On a rainy Thursday night in April we battled our state rivals, G*******. None of our players were friends with them. It was down pouring and on top of that it was freezing cold, no one wanted to play. I needed to step up.
In the fourth quarter the score was 4-3 with G****** in the lead. The game was incredibly low-scoring, a defensive battle. The ball went out of bounds near G******’s goal. It was our ball. 8 seconds left. What play would we run? Our head coach called a time out. He attempted to diagram a play but the rain wiped off the marker. He simply verbally explained the play we would run. There was no way I was going into play, I thought. I had played the entire game.
“Gavey, we want you to be open for a 15 yard shot”. The play operated for me to shoot. Coach had our best player take the ball in the corner. The five offensive players that were left on the field lined up. I was first in line. I was told to stealthy sneak behind everyone for a far outside shot.
This was it. What every kid dreams of. It was now! We line up to get ready. The referee was about to blow the whistle. I was quivering. The whistle sealed on his lips, ready to go…
He blew the whistle. Time-out G******. The G******* coach had seen our play and told the players what to do. We approached our positions trying to intimidate the opposing team. I slowly picked up my head scanning the stands, seeing who was there. Who was cheering us on? I was soaked, we all were. I looked down at my shirt barely hanging below my shoulder pad. It was glued to my skin. It looked like I had showered in my pads. My head was spinning hearing so many different noises. So much to think about. I shook all of my teammate’s hands and the defenders hands, wishing them all good luck.
This was me. Make or break. What if I miss? My teammates will hate me. I would never play again.
The referee put his whistle to his lips. We had 8 seconds to pull ourselves back into this battle. The referee blew the whistle… 8…the ball was in our stars stick. He took five long strides….7….6….5….The whole defense drew to him thinking he would be the one scoring. I then said ‘break’ and our whole line sprinted to their positions. I back peddled to my position and saw the lob pass going over the whole defense….4….’oh no!’ It was a bad pass. I fully extended my body putting everything I had into this catch….3….Where do I shoot? Best goalie in Connecticut. Big defender running straight for me. I thought to myself I am way to far from the goal. I wound up and released the shot of my life. I couldn’t see the ball; it was so dark and raining. On top of that, a huge defender was in my way. I turned past him to see if I had scored or not. The goalie attempted a kick save. My teammates went crazy. I then realized the ball was in the back of the net before the goalie could react. I glance up at the stands, all of the falls were cheering. I stormed the sidelines and the first one I met was our offensive coach. Greatest chest bump I had ever experienced. I looked at the score board. I.7 seconds were left on the score board. I tied the game with a second left.
I felt so superior. I did it.
Those five minutes in between regulation and overtime were the best five minutes of my life.
We later struggled in over time playing a man down due to penalties. We lost the game. On the way off of the field, everyone had congratulated me on a great goal.
For once I was superior and now it is back to normal.