Winter lacrosse by Paxton Hilgendorff

     Gilbert and Bernard are huddled up in winter coats and hats under a Columbia blue tent, drinking Dunkin' Donuts hot chocolate from a box, waiting for their next game. It is a cold winter's day in Chicago, thirteen degrees outside. The wind is blowing twenty miles an hour, and the snow is just starting to fall-- big flakes falling sideways from the wind. There are whitecaps on Lake Michigan that they can see from the turf field. They are at the Windy City Lax Bash, the biggest tournament of the winter, and Gilbert and Bernard's team, the Spartans, is entered in the high school division.
     Their first game was against Building Blocks Lacrosse, one of the best teams in New Jersey. They traveled a long distance for this tourney. The game was tied until the last two minutes when Gilbert got the ball and ran down the field, while a defender slid to him leaving Bernard open. Gilbert passed him the ball and got beyond his defender. Bernard passed the ball back to Gilbert, but he missed the game-winning goal, shooting right into the goalie's stick. The other team took the ball and scored the last goal in the last thirty seconds to win the game. This was a tough blow and not the way to start any tournament. No one likes to start with a loss. It kills morale.
     Another tough part of this tournament included the rule of single-game elimination after the first game, so the Spartans knew they could not lose again if they wanted to go home with the trophy. After the first game, Gilbert and Bernard walked back to their tent to prepare for their next game. They needed to stay warm so their muscles didn't stiffen. They peeled off their lax gloves and the black latex gloves underneath that were somehow filled with sweat in this cold. They froze into odd shapes when they hit the frigid ground, but they definitely worked while they wore them.
     The Spartans rested for twenty minutes and then played the next three games, one after the next. Their opponents are unskilled, and not surprisingly, cold, so the games are insanely easy, and they win all of them by at least five goals. These results put the Spartans in the championship game, once again facing Building Blocks Lacrosse, the only team that beat them.
     The game begins and it is back and forth, neither team up by more than one goal. Right before halftime, Bernard takes a terrible hit, is thrown to the ground, and is out of the game with a concussion. The win is now all up to Gilbert, but he's missing his partner, his backup, his wingman, and the wind has kicked in again, blowing snow across the turf. Visibility is low. There are two minutes left in the game, the Spartans are down by two, and Gilbert has the ball on offense. He starts to dodge and gets around his defender scoring a goal. Now down by one, Gilbert takes the face-off, wins it, and is running faster than he has ever run before. His team passes the ball around, dodging snowflakes and waiting for an opening. With thirty seconds left in the game, Gilbert is open up top, gets the ball, takes the shot, and HE SCORES to tie the game. There is no time left on the clock. This tie leads to the ever-stressful braveheart, with one player on each team and goalies. Gilbert is picked to do it. He takes the face-off and loses-- a bad sign. His opponent is running down to score, but the Spartans' goalie charges him and saves it. Gilbert breaks away down the field and the goalie passes the ball. Now it is just him and the goalie, one on one, man versus man. Gilbert fakes high, shoots low and scores the game-winning goal.
     The Spartans team storms the field, going crazy because they just won the biggest tournament of the winter. After the team's celebration, they are each awarded a medal and the team gets a trophy, shaped like the Sears Tower. The team agreed that Gilbert should keep the trophy because he was the MVP, but like any good team player, he walked to Bernard, handed it to him, and they both held it up in the air, sharing the win with the whole team.