On March 27, When Bellevue East boys soccer went to the Omaha North tournament, they never expected it to end the way it did. Benches cleared, kicks were landed, and many things did not go the way that it was supposed to.

When the game started, the players were expecting a normal game but it turned out to be fully the opposite of what they thought. A brawl broke out between the two teams that would inevitably have consequences 

“Basically, our team already had a little bit of an ‘issue’ on our heads. (because of something that happened before the game). They kind of caught us on a bad day. Something happened on our defensive line, and it got out of hand very fast. Essentially, it all went downhill from there and everyone just started fighting, benches cleared, stands cleared. It was chaos,” said senior Noah Middleton. 

This event caused some consequences that the team had to deal with but from the team’s perspective, it seems as if the brawl wasn’t out of hatred, but out of protection.

“Our coaches ran off of the bench to go stop the fighting from happening. Afterwards the coaches weren’t too disappointed with us because we were simply defending ourselves.” said senior soccer player Jeremy Matuszewski

The team had to send their huddle film to a NSAA (Nebraska State Athletic Association) representative to review the brawl and decide what each team would be punished for.

“The NSAA punished both teams on the fields. They punished Omaha North more than us making them kick some of the players that started it off the team. For us, the whole team got a red card, meaning we would have to forfeit the next game. Our games in the future against Omaha North were also cancelled.” said Jeremy Matuszewski.

The team fought in protection of their friends and teammates but had to forfeit the game which affected their record.

“The consequences were not really any terrible consequences. The whole team was given red cards, and we had to forfeit 2 games. As punishment from the NSAA, and the school. The worst consequences were the fact that a couple of our teammates got hurt. That was really the only thing that scared us. But they’re all fine now, and we’re ready to get back in the field and tear it up.” said Noah Middleton.