Four minutes left in the biggest game of the season. The Lady Tiger soccer team faced off against the Lady Tigers of Mt. Pleasant.

Senior Logan Pilgreen is set up on the goal line after a penalty kick was awarded to Mt. Pleasant. Mt. Pleasant kicks, as the crowd goes silent, waiting for the game-changing play to unfold.

Pilgreen makes a lunging dive to her left and stops the kick. The Texas High Tigers go on to win the match 1-0, closing their season with a win.

“This was a special moment for me,” Pilgreen said. “It opened my eyes up to what I’m capable of and showed me that I was only going up [from there].”

Logan is excited to be going off and furthering her soccer career, however she is nervous to be leaving behind everything early.

“Going into my freshman season of college I am super excited,” Pilgreen said. “But I am a bit nervous, as any 17-year-old would be, starting college and leaving everything behind 7 months early.”

Pilgreen has high expectations for herself heading to Nacogdoches, Texas this spring.

“Their starting goalkeeper is a senior this year,” Pilgreen said. “So [a goal of mine] is hopefully coming in and beating that upperclassman out of her spot.”

Logan went through a difficult, different recruiting process due to COVID-19. This limited communication options with colleges, as well as restricted her from visits.

“My recruiting process was crazy, considering it was in the dead of COVID,” Pilgreen said. “It was really weird and alarming knowing that you didn’t have much time to make a decision.”

To add to her intense recruiting process throughout COVID, Logan had a very difficult decision to make. She went back and forth between staying and going for a while before setting her mind on leaving.

“The decision I made to leave early was difficult at first,” Pilgreen said. “I didn’t want to leave my family and friends 7 months early. I didn’t want to miss out on all of the activities that I would have [throughout the end of] my senior year, but I needed to go work towards my end goal.”

Though she had her doubts, in the end, she made the right decision for herself with the help of her coaches and teammates.

“After talking it out with my coaches and learning that I would be able to come home for big events like prom, there was no reason for me not to,” Pilgreen said. “Especially after taking my official visit and meeting the team and getting to spend time with them my mind is at ease and I can’t wait to be on campus.”

Throughout her soccer successes and failures, Logan has always had a fan club cheering her on and motivating her to keep working hard.

“My number one supporters have been my parents no doubt,” Pilgreen said. “They have sacrificed so much time and money to help get me where I need to be and I will never be able to fully express how grateful I am for them.”

In addition to her parents, different parts of our community have rallied behind her in her success.

“In all honesty, the whole community has been so supportive of my success,” Pilgreen said. “The comments on my parents’ and grandparents' posts about me and my work are so supportive and motivating to keep me working hard.”

Though the decision was tough and gave her a lot to think about, Logan can expect to go to SFA and better herself and her future in the sport.

“I am being given an amazing opportunity that not many people say they have,” Pilgreen said. “The benefits from this decision better my future by 100% so I would be stupid to give it up.”