It was another Sunday in November, cloudy, gloomy, and very cold. My team and I had another soccer game that night. We were already in the playoffs, and we were in the semi finals. Our team had been among the top teams in the league. It was a very anticipated game in the league because we were playing one of the best teams in the league. 

We were playing at home, at our turf field at the high school. The game was in the evening, so it would be dark. Thankfully our field had powerful lights, lighting up the stadium. Since it was later in the day, the temperature dropped excessively. I would have to dress appropriately for the frigid weather.

I wore my normal black Adidas shorts, my jersey that I hated because it was some ugly yellow color, a long sleeve compression shirt underneath my jersey, and light running gloves to keep my hands warm. That’s all I thought I needed to stay warm and still perform well. 

“I’m all ready.” I thought to myself.

As I was getting ready to leave, I had a weird feeling in my stomach, like butterflies were fluttering around in there. I also felt a bit nervous, even though I knew I shouldn’t be. 

We finally arrived at the field. I start heading towards my bench with my bag and my headphones in my ears listening to some music to keep me locked in. I knew that being out there not moving would cause me to start freezing up so I started warming up, waiting for the rest of my team to show up. 

30 minutes later, we finish warm ups, and kickoff is about to start. The cold wasn’t really affecting me. During the entire first half I was really cold. 

Early into the second half we conceded a goal making the game tied. I had to do something. I start to shift over to the right side of the pitch to defend, with my face frozen numb. What happened next was very unfortunate. I got the ball kicked at full speed at my face giving me a bloody nose. . So now half my face is numb from the cold, and the other half is stinging and bloody. I look at my coach all disoriented. I realized I couldn’t stop now. I knew what to do. I take the ball from the guy attacking, and start dribbling up the right side of the field. From at least 30 yards out I sent the ball to the top left corner. That was the tie breaker. That made us win the semi finals. That’s what got us to the finals. That was the season-defying goal. That was what took us to the finals to secure the championship.