The rest of the preseason simultaneously dragged on and flew by for Nicole. It only seemed that practices were getting harder, which was to be expected with the first game rapidly approaching, but once team activities were over for the day, she found that they flew by. The team itself had started to warm up to her, as they built chemistry and Nicole found herself more and more comfortable on the ice with these girls. She clicked especially well with her linemates, Powers and Finning, and Nedley seemed to have taken notice, if his nods when they made plays in practice were any indication. In fact, the only person who still seemed to be openly chilly to her was Shae, though she maybe should've expected that.
Working at the rink proved to be a welcome addition to her schedule, as she found herself passing the time while also finding peace in the sanctuary of the rink. The Earp sisters were welcoming, even if Wynonna was a little reckless and a lot rough around the edges, and she swore Robin was one of the nicest guys she'd ever met. She found herself annoyed by Champ's presence, but attributed it to his overall immaturity and douche-ness. (It definitely wasn't her definite not crush on Waverly Earp. Even if she did, hypothetically, have a crush on the girl, Waverly had a boyfriend, and Nicole Haught was a woman of morals, thank you very much, and would never interfere).
Now, two days before the big game, Nicole found herself walking into the arena for media day. The far side of the lobby was set up with photo backgrounds and all sorts of lighting apparatuses. Nedley had given them the day off from full practice, on the stipulation that they get a team run and meal in, giving them enough time to get to the rink for photos and any press interviews that may be thrown their way.
In the locker room was their game day uniforms for photos, all pressed and fresh in the home baby blues. Nicole had followed the CWHL for as long as she could remember, and remembered the old Vancouver Blue Devils uniforms, and how she had never quite liked the dark navy and royal blue combination; but now with the relocation and new ownership, a new rebranding made the uniforms absolutely gorgeous. It also helped that blue really was her color.
As Nicole started to dress for picture day along with the rest of the team, she found a note in her stall. It was scrawled out on a post-it note, but Nicole could tell it was from Wynonna.
Happy picture day Haught Shot, hope your stupid mug doesn't break the camera.
She smiled at the note and put it in her locker for safe keeping. She hadn't quite been able to call the older Earp sister a friend, but she had grown fond of the woman over the past few weeks, and had grown used to the nicknames and the teasing.
When it was finally time for them to get on with photos, Nicole couldn't help but note how much this was not like picture day at school. Even at UofA, there was not this much fanfare around taking pictures. Because this was so much more than that.
There was a board posted in the lobby of assignments and scheduled things that each of the players on the team had to do. Some of them had more than others, the vets and the higher popularity prospects had interviews lined up with the various local and national sports outlets; everyone had the basics though: personal headshots, a few action shots with projected linemates, and the team photo.
Nicole found her name on the list, almost shocked to see that she'd had an interview lined up. She figured that those were reserved for people like Shae or Jenna, or literally anyone more interesting than her. Nonetheless, once team pictures were done, she was supposed to meet with a Jeremy Chetri from the Purgatory Gazette.
Before she knew it, she heard her name being called, and she stepped into the bright lighting. They were instructing her how to stand, how to smile, face the camera, and a few poses and short videos to use for goals and pregame introductions. (She did as she was told, but really all she could think about was how hot these damn lights were).
Moving into the actual rink for the team photo, Nicole remembered why she wasn't too keen on picture day. Being as tall as she was, she always knew her place was in the back, that wasn't the issue. The issue came from team photographers that thought they were Annie Liebovitz or Henri-Cartier Bresson, trying to direct the photo like it was some abstract piece of art. It really wasn't that complex to organize a group of girls by height to take a team photo.
It took far too long, but eventually got done.
The rest of the girls broke off toward their interviews, and Nicole watched as media seemingly flocked to everyone else.
"Fifteen…fiftee—oh, hey!" Nicole heard mumbling and then a shout. As she turned around to find the source of the voice, she saw a small, awkward-looking guy with a notebook and a voice recorder in his hand. "You're Nicole…Haught, right?"
"Uh, yeah that's me."
"Alright, perfect. I'm Jeremy from the Gazette." He introduced himself, extending his hand to Nicole, which she shook. "Let's see if we can't find a place to do this interview."
Nodding, Nicole followed the reporter to a corner of the main lobby that was quieter than the rest of it. There was something charming about his awkwardness, Nicole noted, and it definitely wasn't something she'd expected out of a person whose job it was to talk to and report on people.
