This isn’t a normal meeting.
“Bring it in,” he says.
We gather at the center of the room in a loose semicircle. Helmets tucked under arms, eyes fixed somewhere between the floor and him.
Calloway waits until it’s completely silent.
“We’ve received a decision from the conference.”
No buildup. No softening.
Just straight to it.
“For a start, we’ve been fined $25,000. Leonora Shaw is banned from further college athletics hockey participation. And, lastly, all games involving ‘Lee Shaw’ are being vacated.”
Vacated.
Like they never happened.
All those games and wins - that run - just erased.
A ripple goes through the room.
“Vacated?” Barrett says. “What does that even mean?”
“It means they don’t count,” Calloway replies calmly. “Officially, those games are removed from the record.”
“So we didn’t win?” someone mutters.
“We won on the ice,” Calloway says. “But it won’t be recorded that way.”
We all know what we did and now we’re being told it doesn’t exist.
“And the final?” Russo asks.
“Same.”
Mercer lets out a harsh laugh. “Unbelievable.”
No one tells him to shut up this time.
“Whole thing gets wiped because of one person,” he adds, louder now. “We finally start winning and - what - turns out it’s built on a lie?”
The blame was always coming.
“That’s not what this is,” Calloway says.
“Yes, it is,” Mercer shoots back. “We played an entire stretch of games with someone who wasn’t even supposed to be on the ice. How is that not all on her?”
A few heads nod.
“This is on the system,” Calloway says.
Mercer frowns. “What?”
“The women’s team was completely cut,” Calloway continues. “You think she did this for fun? And if you didn’t see that she belonged, you weren’t paying attention. The structure just hasn’t caught up with that yet.”
Mercer crosses his arms. “She still lied.”
