Bellevue Vs Hazen - 10.17.26
bellevue 6 - 0 Hazen
27th min 1-0 Saleen (Serena)
30th min 2-0 Saleen (Maggie)
46th min 3-0 Saleen (Mack)
49th min 4-0 Saleen (Ava)
55th min 5-0 Elina PK rebound
65th min 6-0 Lola (Hailee)
As I began writing my recap thoughts after our triumphant final regular season home game, more popularly known as "Senior Night." I realized that I had already written how I felt in the Senior Program. So forgive the duplication, but for those of you who might have missed it, this is what I wrote:
Dear BGS Seniors,
As a parent, one of the most overused tropes when reflecting on our children is the nostalgia of how quickly they grow up. From the overwhelming emotions of the first few weeks, the first day of kindergarten, and the walk across the stage at high school graduation, looking backwards on all the milestones can feel like a blink. When the class of 2027 matriculated at Bellevue, I was giddy with anticipation. It was clear that this class was supremely talented and competitive, and I knew that the next four years would likely be very fruitful as a program. And here we are at senior night, and your 2023 freshman-year tryout seems like yesterday. The milestones whizzed by like street signs from a speeding car. Blurry but significant and real: three consecutive 3A Kingco championships (so far), state quarter-finals, then 3rd place the year after, and then the big trophy for State Champions their junior year (so far). But I hope your memories won’t just be measured in trophies and impressive statistics, the wonderful part of a team is being a team. It’s the community: rainy PNW practices, weekly team dinners, the sleepover, pre-game locker room laughter and white-board signatures, glitter on our cheeks, sharpie-messages on our taped wrists, singing in the press box, standing arm-in-arm in a circle before kick-off, News of the World, cartwheels, practices dressed like an inflatable dinosaur, duck duck goose with the Littles at each clinic, chaos monster minutes, serving pancakes, or Friday pilates with Carlie…and being the first girls team ever at Bellevue High School to be the featured game under the Friday Night Lights as THE Homecoming Game. With the first goal that began with a pass from a senior, to another senior, for yet another senior to score as the crowd went crazy and the band celebrated with the fight song. Wonderful. But beyond the talent and competitiveness, the class of 2027 has had a distinct personality: off the field they are kind. They enjoy silly fun. They include new players easily and make them feel welcome. And this collective empathy has had a profound impact on our program. Is the class of 2027 competitive on the field? Absolutely. Are they kind off the field? Absolutely. And the latter makes me just as proud as the former. So Elina, Kasia, Mackenzie, and Saleen…thank you. You will be missed. Although as I write this it feels like our time together has been a blink, your impact and memories-made will last forever.
I hope that in a few weeks’ time we can complete this great adventure with a few more medals around your necks; but regardless of the outcome, I know that the rest of the season will include lots of laughter, joy and kindness.
Peter
And so it goes. Senior night was lovely. Thoughtful. Generous. Silly and fun. A perfect tone to honor this particular class of senior soccer players. I loved it all: videos of the locker room fog machine fun, the bell ringing, balloon towers, gorgeous leis and yellow roses, gifts for the Hazen seniors, smiling families, the JV and Varsity player honor guard tunnel, amazing photos, player sung National Anthem, sisters playing with their senior sisters, and cartwheels to end the perfect evening.
A huge thank you to all of the parent volunteers who made the night special for the senior families.
The events on the field during the game couldn't have gone any better if I had scripted them beforehand. Four goals by Saleen seemed a fitting end to her high school regular season career, as was the excellent assist from Mack (and several other great chances she created for herself and her teammates...plus a yellow card ), the all-around wonderful and tough play from Kasia (also unlucky not to get an early goal from a clever Elina pass), and Elina's joyful PK rebound goal that sent our entire bench onto the field to celebrate with her. Perfect. Just perfect. Elina, Kasia, Mack & Saleen: thank you. I miss you all already.
We even had Lola get a late goal, breaking the weird season-long jinx curse that I'm sure will see her hit the net several more times in our upcoming games now that the voodoo has been broken. Well done Lola. Additional assists on the night went to Serena, Maggie, Ava and Hailee. It was a well-rounded, well-played evening of soccer.
Our regular season officially ends on Tuesday against a very good Skyline team (at Skyline...for the 4th year in a row...sigh...Kingco scheduling is baffling). It will be a great final test as we begin the "tournament soccer" phase of our season. We already know our Kingco post-season fate regardless of Tuesday's result: we host a 3A semi-final on Thursday, October 29th against the winner of Inglemoor and Interlake. The winner of that game will advance to the Kingco 3A championship game on Tuesday, November 3rd (the other semi-final will almost certainly be Liberty vs. Mercer Island) with the first automatic bid to the State Tournament going to the winner of the championship game. There is a second path to State that is more complicated, but the above route is the most direct. Let's do that one.
We're going to enjoy every opportunity we get to play this silly game together. It goes by in a blink.
Peter