"Alright, Nicole, just a quick little 'get to know the rookie' type of interview. Just a few simple points, any questions?"
Nicole shook her head, ready to just get the interview going.
"Perfect." Jeremy said, turning on his recorder and flipping his notebook open to a page with what she assumed were the interview questions. "So if you wanna just introduce yourself real quick, you know name, where you're from, age, position."
She took Jeremy's prompting and began.
"Okay, so my name is Nicole Haught, I'm twenty-two, I was born in a town called Beaumont, but grew up in Edmonton, and I primarily play center, but, I'll go wherever I'm needed if it helps the team."
Jeremy gave her a thumbs up for the answer and moved onto the next one.
"When did you first start playing hockey?"
"I'd say I was about seven or eight." Nicole said, remembering how her parents were never really around to get her started on the game at the younger age that most kids did. Her aunt and uncle had gotten her into it after taking her to a local game in Beaumont and Nicole fell in love with it.
"Did you have a favorite team growing up?"
"I'm Edmonton through and through, so I love my Oilers, but my guilty pleasure team is the Bruins." Nicole added with a small chuckle. How violently un-Canadian was that? Jeremy seemed to laugh along with her before taking a look down at his list of questions.
"Awesome, and any favorite players growing up? Or players you try to model your game after?"
"You know," Nicole paused to think. She'd never really sat down and thought of any one player she tried to embody. "My uncle always showed me tapes of Gretzky growing up, so I think he's one everyone looks up to. But I've always liked the way that Patrice Bergeron plays on both ends of the puck, so I guess I'd say I try to model the work ethic mixed with skill."
Jeremy continued on with the interview, asking a few more questions before ending it cordially. Nicole found herself more at ease in the interview than she thought she could be, and she chalked it up to the comforting humanity and approachability that the guy had.
He had left her once the interview had concluded, saying that the whole piece would be printed up in the paper on the morning of the big game on Tuesday.
On Tuesday morning, Nicole brought herself into the rink early for a quick skate. Wynonna had managed to pull some strings and get her in before everyone else, especially because there was no real morning skate scheduled like there normally would be on game days.
It was a good wake up, a good heart rate spike first thing in the morning, though Nicole did wish she could've slept a bit more than she had last night. The nervous energy and anticipation had always seemed to get to her—there was absolutely nothing like the first game day of a season.
With her headphones on and a Johnny Cash song playing, Nicole flew across the ice, the cold air working wonders on waking her up and filling her lungs with the crispness not unlike the feeling of the air the morning after the first snow.
Somewhere along the way, she became aware that she wasn't alone in the rink.
"Didn't expect anyone to be here so early." The voice had said. Nedley in his navy tracksuit was standing at the bench, holding a suit bag with his gameday attire. Nicole skated over to greet him.
"Uh, yeah, Wynonna let me in. Just needed to get a skate in, get my head ready for the game tonight."
"Wynonna Earp, somewhere early, doing things for others…I guess she has grown up," Nedley chuckled lightly. "Well good on ya, Haught. I'll leave you to it."
She thanked him and started to skate again as he headed up toward his office. The rush she felt skating was unmatched. It allowed her to drop anything outside that wasn't related to hockey or the game ahead. She didn't have to think about her parents clear lack of interest in raising a child, or the untimely death of her aunt and uncle just as she was starting college, or the lack of family and friends she had had in college, the doubt that literally everyone had in her in the pursuit of the very thing she was doing right now. She had overcome all of that. She was going to suit up for a professional game tonight, the second that puck dropped, she'd have officially made it. (She wouldn't care if she didn't get even a single second of ice time, she had made it).
In her reverie, she wasn't aware of the small woman who had entered the rink, opening the door between the two benches. It was only when that door closed that she looked up to find the sound. She noticed Waverly, holding what looked like a newspaper in one hand, and a list of sorts in the other. Looking up at Nicole, she smiled brightly.
"Hey, ready for the big game?" Waverly chimed happily.
"Ready as I'll ever be. Kinda nervous, but that's to be expected."
"I'd say I was surprised to see you here so early, but I know you hate to sit around that apartment of yours all day."
Nicole nodded, smiling at the fact Waverly had remembered the comment she had made in passing a couple weeks ago.
"Yeah, Wynonna actually let me in." Nicole said, and then at the closer proximity, saw that Waverly was holding the rosters for tonight's games and the sports section of the morning's paper. "Whatcha got there?"
