Salmon Bay of Ballard both entered Sunday's showdown against each other with undefeated women's pre-professional soccer records.

The homestanding Rhodies of West Seattle were 4-0-0 going into the action at the Nino Cantu Southwest Athletic Center and ranked No. 1 in the nation, while the green clad visitors were 2-0-0.

Ballard gave West Seattle a battle but came up short in the end by a 2-1 score.

The Rhodies jumped out to a 2-0 lead and fought off a late surge by Salmon Bay.

Jordan Zaharris of West Seattle scored the first goal of the match with 19:15 elapsed on the scoreboard clock on an assist from Maizi Kluksdahl and Kunie Hirai struck for the second at the 69:46 mark on a shot into the right corner off an assist from Mariah Biegaj.

The second goal turned out to be much needed as Ballard got one back at 79:45 to make it a 2-1 game with Samiah Shell doing the scoring honors on a shot into the right side.

Both teams came close to scoring in the remaining time as they had often throughout the match, but the score went into the books as the final in favor of the Rhodies.

West Seattle had opened the season with a 1-0 victory over the Tacoma Galaxy before posting a 5-0 victory over the Bigfoot team of Maple Valley and defeating Snohomish Valley, 6-1.  The Rhodies then won by a 3-0 score at Portland.

Salmon Bay played just two previous matches before Sunday, downing FC Olympia by a 4-0 score and blasting the Bigfoot club, 9-1.

The Rhodies now visit Olympia at 7 p.m. Friday while the Ballard team travels to the Tahoma High School field for a 7 p.m. Saturday rematch against Bigfoot.

A future match for both clubs that played Sunday to look forward to comes Wednesday, June 17 when the Rhodies visit Salmon Bay for 7 p.m. action at Interbay Stadium.