“How are you tired? You’ve been running for nine minutes. A game is ninety minutes.”

These were the infamous words of head coach Nate Houser on my first day of preseason as a freshman. Let’s just say he has expected a lot out of my team, and my class, since we put on our boots and stepped out on North Park in August 2007.

His coaching throughout my four years has given us the tools needed to improve and succeed, all we had to do was just put in the effort. Every year I’ve played, we have improved, going from just barely making the playoffs, to winning the HAAC Tournament. This year, we knocked off the No. 6 and No. 13 teams in the nation to go on and win the title. 

A lot of our success goes to a strong senior class. There are seven seniors who have the heart and desire to leave everything out on that field and motivate others to do the same.

However, we could not have done it on our own. The underclassmen and juniors have just as much passion about the game and have put their hearts into making this the best season of our lives.

Personally, this past week has been very special. We became the ultimate “comeback team,” one that fights and scrapes for everything. We started to believe in ourselves and, when we did, our true colors finally started to show. It means a lot, as a senior and a captain, to watch your team enjoy the game, work together and truly blossom.

Along with the support of the coach and team came the support of family and friends, as well. No matter how far a game was, what time of day, what the weather was like or who we were playing, there were always family members there.

Not to mention, during this last week of playoffs, we had an amazing fan base that knocked the socks off all other schools’ fan sections. It was so nice to have our friends and school behind us, cheering us on even when we were down. 

This season has, so far, been the epitome of what every senior wants his or her season to be like. Sure, we lost some games that we wish we hadn’t, and we had a couple of hard practices or injuries that we could’ve done without, but this postseason is what we live for.

Saturday is going to give us the prime opportunity to show how hard we’ve worked as a team.

This team is special. We play for each other, never give up and never go down without a fight.