"Sports section, my friend Jeremy's a writer for the paper."
"No way, he's the one who did my interview Sunday morning. Said it should be printed in today's paper."
Opening the paper, Waverly scanned the pages for any sign of Jeremy's article. From the headlines she could catch, she saw the big hoopla around Shae (and her face plastered on the front of the section) and Jenna and a preview of the upcoming season for the league as a whole.
"Ooh, here it is! Here you are!" Waverly clapped excitedly and started to read aloud. "Get To Know Your Rookie: Nicole Haught, by Jeremy Chetri. I had the privilege of sitting down with Purgatory Blue Devils' rookie center, Nicole Haught this Sunday at the team's media day. The 22-year-old center, born in Beaumont, Alberta, grew up in Edmonton and played collegiately for the University of Alberta. 'I started playing when I was seven or eight,' says Haught, and notes her versatility on the ice, 'I primarily play center, but I'll go wherever I'm needed if it helps the team.'"
Waverly paused at the end of Nicole's quote, and she thought that maybe that had been the end of the piece, but she just smiled at her and continued reading.
"Growing up as an Edmonton kid, Haught names the Edmonton Oilers as her favorite team growing up, but also notes that 'my guilty pleasure team is the Bruins'." Waverly stopped to laugh at this one. "Boston Bruins? Really? Isn't that like violently unCanadian?"
"Yeah yeah." Nicole waved it off, and Waverly picked up reading again.
"Sticking with the theme, Haught says that Gretzky was a favorite of hers growing up watching her uncle's tapes of the Great One, and says that if she had to pick an NHL player that she models her game after, it would be Boston's Patrice Bergeron because of his play on both sides of the puck, and his mix of work ethic and skill.—I guess we'll have to see that tonight then, huh?" Waverly teased.
"You know, that's such a weird question to answer," Nicole said, suddenly subconscious of her answer. She probably sounded pretentious, comparing herself to such a big star. "I mean, I just play and do as much as I can to help the team, it's not like I'm out there trying to be someone else."
"Relax, Nicole, I'm sure that Patrice Bergeron has nothing on Nicole Haught." Waverly said jokingly, placing a comforting hand on Nicole's arm. It had its intended effect of easing the anxiety that came with her trying to fill in humongous shoes. Waverly picked up where she left off. "Switching subjects to a more personal note in the interview, I asked Nicole if she had a favorite nickname that she had picked up over the years of playing: 'You know, the only one that's ever stuck was "Red", for obvious reasons, but there's the standard "Nic" or "Nicky", nothing too extravagant.'—What about the ones Wynonna gives you? What are they again, Haught Shot? Ginger Spice?..."
Nicole laughed at the mention of those names, even if she wasn't always fond of them.
"I didn't use them just because no one on the team calls me that, so it's not really a hockey nickname." She explained, and Waverly nodded. "Is that it?" She asked, not remembering what else Jeremy had asked, her memory blanking out much of the exhausting day.
"There's one more part here." The other girl answered, as she scanned the page. "Outside of hockey, Haught studied Criminal Justice and Psychology at the University of Alberta, and she told me if she hadn't been drafted, she would have entered the police academy—How noble, Officer Haught." Waverly continued to tease, and Nicole rolled her eyes playfully. "My final question for Nicole was related to her draft position. In this June's entry draft, Haught was taken by the Blue Devils with the final pick of the entire draft. When I asked her about what being taken with that pick meant to her she said, 'It's an honor to be taken, no matter where or when it happens. For me, being taken that late only motivates me to work harder for the team that took that chance on me. I want to show them that they were right to do so, and I won't let them down.' On behalf of the Purgatory Gazette staff, we wish Nicole and the rest of the Blue Devils the best of luck as they take on the Victoria Tigers tonight (Tuesday, October 8) at 7:00 pm."
She found herself quite impressed by Jeremy's article, finding it surprisingly articulate in comparison to his awkwardness in person.
"So can ya give me any insights into the gameplan for tonight?" Waverly asked eagerly.
"Honestly just to play clean." Nicole shrugged. Nedley hadn't put in any fancy gameplan or anything, but had drilled them on the fundamentals and playing a clean, smart game. The film they had watched in their sessions had made it clear to Nicole that the team's previous struggles had a lot to do with them trying to do too much and turning the puck over far too frequently. "Nedley just wants us to play a smart game, make the simple play. He's super by the book, but he knows his shit."
