She strapped on her leg pads and pulled her goalie helmet over her head.

This was the biggest moment of her life.  She knew she had no choice.  This was it.  The end of the road.  It was either win the bronze medal or go home.  Going home was not an option.

“It all hit me when I was skating onto the ice, hand in hand with all of my teammates,” said sophomore Cassidi Revere.

Revere, who is the starting goalie on an elite girls hockey team, The Chicago Mission powered by Coyote, was walking off a championship win in her third state tournament. Winning the tournament helped propel her team into the national tournament, held in San Jose, Calif.

This is what they had been preparing for all season.

“Winning state got us into the national tournament, and I think it really prepared us for the level of competition we would be playing,” said Revere. “You don’t end up in the national tournament by accident.”

Revere’s team had lost in the semi-finals, with a score of 3-2 earlier that day, and so they were playing for the bronze medal.

“We lost to a really good team from Boston,” said Revere. “Yeah, we were upset but the loss made us better players.”

Revere retreated to the net and it was game time.

26 saves later and an ongoing tied score of 2-2 led into overtime.

Then double overtime.

Then triple overtime.

Finally, a goal, put into the net by one of Revere’s teammates.

Countless hours later, Revere, along with the rest of her “Mission Fam,” found themselves with bronze medals around their necks and the team flag wrapped around their backs.

“I just remember thinking that third out of 48 teams ain’t too shabby,” said Revere.

After a long awards ceremony, Revere and her teammates retrieved their gear and prepared to head back home to the rink to prepare for the upcoming season.

“In hockey, there is no offseason,” said Revere.  “Besides, ‘yotes gotta eat!”