BELLINGHAM, WA—The Hammers of BUFC were caught up in a tight battle with the visiting Arlington Aviators last Saturday at the Bellingham Sportsplex. The home side was working on a slow rise in form after dropping their opener and then drawing their second match. Would contest number three provide United with their first WISL win? Thanks to an outburst of four goals by Puyallup native Andrew Weishaar, the answer is yes. Bellingham pulled away for an 8-4 triumph and Weishaar has been selected as the Western Indoor Soccer League (WISL) Player of the Week.
“Our game Saturday had its ups and downs,” Andrew tells WISLnews.com. “We came out to an early lead but were not performing as we wanted. We went into halftime tied but went down early in the second half, which is not what we were hoping for. Our team was struggling during the first half and I was as well.”
Then came the outburst. A goal in the third quarter and a hat trick in the fourth by Weishaar led the way. “The goals were scored by me finding space in front of the goal to get a quick shot away. Overall, my goals were created by my teammates and us pressuring the opponent and we had more chances as a team in the second half. I luckily was able to be in the right spots at the right time and finish my chances which I was unable to do in the first half.” What had been a 3-3 draw after three quarters was turned on its head.
Hammers Head Coach Mark Lackey saw things this way. “As a team we had a difficult time scoring in the first half. Arlington was getting numbers behind the ball and congesting their defensive third so it was going to take good ball movement and some individual skill to score against their organized defense.”
“Andrew is the type of player that can create his own opportunities to score,” Lackey notes. “In the second half he scored goal a critical goal that created separation in the score. Once we had the lead Arlington was forced to push for goals, that required them to play more man on man defensively and Andrew is a difficult player to defend with out defensive help. As a result, Andrew was able to get a couple more goals to put the game out of reach.”
This is the first year Bellingham United has played indoors using their popular black and white crest and kits. “This is my second year of indoor soccer for the former WSA Rapids and now Bellingham United,” Weishaar reveals. “I never had the chance to play up here in Bellingham until last year as I have been playing for WWU Men’s soccer until the fall of 2013.”
Now it’s all Hammers, all the time in Bellingham. “It is different playing (indoors) in a Hammers kit, in a good way. We get the Bellinghammer supporters that are regulars at the outdoor summer games the past few years to attend indoor games. At our recent home game they brought the drums and the atmosphere was even better than last year and helped us push through some adversity we faced in the first half.”
Weishaar’s four-spot has BUFC in second place in the WISL table, and he sees good things ahead for the rest of the season. “I am looking forward to continuing to compete in front of our Bellingham United fans and helping building a fan base for Bellingham United’s indoor team.”
Weishaar had one goal coming into the match and now leads the WISL scoring list with five goals.
Weishaar joins Danny Romero and Willie Spurr on this season’s POTW honor roll.
Western Indoor Soccer League 
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