When the clock hit zero on the Washington boys’ soccer team against IMS on Monday it showed a 3-1 loss on the scoreboard. What that 3-1 score didn’t show however, was what transpired before the game that suggested there was no losing team that night.

The Demon soccer players wrote “4RUSS” on their cleats in honor of head coach Sally Hart’s dad, Russ Hayes, who passed away last week. The best part about the tribute? It was player driven. Senior Captain Caleb Suchan tells KCII Sports it was a collaborative decision amongst everyone. “We have a group chat and we all thought it would be nice to honor him and to show our appreciation for Coach Hart by writing “4RUSS” on our cleats.” The players kept it a secret until pregame warm-ups when Hart saw for herself. “Right before warm-ups I noticed on a player’s white cleats that it had marker on it. I looked closer and realized it had my dad’s name on it. I thought that was really sweet and I appreciated it. My dad used to go to all of my games growing up, when I was in college, when I was a ref, and since I have been here in Washington. So, it was almost like having my dad there again.”

The Demons plan to keep this tribute going and honor Russ Hayes for the remainder of their games.