Edited 02/01/2024
Today was Lacey's first day as a goalie on the University of Michigan hockey team. Yes, she is the only girl on the team.
The girl's extremely nervous and overthinking everything. What if they don't like me? What if they don't think I'll be good enough because I'm a girl?
She was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard footsteps coming towards her. When she looked up, she saw the team captain, Nolan Moyle.
"Hey! Are you Lacey?" He asked me. The lady of the hour nodded with a small smile. "Awesome! I'm Nolan. Follow me. I'll take you to the locker room and you can meet the rest of the team."
Lacey followed him down a couple hallways and into the locker room. All the boys conversations stopped and they looked over at her.
When she looked around, she made eye contact with one specific player. Luke Hughes. He sent a smiled towards her and she smiled in return.
"Guys! This is Lacey Scott. She's gonna be our new goalie. And before any of you idiots say anything, yes she's the first girl on the team." Nolan explained. Everyone nodded.
The boys all walked up, introducing themselves one by one. Lastly, Luke came up.
"Hey. I'm Luke." He said.
"Lacey. As you probably heard." The girl laughed. He laughed a bit as well.
They both split apart and went to their own stalls. The team got ready for the game that was about to start. Yes, there is a game. No, Lacey's not prepared. Yes, she's playing.
Last minute
The Wolverines were currently winning 5-3 with 47 seconds left. Lacey could feel her heartbeat in her ears. The faceoff was to the Wolverines' goalie's right, so Lacey was currently facing towards them in her starting position which allows her to go anywhere the puck goes.
The ref blew the whistle, dropping the puck into the center on the circle. Rutger McGroarty won the faceoff and they were off to the other end.
While they were making a pass, someone from the opposite team intercepted, getting the puck. With 15 seconds left, they were skating towards the Wolverines' side. Lacey got into position, when the player with the puck got tripped and almost hit her leg.
The buzzer went off which was the indication of the end of the game. All of the team team jumped off the bench and jumped on top of the goalie. She was knocked to the ice out of celebration. Once everyone finally got off of her and skated off the ice, Luke went over and held out his hand. Lacey grabbed it and he pulled her up.
"You played well, today." Luke said.
"Thanks. You didn't do to bad either." Lacey replied with a smile.
They both skated off the ice together, talking amongst one another.
After Lacey got out of her heavy gear she went to leave in order to get back to her dorm. What stopped her was a hand on her arm. She spun around and was met with the familiar face of Luke Hughes.
"I was wondering if you wanna hang out? Celebrate?"
The girl nodded. He smiled. After that, they went out and got a late dinner, talking and joking around for hours, just letting the universe lead them.
***
WC: 536