We had not yet faced the Red
Knights this season, and although we knew BSM was rated as the favorite, we were
hoping to spring a surprise attack on them. This familiar foe was out for
revenge after we had beaten them the previous two years in the section finals
to win the tournament.
Walking into the rink this time was
much different, I was still nervous, but felt confident in my playing
abilities. Warm-ups were my best yet, I was reacting to every shot and
smothering the rebounds. Nothing was going to stop me tonight.
As the time ticked down to the puck
drop, I felt the pressure start building up. I knew I had to be on my game
tonight since I would be facing the best shots I have seen all year and if I let
one in the game would be basically over. I also recognized that I couldn’t be
thinking like that because that’s when I play worse. I needed to stop thinking
and just trust myself that I have had all the correct training up to this
point. I needed to have fun again.
That is exactly what I did. As soon
as the puck dropped I was bombarded with shots, but I was doing everything I
could to keep the puck out of the net. By the end of the period, the score
remained tied at 0-0, but the Red Knights showed a decisive advantage in shots
12-3. Although the difference in shots made it seem like we were playing bad;
it was the complete opposite. This was our best game yet, we had finally
figured out how to turn that question into a yes. Everyone was giving an
all-out effort.
When we were in the locker room in
between periods, EJ said that he could not have been more proud of our efforts
so far tonight and that all of our hard work we put in this year definitely shows.
He also pulled me aside and told me that I was “standing on my head tonight”
and the only reason we are still in this game was because of me. All I could do
was smile at him. I was so happy and confident about my performance so far and knew
I had to keep it up.
The intensity resumed as we returned
to the ice for the second 17 minutes. Unfortunately BSM’s Caitlyn Reilly finally
broke the deadlock at 11:21, sneaking behind our defense by the Red Knights’
bench for a pass from Ali Praus. Reilly went down on a breakaway on me and
snuck it right past my blocker short side. “Ughhhh how could my defense give up
a breakaway,” is all I could think. I was trying to blame others for the goal
so I could let it go myself and continue to focus on the rest of the game. I
needed to continue just playing my game.
The rest of this period was very
back and forth. We had many chances but couldn’t burry one away. At the end of
the 17 minutes we gained the advantage in shots 9-7.
In between periods our coaches said
they couldn’t have asked for a better game so far. EJ’s only comment was “this
game is not over. Whoever wants this more will come out on top.”
Before the start of the third
period when we were all gathered around the bench, Sydney gave one last speech.
“We have worked all year for this game, let’s go out there and show everyone
why we deserve this.”
Unfortunately the third period did
not start out as well as we thought. BSM returned to the power play almost
immediately after taking the ice. Kelly Pannek put BSM ahead by two goals at
1:35, finishing a pass from Caitlyn Reilly.
The words “it’s all over” kept
repeating in my head.
Although this goal hurt we
redoubled our efforts, and reminded ourselves of the two-goal deficit we faced
in last season’s section final. And soon enough we finally snuck one through
their goalie. Rylie McDonell scored at 4:13 from a pass from Diana Draayer out
of the corner in the Benilde end. The momentum shifted toward us again. We had
life again.
This game was not over yet though,
the contest intensified when Catilyn Reilly picked up her second goal of the
game with assists to usual suspect Kelly Pannek, and Brittany Wheeler. With
just under five minutes remaining in regulation, BSM had once again extended
their lead to two goals.
As soon as they gained their two
goal lead again, I began to doubt my team one again. It took us so long to
score the first time, I didn’t know if we could do it two more times.
However, we battled back again,
with a goal from Presley Norby in the following minute, on an assist from
Sydney Baldwin. The time ticking down, and we were still trailing 3-2, so EJ
pulled me for an extra skater with one minute left in the game. My heart was
beating so fast every shot we took because I wanted it to go in so badly and
earlier in the season we had been very successful with six players. We had so
many chances, but couldn’t seem to find the back of the net for the third time tonight.
With seconds left, BSM scored an empty netter to seal their fate.
This ended our season. It was
finally over. After all these years playing for Minnetonka, I would never put
this jersey on again. I broke down in tears. I would do anything to play my
senior year over again. I couldn’t have asked for a better team. We finished with
a 19-6-2 record. Even though it was sad we lost, I could not have asked
for a better last game. It was the most intense game I had ever played in. Our coaches
and team could not be happier about the way we played though. We never stopped
battling the whole game and we finally accomplished a side goal of doing everything
in that game to try and accomplish our main goal. All the answers from Sydney’s
speech switched to a yes.
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