HOCO FNL Replaced by Girls Soccer

The Bellevue girls' varsity soccer team. Photographer: Jay Peters.

Every fall at Bellevue the most exciting event is the homecoming dance. What’s even better is the homecoming football game the day before, which features cheerleaders, the band, food trucks and our talented players dominating the field.

Two days before the 2026 hoco game, Hazen High School forfeited the match when too many players became injured or ill, giving girls’ soccer an opportunity to be the central focus for the celebration.

Because of this sudden change, some students have opted to not attend the game, some saying they preferred not to watch girls’ soccer and others becoming visibly upset because of the absence of the male football players.

“Boys are biologically faster than girls which is why football has more attention, is more popular, and better funded,” an anonymous sophomore stated.

This viewpoint may have led to the idea that the girls’ soccer team would not perform as well, solely because they don’t run as fast as the footballers. However, the defending state champion girls’ soccer team defiantly proved this wrong with their performance on game day.

With only one day prior notice, the team trained hard and put all their focus into preparing for the last-minute match. Within the first two minutes, Mackenzie Tucker already scored the first goal and the stadium erupted into applause. Moments before halftime, an impressive shot from Ava Jeremiah at 35 yards flew into the far corner of the net, raising the score to 3-0.

In the 72nd minute, Elle Koszorus headed the ball, aiming towards the back post and straight into the net. After a hard fought match, the final score comes out to be a 6 point win against the Newport girls.

“I never watched soccer before the game, but after I saw how well the girls performed that night, I started to become more interested in the sport,” added sophomore Melinda Zhang.

The supportive audience gave the team a newfound sense of confidence as they walked off the field victoriously. Not only had soccer become the main attraction, but it also gave students the realization that girls’ soccer had the talent and energy to play just as well, if not better than boys’ football.