Tweet, Tweet, Tweeeet! The ref blew his whistle. We absolutely destroyed them. With that win, we have a chance to make it to the finals. All we need to do is beat Upper Arlington. That’s not gonna be so easy. 

Last year their high school won the D1 state championship for boys lacrosse. To put it simply, they are good. Like really good. Everyone knows that. As we all walk over to the field, we begin to get nervous. Everyone knows what they are capable of, and that scares us. 

We have 5 minutes to warm up. 3 of those are spent running through drills and passing to make sure we are all ready. The other two are for coach. We all huddle together around him. 

He knows we are nervous. “Sure this team is good, but from what I’ve seen today, so are you. You guys have every reason to beat this team.” I think about it. Why can’t we beat them? I am one of the starting defenders so I need to set the pace for the team and kick the game off well. I've been good all tournament. I'll go out there and play the defense I’ve been taught for the past 4 years. The ref blows his whistle twice. This is our signal to take the field. 

“You got this boys. Warriors on three” Coach says. 

Altogether we say “One, two, three, Warriors” very weakly. No one is confident. 

You got this. I tell myself. Just stay in front of them and push them away from the cage. I am confident. This game is ours. I can defend these kids. As we take the field Owen Dunning and I match up with their offensive players. I am guarding #24. Ethan Hern lines up for the faceoff to start the game. “Down,” the Ref calls out, “Set,” Tweet! Ethan wins the faceoff. We start our offensive push. Ben gets the ball behind the goal. He starts to roll around the crease (A circle around the goal.) He shoots and scores! We take a lead. This is huge. We could win this. Just play the hardest you’ve ever played. 

Their goalie starts to move the ball toward us. As they bring the ball up the field I lock-in. My feet are moving. My stick is in the air, blocking the passing lane. They move the ball around until it gets to #24. I sit back, with my knees bent and my feet moving. He starts to dodge. He fakes right and goes left. I almost take his bait but I stay in front of him and push him outwards. He moves the ball to someone else who shoots. The ball whips through the air as it goes right into RJ’s stick. Thank god RJ is our goalie I tell myself. We start our clear now. Owen and I are even with RJ as he walks the ball up the field looking for an open man. Everyone is guarded. 

“Middy back!” Someone calls out. RJ then starts to run all the way down the field. I drop back a little bit to protect the goal better. RJ keeps running. He has never gone this far. No one guards him. He goes all the way to the goal and shoots. HE SCORED! We now have a 2-0 lead after RJ, our goalie, went all the way down the field and scored. This has never happened in one of our games. I can hear the roar of the parents and players on the bench cheering. RJ runs back as everyone hypes him up. Meanwhile, their goalie has already started their clear. The ball gets to #24. He starts to run past me but I get my stick in between his stick and his body. I use all of the might in me to pull as hard as I can. His stick goes soaring through the air as the ball pops out and rolls back to our attackmen. “Yard sale!” Someone yells out from the bench.

After our full attack no one scores. As the ball comes down the field I get scared. What if he scores on me? What will my team think? It’s hard to be confident when you’re playing one of the best kids in the state. The ball gets to #24. I feel the pressure of the whole team on my shoulders. If he scores, it's on me. My heart is pounding out of my chest. He blows right by me and shoots. Time becomes non-existent as I see that ball float through the air. The ball is going in the direction of RJ’s feet. Those are some of the hardest saves to make. Thank god for him. He had an amazing kick save. Relief washes over my body as I go out wide to move the ball up the field. RJ passes it to me and I pass it up the field to Ben. 

After a few passes, Nick Rhodes lobs it way too high and the ball goes out of bounds. The clock is at 13 minutes. 7 have already gone by. I will be subbed out in 3. Three more minutes of the best defense I've ever played. #24 gets the ball once again. Suddenly everything around gets quiet. All I hear is the sound of his mesh as he cradles the ball. I see every movement coming. He fakes right and tries to switch hands. I slap his stick and the ball goes flying. Nick picks up the ball and goes down the field.

He immediately turns it over. They have a fast break. 3 on 2. I am praying the middies can get back before they get a shot off. Nevertheless, Owen and I get in “I” formation.

“I got ball” Owen calls out.

“Hole,” I say as we communicate with each other.

Owen steps up to the ball. The guy he is guarding passes it to someone behind the goal. I step up to guard him. He passes it to someone else as they score. RJ tries to start a quick clear. He looks to find Nick but passes it out of bounds. 1 minute 30 left in my shift. They start up quickly. One pass leads to another and another and then a goal. 2-2. The momentum of the game has done a full 180.

Everyone tries to calm themselves. I get open hoping I don’t receive the pass. Yet, RJ passes it to me. At this point, my breathing sounds like a squeaky toy without a squeaker. No one is in front of me. 

Once again someone calls out “Middy back.” This is my signal to go. I run across the half line and slow down. I don't say it but I want the offense to slow down and not force anything. I move the ball to Ben and go back on defense. Not long after, we get subbed out. I run as fast as I can and as I go out I run past Grayson and Anders. They are going in for Owen and me. I look at them. Their eyes aren’t focused. They seem to scrunch up rather than stand tall. They look as though they want to run away from the field right now. I finally get out. I immediately lay down.

As I lay there, catching my breath as it tries to run away from me, I think about what I just did. I played some of the best defense I've ever played. Sure, the guy I was guarding scored a goal, but I stopped him many other times from scoring. It took me a few minutes to realize why I played so well.

It was because I was confident in myself. Every time I told myself I could stop the ball I did. The only time he scored was because I was nervous. 

Tweet! I hear from the ref as parents roar with excitement. I sit up to see that we got scored on. I am not yet worried. I know Grayson and Anders can guard these guys. Or so I think. But the goals don't stop.    

Tweet, Tweet, Tweeeet! The ref's whistle pierces through my eardrums like a bullet. It hurts. It hurts to hear their parents cheering. It hurts to see them celebrating. It hurts to shake their hand. It hurts to hear coach talk about the game. It hurts to know the Ohio State lacrosse coach was there. It all hurts.

“Let’s go get tacos,” my dad says. 

As I sit in this empty local taco place, with my eye black still on, I can’t help but let my mind ponder. Sure, we lost the game by a lot, but I played so well. I went into the game confident and my results were amazing. It was a great first impression for coach. The next time I play a big game I will go into it confident. It clearly works well. I should take this game as a good thing rather than something bad. Plus, the OSU lacrosse coach most likely saw me playing that good defense. But for now, these tacos are crazy good.