At 6:00pm, the sound of a referee’s whistle rung throughout Hill Pool at Pioneer High School. It was their first game of the season as the sprinters, Sarah Williams (Okemos) and Brianna Coury (Pioneer), raced to get to the ball first. Cheering erupted as people shouted “Go! Go! Go!” as encouragement along with clapping and the sound of each player’s feet against the water. Okemos drove through and won the sprint, giving them a head start.

Within the first minute, Emma Petroff (Okemos) was excluded, giving an advantage to Pioneer. With five minutes and 47 seconds left on the clock, Coury (Pioneer) scored the first goal on Dawn Hawkins (Okemos). Almost two minutes later, Rachel Starosta (Pioneer) scored the second goal of the night and a minute after that, Kira Peck (Pioneer) scored the third. With two minutes left in the quarter, Okemos got their first goal of the night by Ryann Quillinan, who scored on Michelle Syer (Pioneer), and about 30 seconds after that, Williams grabbed the second, her first goal of the game. Only two seconds remained, but Pioneer pulls back and Coury puts Pioneer in the lead for the end of the first quarter with a score of 4-2.

The second quarter started as the sprinters, Freyja Garbaccio (Okemos) and Coury, moved with purpose to have possession. Garbaccio beat Coury and gave Okemos the ball. In the first forty

seconds, Isabella Morris (Okemos) scored the first goal of the second quarter, which made the score 4-3 with Pioneer still in the lead. About thirty seconds later, Peck scored her second goal of the night for Pioneer. The intensity rose throughout the game, but this didn’t stop Peck from getting in one last goal before the end of the quarter. With one minute left to go, Williams added one more point to the score before halftime with a final score of 6-4, Pioneer still in the lead.

Both teams switched sides and a silence hushed over Hill Pool as the coaches talked to their teammates. As the third quarter began, Sydney Fountain (Okemos) and Stepnitz sprinted to the ball to get a head start. Stepnitz beat Fountain just by a second and passed the ball to her teammates. Both teams played with passion as the quarter went on. About half way through, Leah Weingarten scored on Hawkins, making the score 7-4 and Pioneer maintained their lead. The quarter came to a close shortly afterwards.

By the fourth quarter, Okemos and Pioneer were both driven to finish the game strong. Two minutes into the quarter, and Coury scored her third goal of the night for Pioneer after an exclusion for Morris was called. Both teams kept their

endurance high for the next three minutes, and with about two minutes left in the game, Williams scored on Syer, adding another point for Okemos. Williams then scored again with a minute left after Christina Pappas (Pioneer) was excluded.

The score was 8-6 as the game came to a close, but with 22 seconds left on the clock, a personal foul was called on Syer and a penalty was given to Williams. It was quiet as Williams prepared to take her penalty, which then added the final point to Okemos. As the game ended, Pioneer won  with a final score of 8-7.