The occasional series "How it feels" was first published in the 2005-2006 volume of the Orient. In this 2010 revival, Bowdoin students tell the Orient about their experiences—good, bad, or just extreme. Here are their stories.
How it feels to score the winning goal against Colby in the NESCAC ice hockey quarterfinal
I've been playing ice hockey my whole life. My dad played in the National Hockey League for 14 years, and he had me on skates since I could play.
After graduating from Saint Sebastian's High School, I played for the Eastern Junior Hockey (EJH) team for two years. It helped me gain confidence and gave me time to get bigger. I woke up at 8 a.m. every morning, worked out at Auto Body, and practiced from noon until 5 p.m., five days a week.
Even though my dad coached the EJH team for a year, he did not play favorites. For one game, he didn't let me play in a game because I had taken a bad penalty the night before.
However, one of the downsides of having my dad as coach was that the problems at the rink were now problems at the rink and the dinner table.
For someone who didn't take school seriously, my dad really stressed the importance of academics over hockey. He always said, 'Hockey careers end; you need something to fall back on.'
In 2009, I was recruited to play hockey for Bowdoin at the age of 20. Coming into Bowdoin as a freshman, you hear stories from the older guys about what it is like to score a goal in the ever-popular Bowdoin-Colby games. Mike Corbelle '10 described to me the goal he scored his first year, and he was so excited he had a hard time going back out on the ice.
Everybody wants that chance, and I got lucky. In less than five minutes in the first overtime of last weekend's game against Colby, I scored the winning goal of the game. It was the single most exciting moment of my hockey career.
For me, thank God, the game was over after I scored because I was practically shaking with excitement. I was so relieved.
It was tough to enjoy the atmosphere because the game was so stressful. Had we been up by a comfortable lead, we would have been able to look around and appreciate the atmosphere more.
However, the crowd that night was unbelievable, so I want to thank them. We, as a team, are fortunate enough to have such a passionate student body who cares about Bowdoin athletics, and our team specifically. [...]
There was an incident that happened the weekend prior to the game: five of us were intoxicated on-rink. We faced consequences from both the coach and the deans. We were suspended for the first two days of practice for the week before the Colby game. I felt terrible because my parents left the Olympics early in order to see me play, and there was a chance I would not. On Friday, I found out I was playing, and my family drove down here. But I don't think I deserved to play because we had violated the hard alcohol policy, and that was devious behavior.
So, scoring the winning goal definitely felt good to redeem myself in the eyes of the coach and the deans. It felt good to get one for the boys. But had someone else scored, I would have been equally happy. [...]
Sometimes it sucks because we have lots of talented kids who don't get an opportunity to play. [...]
But at the end of the day, we're a team, we get along, we're best friends.
That Saturday night I went out, and I had over hundred people congratulate me. The added attention was definitely cool, and I was lucky enough to score a goal in such a circumstance, but I reminded those fans—and myself—that we still had more games to play and hadn't actually won anything yet. We won a single game, and it helped that it was Colby, but I think the season will be a disappointment if we settle for anything less than a NESCAC championship.
The prior night, I thought about how cool it would be to score an overtime winner in that game, and literally, my "dreams" came true. It was a moment I'll never forget.
Jordan Lalor '12 as told to Mariya Ilyas.