Anybody who has ever played a sport or plays a sport now will know exactly what I am about to start talking about. It doesn’t matter what the sport is as long as it has a referee of some sort whether it be an umpire, a ref, or a judge. As long as there is somebody involved in controlling the outcome of the sport you are involved in, you will be able to easily find out just how involved politics are.

After playing hockey for the past nine years, I have had the privilege of seeing so many games where the referees have taken the control they have over the game and completely abused the power they have. It was not until this year, my freshman year of college, that I along with the rest of my team was able to see just how much the referees can really control the game and turn a victory into heartbreak in a matter of seconds.

All of the hard work we put in all year long to make sure we earned our spot in the national tournament at the beginning of March soon seemed like a waste of our time. Everybody was so proud of us because not a single one of us gave up during that last game. But the words “I’m so proud of you,” or “It’s not your fault,” or “There is nothing you could have done,” are all just sentences that don’t necessarily mean anything when you gave everything to be in that game just to have it taken away from you. When I say “taken away,” I actually mean we had our chance at a national championship taken away from us.

It is one thing to be in the semifinal game of the national tournament, but it is something completely different to have it taken away from you. We gave everything we had that last week of our season to guarantee ourselves a spot in that last game, and before we knew it, it was all over. The semifinals game went into overtime and we scored, but the goal was overturned because the ref blew the whistle too quickly.

Anybody who has seen a hockey game knows the referee is not supposed to blow the whistle until the goalie has the puck completely covered, and in too many cases they blow the whistle way too soon; in this case, it cost us the game. We finished out that overtime and kept fighting, with the score still being tied 1-1 we went into a second overtime. Once again, we scored a goal, but this time, it was different. The difference for this goal was that I was on the ice and one of my best friends had scored the goal.

There is no better feeling than that rush of adrenaline you get when you realize your team has won the game in a double overtime semifinal national tournament and being a freshman, it’s 10 times greater. The goal went to another video review where it was called as an off sides, meaning one of our girls crossed the line before the puck. The whole point of a goal review is to have the goal itself reviewed, not the play before it. Also, the point in time when the puck crossed and her foot crossed were so close that when a call is that close, it is supposed to go to the original call on the ice. That being said, the off sides call never should have been made and the goal should have been called as a good goal. So once again, our goal was taken away from us and we went out with even more energy than before looking to win that game.

We ended up losing that game because of the not one, but two overturned

goals that were called off by unfair calls. Now I’m sure most of you are saying, “Life’s unfair, get used to it,” but this is something completely different. When every team in your division that lost before you is cheering for you, along with having just about every team in the other division cheering for you, it makes the loss that much harder to get over. So many times I have lost a game or been a part of a game where the referees have had complete control and made terrible calls, but never have I been a part of a game where this has happened. I’m not sure how many people can actually say they’ve been a part of a game where this has happened or watched a game where this has happened. When you have 11 seniors on your team you don’t want to cry because you know you still have at least three more years to earn that championship title. Once you realize that those girls who you’ve come to know throughout this last season and have become basically family are not going to be with you next year when you play in that tournament, that is when reality sets in and your heart truly breaks. That is the moment when it sets in that next season is the season your team is going to win it all, not only because of how it got ripped out of your hands this season, but also because you want to do it for them.

I cannot describe the feeling I had when I realized winning that championship next year was going to mean more than just getting a banner or a ring. I don’t think anybody can really describe that feeling without saying you want to prove something to the one ref that took it away from you. It suddenly becomes more than just proving something, though. It starts to become a task and a gift to those who cannot share the experience with you. Yes, you took that game away from us, but that night that turned into a game of almost three hours has given us new life for next year. It has made us hungry for a national championship next year.

Next year will be the year of the Bulldog. It will be the year we finally win our national championship, and it will be the year we win it for all of those seniors who did not get to this year. It will be so much more than just a title; for our team, it will be a thank you to everybody who believed in and supported us this year without giving up on us. We are going to come out stronger than ever and we are going to once again fight for our spot in that tournament, except this time, we’re going all the way and not even you will be able to stop us. Natty’s 2017, we’re comin' for ya... and trust me when I say we’re not going down without a fight.