Never Give Up(Riley) The sudden stop of the bus made my stomach flip and gave me the feeling that we were about to make history. In the history of Saint Joseph's Women's Lacrosse, no team had ever won an Atlantic 10 championship game, until May 1st. I walked off of that bus with an excitement and fear I've never experienced before. “This is it. This is our time. Here we go Hawks” was shouted by my coach as we began to walk to the field. The walk seemed like it lasted a lifetime, but I was ready to run. As I sat down on the burning turf, I took it all in. The smell of fresh cut grass behind the field, the sound of music blasting from the speakers, parents cheering louder than they ever had. “This is what it is about”, I thought to myself. Everything I had worked for came down to this moment in time. As the warmup time trickled down, I could feel my heartbeat in my stomach as my name was called in the lineup. Smacking hands and screaming till I couldn't talk anymore. 3,2,1, the buzzer sounded. It was game time. UMASS had beaten us the previous year, we were out for revenge. Every draw control, every ground ball, every goal, it was ours. It was a battle to the top and we were not backing down. 3,2,1, the buzzer sounds it is halftime. I am tired, dehydrated, beaten up, but so hungry to finish what we came there to do. Win. “This is our game, Hawks. We stick to our game plan and play as a family. Let's finish this” our coach says as we huddle up, all screaming and shouting. I walked out of the tent, with blisters on my feet and blood on my knees from the turf that felt like nails when you fell. I had to keep pushing through, we were finished yet. As the clock ticks down, we are up by four. Already excited for the moment we were champions. I stood on the sidelines and felt tears run down my face from pure joy. We had accomplished something nobody ever had. 3,2,1, the buzzer sounded and I bolted off the sidelines to join my teammates in celebration. “WE ARE SAINT JOES” was being yelled on repeat as we ran back to the sidelines to receive our trophy. As I stood with my teammates, hand in hand, I thought to myself “we just made history”.

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