Sometimes, I think, emotions are hard to capture in words. We pour out our feelings through actions, or tears, or what we say. But, in writing, I can never accurately describe how I felt. Especially in sports. I can never illustrate the emotion of the team. Like that feeling you get, after a big win, riding back on the bus. The whole team is on the same page. Every athlete knows that moment. Myself included.

    It was the last week of October, 2015. Soccer season was winding down. November was right around the corner, bringing basketball and winter with it, leaving all traces of fall in the past. All we had was now.

    I remember the day clearly. October 28th. Wednesday. I remember waking up, nervous and excited. I could hardly eat breakfast. A million thoughts raced through my head.

    School was even worse. Passing my teammates in the hallway, or seeing my coach upstairs, I could tell we were all feeling it. Before the day was over, we would either be heading to the championship, or headed home, for good.

    We got out of school early, having to take a bus two hours north, to BFA-Fairfax, where we would play in the semifinal game. We were seeded fourth in division three. They were the top seed, number one our division.

    I remember getting out of class, my nerves spiking up again, after subsiding for awhile in the morning. I joined my team in the hallway, where we communicated with giant grins and nervous giggling. Everyone was jumpy and anxious and edgy. In two short hours, we would be at BFA, getting ready to compete for a spot in the state championship.

    The locker room hallway was decorated with posters, each saying “The Better Team Wins the Second Game”. This had become our motto, almost. See, our record was 10-3-1: we won ten games, lost three, and tied one. One of our losses was to BFA. If we truly were the better team, we would win today.  

    Back in September, the first time we faced BFA, we were plagued with illness and injury. We lost 0-2. They were also the only team in our division that beat us, that is, until the state championship; which was the most heart-wrenching loss of the season.

    Anyways, our coach and printed out pages upon pages of our motto, and hung them in our hallway. This brought a whole new energy to the team. We knew we were the better team. We just had to go out to the field and prove it.

    We got ready in record time. We played at 4:00. It was 12:30. Time never moved slower.

    Obviously, it being the end of October, the weather was not cooperative. The rain turned into sleet with every passing mile, taking us even further north. I swear, the temperature dropped with every town we passed through.

    The bus ride started out boisterous and loud with yelps of excitement and nervous laughs. Gradually, one by one, we started dozing off, playing out the game in our dreams. Unbeknownst to us then, our dream would come true.

    We stopped at a gas station, about a half hour out of BFA. We used the bathroom and stretched in the parking lot, in the drizzling rain. All around me, I could hear the nervous chatter from my teammates. I didn’t say a word, but had a smile plastered on my face.

    At the beginning of the season, way back in August, if you had told me that we were going to make it to the semifinals, I would have laughed in your face. There was no way that this team was going that far. In 2014, our record was 7-7, and we went out in the first round of playoffs. Semifinals? You’ve got to be kidding me.

    But, we made it. Right from the start of the season, our goal was to make it to the last week of playoffs. And there we were. One of only four team left in competition.

    Anyways, after the gas station stop, we were back to that wild and rambunctious crew that first boarded the bus, an hour and a half ago. As we tidied up our uniforms and tightened our laces, skittish chatter buzzed throughout the bus.

    It was still raining when we arrived at BFA. As a goalkeeper, the first thing I did was check out my box. Completely, frozen mud. I prayed that I wouldn’t have to get on the ground much.

    Of course, staying dry and clean didn’t last long. Before warm ups were over, I was soaked to the bone, and the rain continued to drizzle from the sky. As the game began, I stood in my box, shivering.

    For most of the first half, the game was played pretty evenly. The ball pretty much stayed in the midfield, leaving me with nothing to do, besides ignoring the BFA fans who decided to stand directly behind my goal. They kept shouting at us, yelling out rude and ignorant comments. It only made us want to win even more.

    During halftime, we huddled under blankets to keep warm while Coach gave us a pep talk. We were the underdogs. No one expected us to do well this season, yet there we were, proving them wrong.

    After halftime, we came out ready to win. The second half started out slow, but eventually we took over. However, even after a couple of near-misses, the game ended, all tied up at zero. We moved onto golden goal overtime. The first to score would win, and move onto the state championship. If I was nervous before, it was nothing compared to what I was feeling then. What if I let in an easy goal? What if it was my fault that we missed our chance to play in the championship? I pushed those thoughts aside and focused on the task before me: winning the game.

    Fifteen minutes were put on the clock. It took us eighty to get here. How long before someone would score?

    We had the answer. About five minutes or so into it, we scored.

    I remember seeing the ball hit the back of the net, and I was immediately hit with a wave of relief and pure joy. I sprinted across the field to the rest of the team, getting engulfed into the group hug we had formed; fans, players, teachers, everyone who came out to support us.

    I remember looking at my teammates, seeing their tears of joy and the raw emotion. It seemed so unreal. Saying it outloud was surreal. We made it. We were getting a banner. We were going to leave a mark in Oxbow’s gym.    Thinking of it now still brings all the emotions back. Every time I see our banner hanging in the gym, I think back to this game, not the championship match. This was the game that earned us the banner. This is what we’ll be remembered for. Even writing this, it gives me goosebumps. It’s still surreal to me. We were the underdogs, but never believed, not for a second, that we were less talented than any other team. Because we weren’t.