The Match

                Wheeeew!!! The whistle blew and the game had begun!  My heart seemed like it was going to jump out of my chest any second because I was so exhilarated.  I couldn’t believe we had actually made it this far!  My soccer team had made it to the finals of the District II cup. We were playing our rivals, Alpine Ruckus from Portola Valley.  I was a starter and I usually played left defense, but in this game, my coach Ian, had placed me in the left midfield position.  After the whistle blew, our whole team went all out.  We gave our complete focus to the game and didn’t get distracted.  After all, this game meant a lot to all of us.  Beating our rivals would be great, but beating them and winning the whole tournament would be even better!  Right away, since the other team had the kickoff, we put pressure on them.  They were a pretty smooth team so they started knocking the ball around and keeping possession from my team.  Thankfully for us, one of their center-midfielders made a careless mistake and we took advantage of it and won possession of the ball.  Now our team was knocking the ball around and they were chasing it.  I saw an opportunity and made a run behind their defenders.  My teammate, Kevin, played a perfect ball to me and I was one on one with their goalkeeper.  I could hear my own heartbeat in my chest as I wound up to take a shot.  I didn’t even think; it just came naturally to me.  I just shot the ball as hard as I could in the bottom corner of the goal.  The goalkeeper didn’t stand a chance.  The ball glided past him and into the back of the net.  Goaaaaallllll!!!  The parents for our team went wild and I was really pumped up, now.  The other team was getting frustrated and that was good for our team because if they were frustrated, they would lose their composure.  The other team got the ball out of their net and took it to the center circle to kick off again.  The whistle blew and they immediately started attacking.  One of their players played a nice lobbed ball to another player running down the sideline.  He whipped the ball in for a cross but luckily, it was too close to our keeper so he caught it.  This was a perfect time for a counter attack!  Our goalkeeper punted the ball as far as he could up the field.  My teammate Kevin trapped the ball nicely and I made a looping run to the inside behind the other team’s defensive line.  He chipped the ball, delicately like a feather, and it fell right in front of me perfectly.  It was only me and the goalkeeper again.  My heart started pounding faster and faster, until it couldn’t go any faster.  Focus Sean, focus.  The goalie charged out and I chipped the ball over his reach.  Another goal!  Adrenaline rushed through my head.  I’ve never scored two goals in one match!  My friend, Kevin, congratulated me while the parents cheered me on.  The game went downhill for the rest of it.  The other team scored two goals to tie the score up at 2-2.  The whistle blew, and everyone knew what we were going into; a penalty shootout.  Anything could happen in a penalty shootout.  Our team was up first and all our best penalty shooters were in the line-up.  I personally have to be honest; I’m not a great penalty shooter so I wasn’t chosen.  Every player on both teams had shot except one player on my team; Stefan.  And just guess what; every single person, on both teams had missed!  Now Stefan was up, and this was the most exciting part of the whole match; since this was the penalty kick that could win it for us.  If he made it, we won, but if he missed, the other team had a chance to win if their player made it.  Stefan placed the ball on the PK spot calmly and got in position to kick.  He ran up to the ball and placed it in the back of the net as coolly as the wind.  The crowd went wild.