Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 63124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
No matter what, we couldn’t lose this tournament. The outcome would change everything. Win or lose.
Chapter 10
Leah
“Take the shot!”
With precision, Suzette drilled the puck into the back of Colgate’s net, shooting right between the goaltender’s skates. A few seconds later, the buzzer echoed throughout the arena, signaling the end of the last tournament game.
“That’s it! Yale takes the victory with just seconds left in the game!” the announcer exclaimed as spectators jumped to their feet and cheered, applauding our victory after three long, difficult matches that landed us in the top spot in the women’s division.
I thrusted my fist up into the air, pushing off with my left foot to skate right into the celebratory huddle that my team formed on the ice. I threw my arms around Suzette, squeezing her tightly as the others followed suit.
“We fucking did it!” I shouted, losing all restraint as the pressure I felt during this entire trip finally melted away.
Our first match was the day after we arrived in Denver, and we faced off with Princeton. We played our hardest, using new strategies that we had been working on during the week before we left for the trip. They paid off, and we won by two points.
The next match was with Cornell, and things were rockier than we expected. Lily took a hard hit that stunned her pretty bad, and we were down by a point until the last few minutes. That rough start spurred something in our team, making us rally to pick up the slack for her as she did her best to recover while still out on the ice.
From what I heard, the men’s team won their qualifying matches as well, placing them in the finals in their division. They played right before our match, but I had no idea if they won or not. I supposed I would find out once we got off the ice and headed to the nearest bar to celebrate.
What a hell of a trip!
My team headed to the locker room, still buzzing with excitement that would soon fizzle into exhaustion. It was hard to relax and sleep all that well while traveling for games, but the adrenaline and determination could push us through anything.
“Ladies! Now, that was some real hockey!” Coach Clinton told us as we gathered in the locker room together. “You did incredibly, and I want you to know that I’m proud of every single one of you for putting your all into practices and these games. All of the hard work that we’ve been putting in is paying off! How does it feel?”
Everyone cheered and clapped, pure energy lighting up the atmosphere. I couldn’t remember when we had ever been so pumped. We were happy during our two other victories, but we knew that the tournament wasn’t over yet. Now, we could finally relax and celebrate before heading back to Yale tomorrow.
After taking a much needed shower and getting dressed in a pair of jeans and fitted tank top, I headed over to the nearest bar with the rest of the team. Only to see the men’s team occupying the bar, fueled with as much energy as us.
“Utter domination! No one can take us down!” Hugo called out as he raised his drink, prompting the rest of the guys to follow suit. It was like he was commanding an orchestra, everyone following his lead. “Let’s keep it up!”
“Looks like we’re not the only ones celebrating tonight,” Lily muttered to me as we approached the bar.
Mikael caught sight of me first and walked over to me, carrying a recently poured beer in his hand.
“Maybe next year?” he asked with a hint of cheekiness in his grin.
“Sure, I wouldn’t mind another tournament win next year,” I replied with a smirk on my face, my confidence raging hot. They couldn’t say anything now. We went and did what they thought we couldn’t accomplish. What so many others thought we couldn’t do!
Damn, it felt good.
Mikael chuckled and stepped to the side to let us through.
“You’re going to be busy, bartender,” he called out to the man serving everyone drinks.
The rest of the men’s team turned to see us coming, prompting a slew of surprised expressions being directed our way.
“Wow, tournament champions,” Hugo said as he peered at me.
“We both represented Yale well,” I replied with a nod, adrenaline radiating off both of us.
“Well, we gotta toast to that,” Hugo told me, a faint haze in his eyes from the alcohol he already consumed before we arrived. He turned to the bartender. “Round of shots for all of us.”
I exchanged a surprised look with Annie, who shrugged. Honestly, the guys were already buzzed, so if they wanted to be a little nicer, we would take it and celebrate hard tonight. Once we all had our shots of tequila in our hands, we rose them high.