'She Left Us Too Early': Soccer Team Honors Late Teammate At First Game Since Death

As the referee calls out names for members of the West Side Alliance 08 soccer team, one name is missing.

“I think for all of us, it's a big day. Kinsey is a beloved member of this team, and it hurts our hearts that she is not here with us in the flesh; we know she’s here in spirit,” soccer coach Preston Wiruth said. 

15-year-old Kinsey Wright was the team’s goalkeeper. She was sidelined for 7 months with an ACL injury, and this would’ve been her first game back.

Instead, it's the first game back for her team since she died in a car crash after 18-year-old Jacob Tucker rolled a stop sign and hit her car in October.  

"I know that they will fight, and they will play the right way, win, lose, or draw,” Wiruth said. 

Wiruth says her teammates now have something more to play for.

“She left us too early, but we have a chance today to play for her, and that’s what we’ll do,” he said. 

Teammates were decked out in pink, Kinsey’s favorite color, and wearing bands and ribbons in her memory, but the ribbons weren’t just for them.

After the game, Kinsey’s teammates gave some of the ribbons they made last weekend to their opponents, the Dallas Texans, in honor of her. The ribbons have her number, #00, the message “Trust God,” and the words “Play for Kinsey.”

“Texans, they’ve been class from beginning to end, they were one of the first clubs to reach out to us,” said Wiruth.

Texans coach Jimmy Fagen says it's important to show their opponents respect during this tough time.

“I don’t think anything can help this or anything can make you feel better, and I truly don’t think there’s anything we can say, but we just want to honor the player and the club, and as the Texans organization, we want to be there for them in any way we can,” he said. 

Both coaches agree that soccer doesn’t matter, but the things you gain from it do.

"The relationships that you build, the lives you can change and impact, they matter a great deal,” Wiruth said. 

You can tell Kinsey Wright did change lives. 

The team plans to make more ribbons and hand them out to the opposing team every game this season. 

Jacob Tucker was arrested for negligent homicide. 

To view the GoFundMe created for Kinsey, click here.