It was a long hot, summer night. All I could do was toss and turn. There were about six hours left until it was a decent time to get up. I still couldn’t sleep. All I could think about was getting into the car and getting to Rapid City. The night slowly passed, and it was time to get into the car. We got into the car and headed on our way.

    We finally got into Rapid City. We got to the hotel and unpacked. The first thing I wanted to do was to go jump into the pool, but I couldn’t. The coach of my soccer team had told us that we couldn’t swim until our last game was over. That could take forever. All I wanted to do was have fun. I made a deal with my mom that if we won, she would have to kiss our team mascot. Our team mascot was a little brown dog.

    Finally it was time to go and warm-up for my game. I was there at least one hour before our game. Our coach said that we needed at least one hour to warm-up. I was one of the best goalies that year, and I stood in the goal for about a half hour. I was so bored and excited all at the same time.

    It was finally time to start the game. We were playing a team from West River. Those teams are very physical. We stood our ground and hung with it. Finally I was taken out of the goal and allowed to play on the field. I was playing center striker at the time when one of my teammates defended the ball from the other team. We had a goal kick. The ball was booted into the air and brought down by one of my teammates. All of a sudden we heard a whistle; it was half time.

    In the second half of the game my team had the kickoff. Being as little as we were, we just booted it down the field. The other team took over possession rather quickly. One of my teammates came to the rescue and stole the ball out from under the other girl’s feet. She passed it up to me. It ended up being a through ball, and I had a breakaway. I took it down and shot. All I heard was silence. It seemed like the ball took forever to reach the back of the net. As soon as I scored, the crowd went wild. They were cheering and yelling for us.

    Time was winding down and the other team wanted a goal. Our coach got smart and put me back in the goal. I can’t say that I was happy with that decision. There were two minutes left, and I was not going to let them get a goal. Finally we heard the referee blow his whistle. The crowd and the team went wild. We were jumping around and screaming frantically because we won our first game.

    After the jumping and screaming we shook the other teams hands and ran off the field. I looked over at my mom, and she started to walk back to the car, acting like she had forgotten about our bet. I ran over and asked, "What are you doing?"

    She replied, "I am going to the car."

    I told her to come back, and I asked her if she forgot about our bet. She told me she didn’t.

    I brought the dog over, and all the parents and my teammates gathered in a big circle. We all watched with smiles on our faces as my mother kissed our team mascot. The game and the tournament were over, and I came home with a second place trophy. I also came home with a funny memory.