On neutral ground, we stepped onto the field for semi-finals, poised to go up against number three ranked Galena Christian University from Vermont. I’m not the proudest of how I entered the game – definitely not at 100 per cent – but the atmosphere of this stadium, brand-new at least to us, started to work its magic in the second quarter. A strong finish, coupled with a second-half slump from GCU, was our propeller to the end of the match.

Maybe Colt isn’t here, but his absence didn’t make any difference in the crowd we brought in tonight: an Okie cheering section as large as five student sections, all waving their orange towels, this time emblazoned with the semi-final match logo, so hard and long their arms had to be on the verge of falling off. We built this, all season, and the payoff is finally here. Proof that our absolutely ridiculous plan somehow worked wonders for our lacrosse programme.

‘TO THE SHIP! WE’RE GOIN’, TO THE SHIP! WE’RE GOIN’, TO THE SHIP!’ the chant morphs, Jordan and I linking arms, bouncing up and down with the team as they jump all over us, screaming joyfully. The two of us grip one another tight as we share in the happy tears. One game left, just the one, until our college careers end forever, and we get to play in the College National Championship.

The final destination of the season will all come to a triumphant end in none other than Boston, Massachusetts, where we’ll play the championship match in a larger-than-usual field to accommodate for the excessive crowds this season. In past years the matches have been held at the University of Boston – Colt’s alma mater – soccer-field complex. Initially, that was the plan. But just weeks before the championship, the National College Lacrosse Association shifted the venue. This year, we will play the National Championship, or more fondly, the ‘Natty’, in the New England Bobcats’ CashMatch Stadium, home to the region’s professional football team. As in, Super Bowls, celebrity status, most-watched-sport-in-America professional football team. I’m still in shock when they put us up in the beautiful Hyatt in the centre of the city, just a ten-minute drive from the stadium. It’s like nothing we’ve ever experienced before.

‘And here,’ proclaims Jordan as we all raise our mandated mocktails to the centre of the table at dinner in the hotel’s bougie restaurant later that night, ‘is to the very first Lady Riders team – no, the first Riders team, to ever play in a championship!’

I don’t know what our opponents for the big match – three-years-in-a-row champs, Augusta Tech University’s Clippers, from Maine – are doing right about now, but we don’t look anything like we’re gearing up for the biggest game any of us will ever play tomorrow.

We clink glasses with whoops all around, and a ‘Yes, ma’am!’ from Brianna that prompts us to turn her way.