I rush towards the goalie past most of the defenders and as I get ready to rip a shot at the goal, I get blindsided followed by a gasp from the crowd. Take it back a bit, it all started when I went to play a short lacrosse tournament against a few teams. At this current point, we had already won our first game and we were getting ready to play in our second against a team from Smyrna DE.

My team had always had problems with this particular team as they had a tendency to play dirty, so we all knew what to expect from them. We started out the game by scoring on them almost immediately, which didn’t make them too happy. Once we scored a few back to back points, the game became much more competitive as we started to go back and forth scoring on one another. At one point in the first quarter, they started showing their dirty side by cross-checking one of our teammates in the back but they didn’t care. We started the second quarter with an immediate penalty against the Smyrna against one of our leading midfielders. We were able to score a point thanks to the penalty but it didn’t seem like they cared. We ended the second quarter tied up and down a midfielder.

 We fought the hardest in the third quarter as we set up for a face-off that turned out to be a good ten-second brawl for the ball, which ended up in our favor. The midi, carrying the ball rushed towards the opposing goal where I brushed off my defender for the wide-open pass. Once I got the ball, we slowed it down and just began moving the ball around the crease in order to try and confuse the defense. It eventually worked it's way back to me and I saw an open opportunity so I went for it. I started by brushing past my original defender then dodging the next. I ended up at a perfect angel and I round up to fire a shot at the goalie when I’m suddenly stopped abruptly with a hard crosscheck straight to my throat. My initial reaction was to tense up my neck, which might have saved me in that moment. Once the whistle was blown for the penalty, I began coughing hard as my breathing became sparse and I fought for air. A teammate ran over and asked if I was okay and I said I was. I brushed off the hit for the moment only to look up and see the crowd all staring at me. I ignored it and just went back to playing. 

We finished the third quarter with a heavy lead against them and we just played the fourth quarter as cleanup as we already knew who was going to win this game. Once we finished the game with a win and a very disappointed opposing team. We all went back to our coaches and they told us to relax until the last game and so we did. I went to talk to my parents and some of my friends and they all asked if I was okay. I explained that I was and that nothing hurt at the moment, even though they all insisted that I get it checked out. I brushed it off and went on to play the last game which ended with another win. Once the overall tournament was over, everyone started packing up and heading home and that’s when the pain hit me. I felt as if someone had shotgunned a dumbbell into my throat and that I had an immense weight sitting on my neck at all times. I told my parents and they told me that they talked to the trainer that was at the game and they said that if I hadn’t tensed up in the moment, I might’ve had a crushed esophagus. I went home and spent the rest of the night trying to ice my throat in an attempt to get the pain to die down.

Conclusion

The next morning I woke up with a massive knot on my throat that I had to spend the next week trying to get rid of. It eventually calmed down after a lot of ice with the help of some pain medicine. I showed up to practice the following Monday after the games and just prepped myself for the next round of games.