Women’s college soccer team wins conference championship just 3 days after its beloved goalie died

(CNN) — The aftermath of a penalty shootout is always emotional.

One team will be joyfully exuberant, celebrating a victory wrought from the most nerve-wracking tension. That ecstasy will often be peppered with relief because things rarely go perfectly in a shootout. But for the other side, there is only dejection and heartbreak; it’s cruel to come so close to winning and lose.

On November 9 in the Big Ten tournament championship game, it would have been hard to guess the result just from looking at the University of Washington’s women’s soccer players. They hugged each other tight, and some were weeping on their knees as they processed both a win and a loss: Just three days before the final, beloved goalkeeper Mia Hamant had died.

Hamant had been diagnosed with an extremely rare a