Amanda Sexton

Mrs. Keeley/Mrs. Baran

ALC
12/1/21

We were already on our second overtime of the night, tied 2-2 with Lake Forest High
School in our semifinals game. Being eleven o’clock on a school night, we all wanted to make
the game worth it. Our coach paced back and forth as the clock continued to count down with
neither team making any progress towards winning. My teammates on either side of me, Anna
on my right and Caitlyn on my left, both shook the bench as they bounced their knees in
anticipation. The parents in the stands progressively cheered and shouted louder and louder as
the game dragged on.
The whistle blew and Coach called for our players to change lines. Once again, he put
the exhausted seniors and juniors out to play, including Caitlyn.
“I just got off the ice,” she whined as she left the bench.
“Right?” Ella agreed as she sat down, “I wish this would end. Someone score already.”
Anna laughed and said, “You’re gonna jinx it!”
“I meant someone on our team,” Ella retorted, “If we really let Lake Forest win this I’m
going to die of embarrassment. It would be a good excuse to not go to school tomorrow,
though…”
“Don’t skip school,” Coach Jimmy shook his head.
“It’s so late,” Anna reasoned, “I think we deserve a day off of school.”
“Yeah,” I agreed with a laugh, “I’ll get to miss my science test.”
The laughter around the bench was quick to disappear as the ref blew the whistle and
announced that Caitlyn had gotten a penalty. Caitlyn slowly skated to the penalty box after
losing an argument with the ref, who’s decision had already been made final.
“Anna, switch for DJ,” Coach said, “And Amanda for Amelia.”
“Yes coach,” we said in unison.
“Are you ready for some playing time, Sexton?” Anna asked jokingly.
Neither of us had gone out on the ice much during the two overtimes.
“Not on a penalty kill,” I answered honestly, “Are you?”
“Yes ma’am,” Anna laughed.
The shift came and went, we had spent the entire time desperately trying to stop Lake
Forest from scoring, without making it out of our zone even once. There had already been a few
close calls. A few shots from the blue line, a few bad bounces, a few rebounds. Our goalie Sam
had just barely managed to stop the puck from going into the net each time. After telling her she
did a good job, Anna and I skated back to the bench.
“Good shift,” DJ said as she hopped the boards and went onto the ice.
However, before the ref blew the whistle to start the play, Coach held his hands up in a
T. The ref blew the whistle. It was time for a time out.
“We just have to make it twenty seconds until the penalty ends, thank you Caitlyn,” he
said, giving her a look.
 We had all seen that look directed towards Caitlyn before. She was almost the top in our
league for penalty minutes, something that annoyed Coach greatly.
“What’d you even do?” Audrey asked.
“I don’t know!” Caitlyn exclaimed.
“You checked her, we aren’t allowed to check,” Amelia reminded, “You do this like every
game.”
“Anyways,” Coach said, “I want DJ and Anna on defense. Amelia, move up to offense
with Ella. Twenty more seconds, girls.”
Those twenty seconds felt like a lifetime. Number 2 on Lake Forest had the puck, then
number 64, then number 78. The Lake Forest girls had us beat, passing and skating circles
around us. Their defense shot the puck, Samantha deflected it and it fell in front of the net. The
ref blew the whistle, he had lost sight of the puck. Lake Forest’s center shot the puck right into
the net.
“No goal! It was after the whistle!” Coach shouted as their team cheered and celebrated.
The two referees met together, talking in whispers as they discussed the goal.
Samantha, our goalie, paced and skated in circles. The referees finally finished talking.
Everyone held their breath. It was a goal. Lake Forest had won the game. We had lost our
chance to make it to the finals. And none of us got to miss school the next day.