Varsity - Bellevue vs Liberty 10-23-25

Bellevue 1-1 OT Liberty
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48th min 0-1 Liberty PK
74th min 1-1 Mack (Kasia? unassisted? Who wants to claim the assist?)

Senior night had a little bit of everything: we had a beautiful ceremony before the game to honor our seniors. Bells were rung. Photos were taken. Balloons were floated. And gorgeously intricate flower lei necklaces were placed around the necks of our wise seniors by their youthful teammates (thank you Alyssa Jeremiah)  We had moments early in the game of wonderful flowing soccer...and we had ragged moments later in the game that we'll want to scrub from our memories. We had a blackout in the first half. Michael Jackson's Thriller was played by our announcer/DJ (perfection). There was a red card. We had overtime (twice). And we had a long-distance wonder-goal from Mack to preserve a point with only four minutes in regulation. So of course, the robot camera at the stadium froze with 5 minutes left in the game and didn't record our tying goal...sigh. It was a full and thrilling night.

In the end, we shared points with Liberty in a 1-1 tie. Their goal from a PK in the 45th minute. And our goal in the 76th minute from a long way away and an acute angle that Mack struck perfectly. If goals correlated with momentum and quality chances created, we should've been up by 2-3 goals at halftime; and truthfully, Liberty could say the same thing about the second half, even playing over twenty minutes with only ten players. They had the better chances in the second half and were only a crossbar and a whiff from six yards from extending their lead.  

The red card was a shame. I never want to see a player red-carded from either team (except for intentionally violent behavior), but apparently the Liberty player left the referee no choice as she disagreed with the yellow card she had been shown, and used especially strong language about that decision within earshot of the referee. It's a lesson I'm sure she'll never forget, and it's a lesson we can take too. Competitive people get competitive, and I'm not naive about language, but we must always do our best to hold our tongues and check our behavior with referees regardless of how frustrating (or unfair) the decision seems to be. High school games are attended by grandparents, parents, supporters, and younger siblings and their friends. Like it or not, our girls are role models when they step onto the field in their Bellevue kit, and therefore we'll always strive to conduct ourselves with dignity and respect, even when decisions go against us.  

Oddly, once the Liberty player was sent off, it was OUR team that struggled, despite having an extra player. Unpressured passes were going out-of-bounds. Traps were bouncing 5 yards from our bodies. Headers were going in the opposite direction. And we got a collective case of "sticky feet" and tried to dribble our way to victory; which is the exact opposite of the tactics that should be used when your opponent is playing short-handed. Quick, patient, and poised passing is what we wanted, and instead we became jittery and sloppy dribble-monsters. It wasn't great. And it certainly seemed like Liberty would be the "turd in the punch bowl" of our senior night party. Then Mack's goal happened. Relief. All is forgotten and forgiven. And the chase was on for the winning goal. But the ten minutes of OT seemed like one minute, and we walked off the field with a tie game.   

Full credit to Liberty. They played well, and were tactically excellent when going down to ten players.

Our seniors all got to start the game and each of them played well. So sincerest thanks to Kendall, Emerson, Raina and Nora. My deepest hope is that we are able to extend our season for another few weeks and add another photo of our senior four, this time hoisting a very big trophy.

But first things first. In 9 days we play a Kingco Semi-final at 5:30pm on Saturday, November 1st. Because our next game is so far away (also by all accounts we are at the point in the semester when the academic grind is becoming intense), we are giving the team a full four days off to rest and recover and free up some time for studies. We will resume training next week on Tuesday.

A huge thank you to the parent volunteers for organizing tonight's senior festivities.