Game-Day Jitters (3 page)

He could see his parents and Larry sitting in the bleachers with several other adults. Many of the kids from the teams who hadn’t made the play-offs were here, too. And the Rabbits
were all on the other side of the field, watching with some of the Panthers. This crowd was far bigger than at any of the Bobcats’ previous games. More people to watch him mess up.

Tune it out
, Ben thought.
Focus on stopping Loop and Alex
. He took a deep breath and tried to relax.

When the game began, Ben could tell that his coach had been right. The Falcons quickly moved the ball toward the Bobcats’ goal, with Loop and Alex controlling most of the action.

When Erin finally knocked the ball out of bounds, Loop raced to the sideline for a corner kick.

Ben raised his hands and let out his breath, ready to catch the ball or dive at it. Alex was crouched in front of the goal, and players from both teams were packed in tight.

Ben glanced at Alex, who looked ready to
spring into the air. Loop would be lofting the ball in front of him, hoping Alex could head it into the net.

“Get up high,” Ben said, catching Erin’s attention.

As Loop stepped forward to kick the ball, Alex drifted back. The ball was coming toward him. Erin and Mark leaped for it, too, but Alex got higher and met it with his forehead, thrusting it toward the corner of the goal.

Ben dived and got a hand on it, but the ball spun to the side. Loop had sprinted toward the goal and reached the ball first. Without breaking stride, he pounded it at the goal. It flew on a line drive about a foot above the ground.

Still on his knees, Ben caught the ball and rolled.

“Great save,” said Jordan.

Ben could hear shouts of approval from the bleachers, too.

He leaped to his feet and stepped forward to punt the ball, but then he had a better thought. All of the Bobcats were still near this goal, so booting the ball way up the field would give it to one of the Falcons’ defensive players. Instead, Ben flung the ball toward Mark, who was running toward the sideline. Mark fielded the pass and sprinted ahead of all but the two Falcon defenders.

“Breakaway!” Ben yelled, watching as Mark raced up the field.

Loop and Alex and the others were in pursuit, but Mark dodged past one defender and headed for the other end of the field. He was fast, and he’d become a very good dribbler over the course of the season.

Jordan had outrun most of the Falcons and was approaching the goal. Mark made one more dodge to swing past the last Falcon defender, then sent a crisp pass across the front of
the goal. Jordan was there, and he skillfully knocked the ball past the goalie and into the net.

“Unbelievable!” Ben yelled. They were less than a minute into the game, and the Bobcats already had the lead.

Loop was standing near midfield with his mouth open, staring toward the Falcons’ goal. He stepped over to Alex and said something Ben couldn’t hear. Alex nodded.

“How’s the ankle?” Ben called to Shayna.

“A little sore,” she said. “I think I’ll be all right.”

“That’s good.” Now that the Bobcats were in front, maybe Coach would take Ben out of the goalie position.

But that didn’t happen. The next time the ball went out of bounds, Coach sent Omar onto the field to replace Shayna. She was limping more than before. Ben watched as she took
a seat on the bench and pulled off her left shoe.

A shout took Ben’s attention back to the field. Loop was racing down the sideline with the ball, and Alex was cutting across the middle. Omar seemed confused and was running toward Loop, leaving the front of the goal wide open.

“Drop back!” Ben called. “Don’t abandon me.”

Erin had come back from midfield and moved toward Alex. Omar hustled over, too. Ben knew that Loop and Alex always looked for each other first before passing to their other teammates.

Mark had cut off Loop’s path and Jordan had him trapped. Loop had no choice but to pass the ball back to a different Falcon.

Loop stood still for a second while Mark and Jordan started chasing the ball. But then he took off like a bolt of lightning, cutting
behind the defenders. The ball went to Alex, who sliced it toward Loop. Loop fielded the ball at full speed and raced straight toward the goal.

Ben crouched low, ready to dive at the ball when Loop shot. He took a few steps forward, hoping to force Loop to the side. But Loop kept running straight.

“Where’s my help?” Ben called, never taking his eyes away from Loop.

Alex had charged forward, too, and he was a step ahead of Erin and Omar. Loop passed the ball, and Alex shot.

The ball was waist-high, zinging toward the goal. Ben dived, and the ball skidded off his hand and whacked him in the shoulder. It bounced toward Loop, near the corner of the goal. Ben leaped to his feet, closing off the side of the net.

It was a tough angle to shoot from, but Loop
was very skilled. He shot the ball hard, and it nicked the goalpost. Players scrambled around as the ball took a wild bounce.

Jordan swooped in and kicked the ball hard, clearing it away from the goal. It went out of bounds near the corner of the field.

“Lucky break!” Loop said, frowning at Ben. “That shot just missed.”

Ben looked away. The Falcons had already put the ball in play with a throw-in.

“Get out there!” Ben called to Omar and Erin. They’d stayed near the goal, leaving a few players open. The ball was crossed to Alex, who trapped it with his foot, stepped forward, and shot from twenty yards out.

Ben easily caught the ball. This time he punted it, and it sailed in the air past midfield. Blue- and red-shirted players ran after it.