"Well, I'm looking forward to it. It's been a long time since there was any real excitement around hockey in this town." Waverly explained with a smile that lit up her eyes. Nicole knew that the local high school team had had its fair share of struggles and the last time there was any hockey success was when Nedley had been drafted to Calgary Flames in the late 70s.
"I'm looking forward to finally playing games instead of practicing every day." She shared Waverly's infectious smile. "And what about you? Best seat in the house tonight, right? Between the benches?"
"I can't wait. Stats are kinda my jam. And I'm so close to the action. It's all so perfect!" The small brunette practically squeaked, clasping her hands together in excitement.
Nicole's cheeks hurt from smiling, not that she was complaining. Something about the girl in front of her was so light and happy and she couldn't help but find it adorable to hear Waverly be so excited about something. By now she could hardly deny it anymore—she had something that may have resembled a crush on her. But Waverly still had a boyfriend (despite his scarcity of late), and Nicole had to respect that.
"Babygirl!" They both turned up to look at Wynonna yelling across the rink to Waverly.
"Well, I gotta go." Waverly said, having work to do around the rink. With today being game day, there were added responsibilities, and Nicole had gotten to know Wynonna enough to know that the younger Earp would have to help counteract her sister's general lack of desire to set up a locker room or empty trash bins. "If I don't see you before the game, good luck. I know you'll do great!"
Waverly gave her the biggest smile and then skipped off to work, leaving Nicole with more than just gameday butterflies to contend with.
From the tunnel Nicole could feel the buzzing of the arena. She'd never have figured that a women's sport league would garner so much hype, but she could tell the place was sold out. The vibration of the cheering and the music in the building was like a drug.
The stadium announcer (Waverly had said that his name was Perry, albeit through a giggle and a comment about him being an ex-fling of Wynonna's), started with pregame introductions, starting with the Tigers' lineups first, before moving to introduce the whole Blue Devils' roster for the season. They went by jersey number, and with Jenna wearing the number 14 sweater in front of her, Nicole took a deep breath to try to settle her nerves one last time. This was it; she felt the rumble of the stands above her as Perry called her name next.
"At center, number fifteen, Nicole Haught!"
She skated out to where her teammates were standing and banging their sticks on the ice, the crowd cheering. She took it all in as she strode. The lights, the music, the cheering, the way she especially noticed Waverly clapping for her from between the benches, wearing the hoodie Nicole had leant her the first day they met. The sight had turned her into a gay mess on top of the nervous mess she had been all day.
Shae was last to be announced, since she was the captain, and the crowd had not once stopped cheering and the volume hadn't diminished in the slightest. The sea of baby blue in the seats was the perfect amount of chaos for a hockey game, waving towels and t-shirts in anticipation. They silenced only when the lights dropped, save for the spotlight on Chrissy Nedley to sing the anthem (and even then, the crowd belted the words to that just as loudly).
Buzzing was the only word to describe it. The vibration and excitement served as a spark for the team, and she was sure she'd never seen any of her teammates look as focused as they had in this moment.
As the anthem died down, the teams went to their respective benches. Nicole joined her teammates as they stood at the door, gathered around Nedley giving his pregame speech. He stood in front of them, as impassioned as Nicole had ever seen him, though still extremely stoic, all dressed up in his suit, topped with a Stetson in keeping with his nickname of Sheriff.
"Alright, this is what we've worked for. Do your jobs and do them well and we'll come out of this with the win." It was short, but simple and to the point. Very Nedley of him.
The starters took the ice and Nicole and the others filed into the bench. Nedley took his place alongside his assistant Lonnie, and Doc, Rosita and Kate had also joined the bench, standing in the space behind the seats just in case anyone needed them.
The buildup to game day was officially ended as the referee dropped the puck, the sound of the crowd chanting "1…2…3…Hockey! Hockey! Hockey!" kicking off the season. The first thing Nicole had noticed was how physical this game had been in comparison to her college experience.
Much of the popularity of the CEWHL came from its adherence to most of the NHL rules, including body checking and fighting—both of which had been left out of the women's college rules and the rules of the other smaller women's leagues.
The Tigers were vicious, and came out flying, not hesitating in the slightest to throw a hit to get the puck. If the first few minutes showed anything, it was that they were doing a much better job of following Nedley's gameplan than they were. She heard her coach grumble from behind them, scribbling in a notebook, but not saying anything audibly to the team just yet.
