bellevue 1 - 3 Liberty
42nd min 0-1 Liberty
49th min 1-1 Saleen (Ava)
71st min 1-2 Liberty
81st min 1-3 Liberty
I'm so proud of this team.
As I have written many times before, one of the reasons I love soccer is that it's a game that safely exposes us to most of life's emotional turbulence: joy, sadness, winning, losing, kindness, cruelty, teamwork, individualism, pride, jealousy, belief, doubt, suffering, elation, hard work, good luck, and poor fortune. High school sports are training wheels for adulthood. And Thursday night, we got our knees scraped. Deeply.
This is not how it was supposed to end.
We knew after our loss on Tuesday against MI that playing Liberty for the last Kingco berth to the State Tournament would be especially difficult for the defeated team. Both teams have the talent to win a state championship this season: just twelve months ago, this match was the final game of the State Championship, and both teams returned a significant part of their rosters for 2026. And yet, one team was going to miss out on a State run. We respect their ability and talent, but we were very confident heading into this game. And we backed up that pre-game confidence by playing one of our best games of the season. And yet: heart-break, tears, and a 1-3 loss. So cruel.
Our first half was dominant. We had several excellent chances, maintained possession with crisp, composed passing, and Mack even had the ball in the net midway through the half before our celebrations were cut short by a delayed referee ruling (it was depressingly, but correctly, disallowed by an obscure part of the current handball rule that states that goals cannot be scored by any player who had handled the ball immediately prior to the shot—even inadvertent handballs). So dominant was our first-half performance that Liberty didn't record a single shot until the last kick of the first half from a tepid free kick 35 yards from goal that Lanes simply scooped up. We were so good that I actually whooped for joy at halftime during our team talk. I had no doubt that with a similar performance in the second half, the game was ours. We had them exactly where we wanted them...
...And then we began the second half just like we began the second half versus Mercer Island, with a self-inflicted gift to our opposition. Within two minutes, we were down 0-1. Enough said about that. But unlike Tuesday, we didn't panic and continued to play glittering soccer, confident that chances would fall our way. And in the 49th minute, we equalized with a perfectly executed free kick as Ava slid a ball to Saleen to smash home. 1-1 and game on. At this point, I would've bet the mortgage on our team winning the game. We had survived what seemed like a fluke goal by Liberty and deservedly leveled the contest. Given our consistently solid play, it seemed like there was nowhere to go but victory.
However, the game actually evened out at that point, with neither team controlling the tempo. It was a great game between two very worthy teams. Rocky and Apollo exchanging punches. Excellent passing, determined tackling, and stout defensive play all over the pitch. With ten minutes left, the Liberty keeper made an outstanding save from a whipped shot by Saleen that seemed destined for the far corner. We were sooooooo close to taking a late lead in the game. Instead, we got reversaled. Less than a minute later we conceded a PK that Liberty calmly dispatched: 1-2 with less than nine minutes to go. From necessity, we shifted formation and put players in more advanced positions looking for a dramatic equalizer of our own. And although we looked threatening, we simply ran out of time. Deep into injury time, with most of our players upfield, Liberty desperately cleared the ball. The lone Liberty forward was first to the ball and poked it home with the last kick of the game for a very unflattering 1-3 final score. Cruelty on top of cruelty.
And so our season is prematurely over. This is a team that can beat anyone in the state, at any classification, and yet, we'll stay home this year rather than defend our state championship. That hurts, and the tears at the final whistle perfectly reflected how I felt too. Deep aching sadness. Sad at the loss, of course, but sadder that this particular version of BGS has ended.
I'm especially thankful for the leadership and dedicated effort of our four seniors: Elina, Kasia, Mack & Saleen. Thank you. I know that this isn't how we wanted it to end, but I hope that on balance, your time with Bellevue Girls Soccer was full of precious memories, friendships, and joyful community. You will be missed.
To all of our families, supporters, volunteers and boosters...we are so thankful for you all.
Our next team event will be our annual banquet, on Monday, November 23nd where we'll gather as a program to celebrate the season. See you then.
I'm so proud of this team.
Peter
