Miracle On Ice -Chapter 14- "Golden ticket to hell" I don't know what's worse waking up to Tyler snoring or knowing that today is one of the most important games of my #life. Today we face team Canada in the semi finals. I quickly get out of bed and grab my pillow. I grip it tightly as I wind back and throw it at Tyler hitting him square in the face. He makes one more loud snore as he picks his head up "What was that for!?" Tyler says wiping the sand out of his eyes. "For starters you snore like a bear, plus we have a game in 2 hours so I'm heading to the rink, your welcome to come princess" I say laughing. Tyler laughs a little bit and gets out of his bed. I notice his eyes have huge dark circles under them. "You want me to make eggs?" Tyler asks yawning. I look at him and shake my head. "Coach already got us some food at the rink" I say putting on my jacket. We both walk down stairs and head outside. We meet the other players as we all walk to the ice rink with 1 hour until game time. We all sit in are locker room stalls eating bagels when the coach walks in holding a clipboard. "Ok this is it boys, if you lose we go home empty handed, and if we win. We have a chance to win it all. To be honest I don't care what happens tonight, I'm proud of all of you. You truly are the dream team boys. Now let's go grab it!" he leaves the locker room as the rest of us finish getting changed and eating. As a team we all stand up and create a circle around the American flag in the locker room. I lift my hand high in the air "Who are we!?" I say loudly as the whole team quickly responds. "USA!". We all leave the locker room and walk toward the ice. People and t.v channels line up in a straight line taking pictures and video of us. Finally I step on the ice and skate around in the dark. The crowd and the music fill the whole rink as the lights fully flicker on, it's now or never. I line up at the face off my hand shaking violently on the stick. The crowd goes silent when the referees drop the puck, Drew wins it. I grip my stick tightly and skate quickly down the ice, while banging my stick on the ice for a pass. I catch the puck and move behind the Canadians net. I pick my head up looking for a pass when I skate around the net and lightly tap it to Michael. He easily catches my pass and takes a shot missing the net. Quickly Canada grabs the puck and sprint down the ice. I get on the bench as line 2 steps on the ice. "What happened there Michael?" says Drew with a bit of a tone. "I didn't swing hard enough that's all..." Michael says while pouring water into his mouth. I knew this was gonna be a hard game, but it's even. As the first period ends we skate off the ice and head back to the locker room the score tied at 0. Two periods have gone by, and no one has scored. I sit in the locker room taking short long breathes trying to calm my heart rate down. I take off my helmet and run my fingers threw my sweaty hair, for the first time i am actually physically dead. "I can't take much more of this!" Drew says while he rolls his head against the wall behind him. "We need to push are selves, we are so close!" Tyler says putting a ice pack on his shoulder. I slightly lift my head up and look at the team, the room quiets down as every player looks at me. I slowly lower my head and shake it in defeat when Michael stands up throwing his stick on the ground. "We cannot lose this game tonight boys! We have worked to hard for it! We missed are families for 7 months, haven't been to school, Ive lost everything for this one opportunity and I'm not losing it tonight!!! Now who is with me!?". Everyone stands up and forms a circle while sticking there hands in the middle. Michael looks at me threw the crowd and smiles slightly , "Ready Captain?". I look at him and smile back, "Who are we!?" I shout as everyone replies "U.S.A!!!" we all quickly put on are helmets and grab are sticks while we head on the ice for one more time. I step on the ice and skate around, listening to the crowd cheer. I make my way to the face off were Drew lines up to take the puck drop. When the puck drops team Canada wins it but I easily step in the way and knock over there player, I then kick the puck with my skate to Drew. He flies down the ice and rips a shot, but misses glove side. I skate back to the bench and sit down when line 2 goes out. "I almost had it!" Drew says banging his stick against the boards. I look at him and sigh lightly "It was a good effort man.." I grab for the water bottle when I pick my head up and look in the stands, there I see Aliya sitting there glaring at me. Only 10 minutes left when my line goes out for the 4th time in this period. I quickly gain speed and move into defensive position by lifting the puck carriers stick while Michael grabs the loose puck. After that he passes it to Drew as we all head down the ice. I pick my head up and bang my stick calling for a pass. Drew looks at me and passes the puck perfectly to me. I quickly burst down the ice and brake free from the defense. Time begins to slow as I grip my stick tightly. I pull to the left and takes a fast shot to the right corner. Suddenly I get hit and fall over missing my shot I took. I look up at everyone when the goal buzzer goes off. Drew and Michael tackle me as the group shakes the stadium with cheering. We won the game. As I leave the locker room I spot Aliya standing next to the door. We both look at each other as I set my bags down. She quickly runs at me as she falls perfectly into my arms as we stand there in a long hug. We both pull are faces back as are lips meet for the first time. After about 5 seconds she pulls her face away. "I'm leaving tomorrow Troy... I'm going back to Russia". I stand there in shock as the hug breaks up. "What does that mean for us?" I say looking shocked. She shakes her head as she looks down. I pull In for one more hug. "I will think of something Aliya... I will think of something..."