This past Tuesday, Boulder High Varsity Soccer team kicked off against Fairview under a setting sun. Before the 5 minute mark, multiple shots had neared the crowd and the cheerleaders, who are arguably put in a relatively dangerous area, if you ask me. I wouldn’t want to have to worry about being smacked by various sports balls while completing flips and cheers. For someone who hasn’t gone to very many soccer games – excepting little league – I was taken aback but the players’ use of their heads. I knew it was a move, but I didn’t know it was such a go-to. Not to mention, when the players jumped and missed the ball, they seemed to resemble flying fish. 

Team Rowdy, a group of sports-fan seniors who only seem to show up to more “high-profile” games (i.e. football, soccer, rival games, etc.), ignited the student section with chants of foul-play on the Fairview team with the popular cry of “You can’t do that.” In comparison to the Boulder-Fairview Football game, the student section was significantly less rowdy. From across the field in the Fairview student section, kids could be heard yelling the Boulder High signature chant, “You’re rich, you’re white, you must be a Knight.” This chant was created as an insulting spin on Fairview’s own, “You’re red, you’re white, you must be a Knight,” but it seemed at the game as though they took the taunting in stride.

After charged back and forth between the teams and with just 11 minutes and 17 seconds left in the first period, Fairview scored the first goal of the game. This sent ripples of fear through the Boulder Stands. Flashbacks shot through our minds of last-year’s soccer game, where Boulder was defeated 2-0 in double overtime. In the last seconds of this period, Fairview thought they could bring it to that 2-0 mark, but was contested with an offside call, whatever that is. The score remained 1-0 going into halftime, and Boulder students clung to hope for their team.

During halftime, the Boulder Poms and Cheer Team performed together, putting on a delightfully choreographed spectacle. Fairview booed every Panther on the field and was permitted by their Admin to chant, “F*ck you Boulder”, while on the Panther side students did their best to remain optimistic for their team and not stoop to Fairview’s level of childish insults. According to center-middle player and Owl Sports Editor Elijah Boykoff, the Fairview students also booed at the team members sitting on the bench for the game. To counteract the rivalry aggression, the Boulder Team Rowdy blasted “Country Roads” by our own John Denver to bring us back into the 2nd period. 

From where I was sitting, a favorite of the Boulder High Senior section is Bishal Ellison, who seemed to dominate and run the ball down to the respective endzones. With 17 minutes and 36 seconds left in the second period, Fairview tried to score for the third time, but was denied by a handball call. During the second period, streakers, or should I say, “shorters” from an unknown school, earned cheers from both teams. With a mere 10 minutes to the end of the match, Max Neumann emerged as Boulder’s MVP for the team, carrying us in our hour of need and bringing us to a tie with Fairview, but the game was still not over yet.

This game ended up going into a very tense double overtime. There were multiple close calls on both sides, with Fairview goalie Carter Melton and Boulder goalie Toby Bateman each saving a few shots. With about 2 minutes left, Max Neumann once again scored a goal, winning the game! 

Before he could even reach the middle of the field, he was stormed by his teammates and the flood of black-clad seniors to celebrate the long-awaited win. What a way to start of senior year.