“Way to go, Ben!” Shayna yelled from the sideline.

Ben nodded, but he kept his eyes on the field. That flurry of shots had tired everyone out. The pace of the game began to slow for a few moments.

The slow pace didn’t last long. Alex and Loop led another burst toward the Bobcats’ goal. Ben knocked down one shot and caught another. He was fired up now.

Nothing gets past me
, he thought.
Loop will look like a real jerk when this one ends
.

“You must be the luckiest guy on the planet,” Loop said as Ben lined up the ball at the edge of the goal box to kick it back into play.

“I make my own luck,” Ben said.

“We should have three goals by now,” Loop replied.

“What a shame,” Ben said. “Are those real tears?”

The referee had jogged over. “What’s the problem here?” he asked.

“No problem,” Ben said. “At least not for me.”

“Then put the ball in play,” the ref said.

Ben raced forward and kicked it long and hard. Jordan was the first one to it, and he dribbled up the field, making a nice fake to get past a defender.

Loop ran after the ball, too. Ben couldn’t help but smile.

Keep him frustrated
, he thought.
Take away his concentration, just like he tries to do to you
.

Coach made the right choice putting me in goal. They probably would have two or three goals by now if I wasn’t here
.

But there was a long way to go in this game. And Loop was racing down the field toward the goal again.

When the first half ended, Ben jogged toward the Bobcats’ bench. He was thrilled that his entire team ran over to meet him, slapping him on the back and shouting, “Great work!”

He’d lost count of all the shots he’d blocked or caught or knocked away. Probably close to a dozen. The Bobcats still held a 1–0 lead.

Ben picked up the bag of orange slices and
ripped into one with his teeth. The juice squirted down his chin.

“Halfway there!” Jordan said, giving Ben a light punch in the shoulder.

“You really shut them down, Ben,” Erin said.

Ben smiled. “We shut them up, too.”

Ben looked for Shayna. She was standing near her mom. “How is it?” Ben asked.

Shayna winced. She hadn’t returned to the game. “Too sore,” she said. “You were great, by the way.”

“Thanks.” He’d been hoping she’d play goalie in the second half, but the Bobcats had other options. Ben was just glad that he’d be playing up front again.

“Here’s the lineup,” Coach said. “Ben, Kim, Jordan on the front line. Omar and Mark on defense. Darren in goal.”

Ben turned to Darren. “We’ll keep ’em away from you.”

“There’s twenty minutes of soccer left,” Coach said. “Don’t go out there and try to protect the lead for the entire half. You need to stay on the attack. We need another goal or two.”

Ben saw his brother and his parents walking over to him. Larry was carrying a bottle of water.

“That was some wild action, huh?” Larry said, handing the bottle to Ben.

“Brutal,” Ben replied, shaking his head. “I was
really
focused on stopping the ball.”

“Just another game, right?”

Ben gave a tight smile. “Sort of,” he said. “I know what you mean, though. Don’t let the pressure get to me.”

“Are you still going to be the goalie?” Dad asked.

“No. Center forward.”

“Still jittery?” Mom asked.

Ben shook his head. “I didn’t have time to be nervous. Every time I looked up, the Falcons were shooting the ball at me.”

As they lined up for the second half, Ben noticed that Loop and Alex were set up as defenders for the Falcons. But all that meant was that five Falcons would be attacking the goal, not just the three forwards. Loop and Alex were fast enough to get back on defense anytime the Bobcats had the ball.

Ben kept his eyes on Loop. Loop glanced over once, but he didn’t do his usual showboat routine of patting his chest and pointing. He was very serious. When his eyes caught Ben’s, Loop looked away.

Not so sure of yourself now, huh, Loop?
Ben thought.

But the second half started much like the
first, with the Falcons controlling the ball and keeping it near the Bobcats’ goal. Twice Mark kicked the ball away just as Alex was about to shoot. Darren made a couple of easy saves, too.

Midway through the half, Ben was staying close to Loop as the Falcons attacked. Jordan stole the ball for the Bobcats and kicked it forward, but the Falcons got it right back.

Everyone on the field had been running toward the Falcons’ end, so the quick interception left Loop with some room. Alex’s pass went to him, and Ben stumbled as he cut back to Loop.

Loop was angling toward the goal, and Ben raced over to force him away. Darren was in a good position to make a save, but Loop stopped short, made a couple of jukes, and faked his way past Ben.

“Here!” came a shout from near the goal. It was Alex, and he was wide open. Loop’s pass
found him perfectly. Darren dived at the ball, but it slipped through his hands and into the net. Alex had tied the score.

Ben felt a hard bump to his shoulder as Loop ran into him.

“Watch it,” Ben mumbled.

Loop turned and snorted. “We burnt you that time,” he said.

They’d kept the high-scoring Falcons scoreless for thirty minutes, but just like that the game was tied. Ben knew he hadn’t been burned. He’d played good defense, but he couldn’t cover Loop and Alex at the same time. Where had the rest of the Bobcats been?