Point of View by Halle Nottage
Loud, upbeat music blared from the speaker. Players were rejoicing with one another in front of a cheering crowd, and I collapsed onto my knees. I looked to my right and saw our opponent, the Highline Thunderbirds hugging each other, smiling ear to ear and screaming in celebration. Directly in front of my lay my team, some of us on the ground softly crying, others running towards one another to console each other, and some of us simply staring at the Highline players, with a look somewhere in between incredible confusion and absolute sorrow. “This is all wrong,” I thought to myself. But, it wasn’t. To put it quite simply, we had lost the NWAC championship.
However, our day wasn’t over after that. The men still had their battle for the championship in front of them, and we knew that we could not let what had just happened to us take away from what they were about to do. So, after a long team huddle, and an even longer group cry, we wiped our eyes and put our game faces on once again. The next hour and forty-five minutes was nothing short of pure energy from the men. The crowd radiated nothing but electricity and excitement, and we gave nothing but words of encouragement to our team. The game continued on and on, all the way into shootout.
Edgar Taveras stepped up to take his turn, with what was considerably the weight of the world on his shoulders. If he scored this, it was over, and the Peninsula College Men’s Soccer Team would be champions. The crowd remained completely silent, the referee lifted his whistle to his lips, and blew it. Taveras took three steps to the left, ran up, and shot. Tacoma’s goalkeeper dived to the right, and the ball sailed into the left side of the net.
The next minute was a complete blur. Taveras ripped his shirt off, dropped to his knees and slid towards us as we stormed the field. Both PC teams quickly dog-piled him, creating a massive mound of flesh, sweat, tears and cries of victory. PC was on top once again, ending a four-year dry streak. For the next half an hour, it was a legitimate celebration on the field, nothing short of pure euphoria. Tears slid from both the men’s and women’s team alike, and for a brief moment, the pain of losing was replaced with nothing but joy and excitement for the men’s team. Victory was ours, all of ours.
At the end of the day, the sting of losing came back. However, it was bittersweet, as our season had gone supremely well: undefeated all the way through, only six goals allowed, multiple sophomores being recruited for the next level, numerous first-place votes, and the sweetest of all, the creation of family. Both soccer team’s motto is “strength through unity,” something that was made incredibly apparent throughout the season, and especially through playoffs. Without a doubt, we would not have made it as far as we did without the support from the Men’s Team, and vice versa. Losing is hard, yes, but there are so many lessons to be learned from it. However, winning is better, especially when done together. Congratulations to the PC men’s team, 2019 NWAC Champions!
