By Matt Danowski

Throughout my lacrosse career, I have been lucky enough to play on some unbelievably talented teams. My high school team saw 10 guys go on to play Division 1 lacrosse. In college, my team ended up playing in three Final Four's and two National Championship games. Surrounded by so many talented players, I was able to score a lot of points, but one goal sticks out: the first goal of my senior year at Duke University.

As most people who follow the sport know, my junior year of lacrosse play was cancelled, due to an unjust use of power in the justice system. While not at the heart of the case, I still had the game I loved unfairly taken away.

Suddenly unable to control how, when, and if I could play, I realized how I missed the sport, how important the game was to me, and how, without it, I felt uneasy and unmotivated.

Thankfully, Duke reinstated the lacrosse team my senior year, and we opened up against Dartmouth. I cannot describe the feeling in that locker room—the energy, the excitement — it was something you had to see. Then, we ran out of a blown up tunnel, through a cloud of smoke, onto the field to one of the loudest ovations I can remember.

It was a moment of redemption for a team that had pulled together through unfair adversity, and it was the most memorable lacrosse moment of my life. That collective victory, and the goal I contributed that day, were magic for me.