The day has come, the day that my team has been training months for. We made it to the Soccer State tournament! The Championship! In late October, It’s cold, wet, rainy, muddy, and even snowy at times. My feet are sinking into the ground. Jeremy, my coach, was on the sideline cheering us on, directing us where to go, and trying to predict the future. I’m nervous. I want to win so badly. My team has worked so hard for this moment. We got this.

The first half of the game went by so fast. I'm playing goalie, jumping, and diving everywhere to save the ball. Barely stopping the ball with my fingertips or punching the ball over the net. I was caught out of position. I was way too far out of the box. The ball went right over my head, and they scored. By halftime, we were losing zero to one and I was in the zone.

The whistle blows to start the second half. A foul is called in the box. The other team gets a penalty kick. The crowd is cheering for me to save the ball. My mind is clearing out everything. All I hear is the rain bouncing off my cleats and splashing in the puddles. I watch the shooter's plant foot and the way his hips are swaying, staring him directly in the eyes. I guess that he is going to shoot left. I dived as soon as the whistle was blown. I guessed wrong, he shot right. The score is one to two, and we need to pick up the intensity.

There are two minutes left and we are still losing. We are frantically passing the ball and trying to move down the field. But their defense is too strong. They stop every ball we try to send their way. We take a long shot as a last resort. The ball flies across the field. Everything seems to be happening in slow motion as I watch the ball hit the crossbar, then out. And I hear the coach yell, "CRASH!". We get a foot on the ball in the six-yard box. GOAL!!! It's tied again, two to two. The final whistle blows, leaving me wondering about what happens next.

The referee comes over and tells us that we now have over time. Two ten-minute halves, then a shoot-out. The coach is talking, but I'm not listening. I’m thinking about what I need to do to save every possible shot that comes to me. We take the field and put everything we have on the field. The whistle blows and it’s down to a shoot-out now, and the coach told me "you only need to save one." My heart is racing as I step up to the goal line. I bend my knees, put my hands up, and I am ready. I jump left again, I guessed wrong again, but now it’s my teammate's turn, and he sinks it right into the back of the net with no problem. It goes back and forth, till the last round. It is tied four to four and my heart is racing.

My goalie jersey is no longer yellow; it's now a dark brown from all the mud. My cleats are heavy from all the water. The rain is falling harder and harder every second. I am getting ready to save this last shot. I'm on my toes, watching the opponent's every move, and all I can think about is what Jeremy said: "You only need to save one." His eyes are saying he’s going left. The kicker raises his hand as he is going to shoot. I jumped left! He shoots to the middle! The crowd screams and cheers before I know what happens. The ball bounced off my foot, and we just won the state championship! My team runs over and picks me up. I feel like I’m in a movie.

We have just won the biggest game I have ever played in my entire life. I couldn’t believe it. All the hard work and dedication that I put in came together right there. On that day, I learned that I could do anything that I put my mind to. No mountain is too big for me anymore.