At just over five minutes into the first period, Nicole heard, "Finning, Powers, Haught", and her nerves came back in full force. Her first professional shift. She had to prove she was worth the playing time. The forwards on the ice dumped the puck in deep and came to the boards for a change, allowing for Nicole and her linemates to jump on to replace them.
The Tigers were taking advantage of their line change, skating with numbers up the ice, a 3-on-2 against their two defenders. Nicole backchecked furiously, catching up with the trailing Tiger forward just as her teammate had tried to make a pass. Nicole jumped the lane and intercepted the pass. If she had a minute to think, she'd have heard the cheering from the bench for the good play. The energy the crowd had supplied in reaction to the steal gave her a jump to headman the puck up ice on the counterattack. Carrying the puck on her stick, Powers and Finning sprinted to catch up and give her options. As she reached the attacking blue line, Nicole looked down at the puck on her stick before she decided to make a pass up to Powers on her right side.
Unfortunately, the look down at the puck was a split second too long and she was never able to make the pass, a large body stepping up to hit her as she was separated from the puck. She felt a puff of air forced out of her lungs as she fell to the ice, and she heard a voice belonging to Shae Pressman yell out, "Hey hey! Keep your head up one-five!"
As she pushed herself back up onto her feet, she got back into the defensive zone after turning the puck over and assisted on defense until Miller covered the puck and they changed lines.
Not a great first shift, Nicole thought to herself as she skated back to the bench, catching Waverly give her a small thumbs up from her seat.
"Welcome to the league, rook." Finning said as she patted Nicole on the back. "Happens to the best of us. Next time, make the pass—you had the right instinct, just the wrong execution."
She nodded and smiled as she grabbed a bottle of water to rehydrate and catch her breath.
Her next couple of shifts went a little better, as she followed the plan, and moved the puck quickly, making sure to keep her head up. She took the shots when she had the opportunity to and she worked hard along the boards to win puck battles. She had lost both of the faceoffs she took in the first period, but was closer on the second one, just outmuscled in the tie up. Defensively, she did her best to keep up with the speedy forwards and to keep her stick in the passing lanes.
It appeared that after the first five minutes had passed, the team settled and was sticking to the gameplan. Nedley didn't have too much to say at the intermission beyond "Keep working ladies."
And work they did, although they started to get away from the gameplan as the game went on. They were being heavily outshot and turning the puck over in the neutral zone from trying to make the pretty play instead of the higher percentage plays. The Tigers were on attack and had the Devils on their heels. If it weren't for Miller standing on her head, they'd be completely out of the game.
Nicole herself found it hard to find space to make plays and was getting worn down from playing defense so much. The times she found herself in the offensive zone, she had gotten a couple shots off and a good set-up pass to Powers, but nothing that really challenged the goaltender.
They were being thoroughly outskated and outmuscled, but by some small miracle, they took the lead with a minute remaining in the second period as Shae danced through four Tiger defenders all the way up the ice and picked the top corner with her shot, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
Despite the lead, Nedley was far from thrilled with their second period performance. Drilling them for the entirety of the fifteen-minute rest, he made it clear that they need to find their skating legs and win some battles. One goal surely couldn't be relied on to get them the win, and they knew that the Tigers would come out even hungrier and harder now that they were trailing in the final period. If they put on a repeat performance of that second period, conceding a goal was almost inevitable.
As the puck dropped to start the last 20 minutes, Nicole could feel the tension in the air. It was what had made her fall in love with the sport. The feeling of the game being on the line, one play being the make-or-break. (It felt good to have the lead in this situation, but didn't relax anyone on the bench). They needed to skate harder, and preferably score another goal.
She heard her name called for her first shift of the third period and sat up on the edge of the board, ready to jump in, only to watch the puck be absolutely wired past Miller from the blueline. Nicole wasn't even sure the goaltender had a chance to see it, but suddenly the game was tied.
One uneventful shift later, Nicole was sat in between her linemates, focusing their energy on getting the next goal. The intensity had no doubt picked up, the checking got harder as space and time were hard to come by as the seconds ticked away, the score still knotted at one goal apiece.
