Archived from UCI Literary Journalism Submissions
By: H. Elizabeth Williams
Jakob Ogan, a 24-year-old roller hockey league goalie, currently plays on the state team ‘The Wave’ with his 17 years of experience in the competitive sport. His first night back in the outdoor Escondido arena, this would be his first night back after two weeks out on a knee injury caused by the opposing teams captain that is preparing for another face off. Ogan, being the only one on the floor before the game, kept a wary eye on the red LED clock reflecting on the outdoor tiles he paces back and forth on with his trusted eight wheels to keep him upright. Ogan cranked his neck side to side, hopefully cracked to release the stress from the won warm-up game against the Wizards ,11 to 3, ten minutes prior, the sweat from that win still shining through his gated helmet. “Our team is currently in first place within the leagues ranking. I’m just hoping to keep up with that standing after being out from an injury for a bit,” Ogan explained post-game. He skated his way to the middle of the square goal, alone on the opposite side of the arena away from his team.
Even with all the thick white padding covering his arms, legs and chest, you can see the heavy breath he took before firmly gripping the off-white hockey stick in his right hand, the left held the bottom for support. The ‘Jak 13’ is partly peeled off the back of his blue jersey, but he refuses to fix it. “Everyone has a lucky charm in sports. Mine is this jersey and the number. Sometimes it is better worn for the games,” Ogan clarified. The paddle of his stick hits the elbows and knees of his own body roughly in an effort to hype him up for the game that is at stake as the sound of the ten second mark echoes throughout the arena. This would be his first official game back and his rival who gave him those two bruised up knees, the mavins team captain, already had his eyes on him again.
Ogan took one last nervous breath, bent forward with the muscles in his back strained, and knees clenched together to make a wall with the thick white knee pads. Hesitant but slightly vengeful, he gripped the red outline of the goal to keep himself balanced as the clock ran out and the start of the period began. He was in position. One member of each team lined up on the appropriate side of the face off dot in the middle of the arena. The tension thick as the referee dropped the puck between the two sticks, and the battle had begun.
The opponents battled for control, the opposite team won and whacked the puck out of the center, the echo of it marked the first hit of the game. “It’s very quick paced in this sport. I have to pay attention every second even with this gate covering most of my vision. I psyched myself out thinking I had a moment and this is exactly how the last injury happened. With the same person too,” Ogan described post-game. His mentioned rival took the advantage and stole the puck, moved deep into Ogan’s team’s territory, the motions blurred as his rival jetted past three of his teammates with ease. He raced toward his opponents goalie, lining up the paddle with the puck perfectly.
There was barely seconds to react, and Ogan’s hesitation was seen but he reacted nonetheless. The opponent smacked a shot headed straight towards Ogan, but he dropped to his knees and blocked it with ease, which gave his teammate the first chance to trace it to the other side and won them their first point of the game as well as Jakob’s coming back victory.
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