Scorelines can often be deceiving in high school soccer, but fans of the Bellmont Braves couldn’t help but feel good about Wednesday night’s defeat in Fort Wayne against Homestead by just two goals, getting the Braves off to a much better start in 2025 than in 2024.
The two teams also kicked off the season against each other last season. A 9-0 thrashing by the Spartans did not ultimately match the fate of the Braves, who went on to an extremely successful season, culminating in a spot in the regional final as one of the last 24 teams in the state across the three classes.
The game was also played in the context of Monday’s season opener for the Spartans, in which Homestead thrashed the Braves’ traditional NE8 rival, Leo, by a whopping scoreline of 11-0.
Putting plenty of faith in a strong core of freshmen last season, coach Steve Lee made the return trip to Homestead Wednesday with a very experienced team and they played like one, holding the Spartans scoreless in the first half before ultimately falling to the #10 team in 3A in Indiana, 2-0.
The game remained knotted at 0-0 all the way until the 65th minute, when Braylee Morris put the home team ahead, breaking the deadlock.
The Spartans put the game away with a goal by Audrey Johnson in the 75th minute.
Up next for the Braves will be a Friday game in South Bend against Adams. They’ll then face Mishawaka Marian Saturday in a rematch of last year’s regional final, won by Marian 4-0.
The team did not win a game in the opening week last year, when they played the Spartans and then two more games in the weekend South Bend trip. The Braves will make that same trip this weekend and a win in either of those contests would fill them with plenty of confidence heading into an extremely important early-season match Tuesday against Bishop Dwenger, a contest which will be heard on 92.7 FM, WZBD. The Saints are ranked #4 in 2A in the opening poll, while the Braves are #9.
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