It was crunch time. Tie game in the third period. The shifts got shorter and the game got faster. As Nicole stepped onto the ice for her shift with just three minutes left, it felt like now or never. She wanted—needed—to make a play. She won herself a battle on the boards, taking a shove to move the puck up to Finning. Her linemate had some space and took it, taking the puck from the defensive zone up to the attacking blue line. She met some pressure there, opting to dump the puck in and let it come down to a chase. Nicole knew it was time to win herself a 50/50 battle.
She kicked it into high gear and muscled her way through the girl trying her best to lock her down, reaching the puck first. Almost crashing into the boards, she played the puck, and unsurprisingly found herself being pressed up against them by one of the Tiger defenders. They dug and kicked, battling for supremacy, and Nicole gave her best and then some, but the defender was bigger and stronger and finally pulled the puck away from the scrum. She heard the bench call for a line change, but unwilling to squander an opportunity, Nicole followed the girl with the puck and tried to swat it off of her stick.
And that's where it went wrong.
It happened in slow motion. The swipe of her stick, missing the puck, getting her stick tangled in the skates of the puck carrier, the girl falling to the ice, the whistle of the referee. It was a cheap penalty, that she knew, and her stomach sank in realization that she had probably royally fucked her team.
"Blue Devils penalty, number fifteen Nicole Haught, two minutes for tripping." The announcement came over the loudspeaker.
Way to go Haught, she thought to herself on the walk of shame to the penalty box, a bad penalty with 2:24 left in a tie game, perfect.
The slamming of the door to the penalty box cemented her fate to watch most of the rest of the game, unless the Tigers scored—but then they'd surely lose the game. She submitted to her fate and watched the penalty killing unit try to clean up her mess.
As it turns out, the Tigers' power play was just as good, if not better than, their even strength. Nicole counted at least six shots on goal in roughly ninety seconds, with a couple of hit posts mixed in. She held her breath as a loose puck in front of the net almost found its way across the line, only to be smothered by Miller. Looking at the scoreboard, she saw there were three seconds left on her penalty, and twenty-seven left on the clock. She stood in anticipation of being let out of the box as Jenna settled in for the faceoff. Tying up the opposing center, Jenna gave Shae the perfect amount of time to jump in and take the puck just as Nicole had left the box. Shae's clearing attempt landed right on Nicole's stick just past the red line and she had nothing but clean ice in front of her and what was essentially the game on her stick.
Sizing up the goalie as she sprinted toward the net, she saw daylight just above the catching hand of her opponent. It'd have to be a perfect shot to get there past the goalie, but with so little time left, there was only one thing to do.
It had to be a perfect shot, but it wasn't. Not by a long shot. A disaster more like.
The puck flew a good three feet wide of the net and hit the boards with a loud echo. To make things worse, Nicole felt herself slide to the ice as she lost her edge thanks to the defender bearing down on her, and all she could do as she got up was watch the Tigers' right winger pick up the puck and skate it into the zone, wind up and fire the puck right past Miller with ease.
The air was sucked out of the building, just like it had been sucked out of her lungs. They had conceded in the dying seconds of the third, and 1.3 seconds was hardly enough time to get an equalizer.
Shae fixed her with the meanest glare Nicole had ever seen and she felt her blood drain from her face. She took a seat on the bench and waited for the game to end, the arena filling with boo's as the final horn sounded and the team exited the ice as quickly as possible to avoid witnessing the opposing team congratulate each other on their ice.
The locker room was silent as they filed in and undressed. A few of the girls were being interviewed by local stations and league reporters, but once they had all filed in, Nedley came in, and grumbled something about a hard fight and disappointing ending, though Nicole could hardly hear it, she was so dismayed.
She had cost them the game, and she couldn't help but imagine the looks on the other girls' faces. They were probably sending her death glares.
Nedley left them shortly after her joined them, giving them the next day off to recoup and regroup before practicing to comeback and play Saturday. The other girls changed and left quickly, but Nicole had yet to even take off her jersey.
She sat still and silent in the locker room, and soon she was alone.
In the stillness of the locker room, she ruminated in the negativity of losing the game in that manner, ripping off her jersey and throwing it violently into the bin in the middle of the room. When the action did nothing to release any of her anger, she took to the bin itself and flipped it with a loud grunt, sending the dirty laundry flying across the floor.
She shouted into the empty room, hoping it would quell the rage and disappointment in herself. Maybe all the people who doubted her did have some validity to their argument. If tonight showed her anything, it was that she could clearly not be trusted to come through in clutch time.
"God damnit!" she yelled, and tossed her helmet at the wall in frustration.