[THE PITCH 2013: Blog 2] I hear the whistle: a penalty kick in double overtime. I see two of my teammates both go for theball. It’s the same thing that happened before! They fight to take the PK. But now, one girl takes the ball out of the other girl’s hands, and turns and gives it to me. She looks in myeyes and says, “This is yours.” At that moment, I know I score it for sure. It’s the biggest game of my career. This is the most important moment. Back home, my mom locks herself inthe bedroom and tells my father to only come get her if we win the game. “If not, just don’t come in.”

I shoot, and the keeper takes it. Ican’t believe it. I turn around to meet someone’s eyes, anyone’s eyes, but nobody looks at me. The bench is crying. The people in the stands are crying. My teammates on the field arecrying.

Normally, I would just start crying too. It’s over! There is only one minute left. But something tells me there is going to be one more chance. So,I just run and run and run. I see the ball in the air coming across the goal. Everything freezes. I think “This is it,” and I just shoot and score. And then, I just keep running andrunning and running. And my teammates are running. And I slide to the ground. The referee blows the final whistle right then. I think, “This is the best feeling in the world.” I know Ionly feel like this once in my life.