Column: Remembering A Historic Season

“I believe that we will win! I believe that we will win!”

I looked at the clock, there was two minutes left and we trailed 1-0.

Let’s get it done, I thought. Blue Valley Northwest had 10 players behind the ball, it didn’t matter.

The chant continued, “I believe that we will win, I believe that we will win!”

1:30 remained.

We had a quick switch from the right to left, and the ball ended up at my feet. Hoping for the best, I tried to get something behind the ball and strike it toward the middle of the box. The ball fell short of any danger, and was immediately booted up field by a Northwest defender. That would be the last time I touched the ball in my junior varsity soccer season.

Again and again, we pounded the ball into the box, looking for anything–a flick, a lucky header, a foul–anything to keep the season alive. I gave every ounce of energy I had left to make something happen, until finally I looked at the clock, and the five seconds ticked off. The game was over.

Late that Thursday night, I came to the realization that with two minutes left in the game, the entire East student section had been on their feet, roaring their chant “I Believe That We Will Win.”

Wow, I thought.

We always believed in ourselves throughout the season, and with little hope in our last game, our fans believed in us too.

***

Back up a couple a months ago. There we were, a bunch of juniors and a few seniors, with predictions to have a ‘less than 10 win season’. We had lost 17 seniors from the year before, but even if no one else thought so, we knew we were good. Very good. With such low expectations, there was no pressure. Every game we played we had something to prove. We had this incredible swag to shock our students, our school, and the soccer community. That swag, coupled with unselfish play, was what would push our team to the limit and bring us sweet success.

We started our season with a bang, winning the KA-MO tournament. The little East soccer team did what hadn’t been done ever in school history. Our success could’ve stopped right there and then. Easily individualism could have swarmed the team. But it didn’t. I’ll admit that after that tournament we were proud and had that ‘look at what we did ego’, but at the same time, it wasn’t good enough. There was always something else to work on and we still had the hunger to win.

Then for the first regular season game, we took on Olathe East. With a win, everyone would be afraid to play against us. If we lost, it would be an acceptable loss. For the five years that Jamie Kelly has coached East Soccer, not more than 2 goals had been scored in a match between the two teams. After a hard fought game, it was 0-0, and we found ourselves in the first overtime game of the season. My legs felt like rubber bands, and I’m sure the rest of the team felt the same way.

Before overtime began, we huddled up in the middle circle. We said we weren’t tired, that we absolutely wouldn’t quit. Although I felt tired, a fire inside made me kick my legs out and go full speed for as long as it took. We immediately attacked and ran all over Olathe, until finally we found that touch of magic to score the winning goal. The team dog piled on top of each other in front of the student section, and the rest was history.

After that game at ODAC early in September, we continued our success and won 11 straight before losing. The best start in school history. We had already won two games in overtime, came back to win from a 2-0 deficit against Blue Valley Northwest, and finally proved ourselves as a powerhouse soccer team.

Before I knew it, it was senior night. At this point we had lost two games respectively to Olathe Northwest and Shawnee Mission Northwest. Yet there we were, taking on Shawnee Mission West in front of the biggest student section I had ever seen at a soccer game. We were in the position we wanted to finally make our name in front of our peers, and ultimately avenge ourselves after two losses. I will never forget how we reacted to losing a teammate due to a red card in addition to going down 1-0. I was standing on the sideline when coach Kelly pulled myself and a couple other guys together. 15 minutes remained on the clock. He told us to remain calm and work as a team, just like any other game. With two minutes left in the game we found the back of the net and pulled together yet another overtime win. We took our bow as a team in front of our peers like any other game, but this time we got a resounding applause. There was no greater satisfaction than knowing we had the full support of our school.

***

After our second round loss against Blue Valley Northwest, I walked over to the bleachers like I had so many times before with my teammates, but this time we were done. As a walked I stared at the ground. Although I was completely torn about how the season came to the end, I couldn’t be completely ruined by the fact we lost. Together as a team we proved so much. Not only did we believe in ourselves from the beginning, but we made an entire community believe in what we could do, even with two minutes remaining in our final game. That was a testament to the season. So as my teammates stood beside me with tears in their eyes, I continued to show no emotion. I took my final bow, and on the inside I couldn’t help but to feel proud.