Game-Day Jitters (4 page)

Ben clapped his hands. “Let’s get it right back!” he called. “Time to show some power.”

The Bobcats hadn’t had a scoring opportunity since that first goal, way back in the first minute of the game.

Coach sent Erin onto the field to replace
Omar. “You’ve got fresh legs,” Ben said to her. “Let’s run these guys off the field.”

Mark jogged over to Ben. “I’m coming up on the attack,” he said. “We need to apply some pressure.”

Ben nodded and moved to the center circle to put the ball into play. He made a short pass to Kim, who turned and kicked it back to Mark.

Jordan was sprinting up one side of the field, with Ben running parallel to him in the center. Mark sent a long, high pass deep into the Falcons’ end of the field. Alex got under it and trapped it with his thigh, then looked ahead for someone to pass to.

Ben could see where the ball would go. Loop was unguarded, but he was quite far down the field. Unless Alex passed the ball very hard, Ben would be able to get to it first.

Alex made a soft pass, rolling the ball along the turf toward Loop.

That’s mine
, Ben thought, racing toward it at full stride. He reached it half a step before Loop did.

With a quick pivot, Ben shielded the ball from Loop and took off toward the Falcons’ goal. There were opponents in front of him, but Jordan was wide open to Ben’s side. He yelled, “Support!” to let Ben know he was there.

Ben took two more strides, then slipped the ball to Jordan. Without slowing down, Ben curved behind the Falcons, who charged at Jordan.

Ben didn’t even have to break stride as Jordan’s pass headed between him and the goal. The goalie was ready to spring, but a quick shoulder fake from Ben sent him to the right.

Ben drove the ball hard to the left, and it lined into the back of the net.

The Bobcats had retaken the lead.

Ben made a fist and ran to Jordan, saying, “Fantastic pass!” They leaped and hit their chests together, then ran toward midfield.

Loop was standing alone, looking stunned. Ben had to go slightly out of his way to reach him, but he made a point of bumping Loop’s shoulder with his own.

“Right back at you,” Ben said. He didn’t wait for Loop to respond, but kept running.

Ben glanced to the sideline and saw Coach gesturing for him to come over. Omar was running onto the field.

“I’m out?” Ben asked.

“Take a quick breather,” Coach said. She set her hand on Ben’s shoulder. “Two things to remember. First, keep your head together.
There was no need to bump into one of their players like that. You’re lucky the referee didn’t see it.”

“Loop did the exact same thing to me.”

“Just let it go. Second thing: I need you to go back to playing goalkeeper.”

“Again?” Ben wiped his hands on his jersey. “I just scored!”

“Right. Which means if we can shut them out the rest of the way, we’ll win.”

“That’s true,” Ben said. But he wanted to be on that field, stealing the ball, making passes, taking another shot at the goal.

“Next time the ball goes out of bounds,” Coach said, “go back in goal.”

Ben paced the sideline, eager to get back on the field. Shayna hobbled over to him and pointed to her watch. “About six minutes to go,” she said.

Within a minute, Mark had knocked the ball over the end line. Coach yelled, “Sub!” and Ben ran onto the field.

As the Falcons set up for a corner kick, Ben took the yellow jersey and the gloves from Darren. He jumped up and down a few times and stretched out his fingers. Then he sized up the players in front of the goal.

Alex and Loop were tucked in tight, waiting for the kick. Erin, Mark, and Jordan surrounded them.

“Clear that ball,” Ben said to his teammates. “Kick it
away
from the goal.”

Ben knew things would get wild on a corner kick. A shot could come from any angle.

And here it came. The kick was low, and Alex controlled it but was off balance. He turned and fired a shot, which bonked off the crossbar and bounced back onto the field. Mark kicked it away, but another Falcon
trapped it with his chest and let it drop.

That player was a bit too eager, and he kicked the ball while it was still in the air. It flew over the goal.

Ben hustled back and grabbed the ball, setting it in the upper corner of the goal box. He scanned the field, then kicked the ball as hard as he could.

He hadn’t hit the ball solidly, and it spun toward the side. A Falcon kicked it forward, and suddenly Loop and Mark were chasing it as it rolled quickly toward the goal.

Ben ran toward it, too. He shouted, “Keeper!” to let Mark know that he could get to it first and field it safely.

Mark backed off, but Loop kept running. Ben reached the ball just ahead of Loop and dived for it. They were inside the goal box, so Ben was allowed to use his hands. He cradled the ball in his arms and rolled, and Loop
leaped over him, crashing to the ground, too.

Ben was up first, and he punted the ball long and high. As he watched it soar past midfield, he heard Loop say, “Get used to that ground. We’ll be stomping you into it.”

Ben ignored the taunting this time. He knew the Falcons would keep up the pressure until the final whistle.

Ben had never felt so alert in his life. He could see every play developing; he knew which move the Falcons would make. He stopped every shot they took.

All the players on the field looked exhausted. But with less than two minutes remaining, they were using every ounce of energy they had left. The Bobcats weren’t concerned with scoring again. All they had to do
was preserve the 2–1 lead. The Falcons were frantic, though, chasing every loose ball and desperately trying to knot the game.

Here came Alex again, streaming down the sideline with the ball, dodging past Erin and then Jordan. He shifted left, then right, and passed to a teammate near the corner.

Ben saw Loop sprinting straight toward the goal. “Cover him!” he yelled.

Mark darted over, but Loop fielded the pass and pivoted to shoot. The ball careened off Mark’s shin guard and wobbled toward the goal. Ben ran forward and smothered it.

He stood up and let out his breath.
No need to hurry
, he thought. Every second of delay was to his team’s advantage. So he looked around the field.

Kim was alone near the sideline, and Ben rolled the ball hard toward her. She cut toward
it and took off, covering a lot of ground before any of the Falcons caught up.

With a nifty move, Kim stopped short and flipped the ball to Mark. He booted it hard and chased it, sending it down near the Falcons’ goal.

Ben pumped his fist as a Falcons defender knocked the ball out of bounds. Kim ran over to take the throw-in. The Bobcats were controlling the ball, and the clock was ticking away.

“Move up a little,” Ben called to Omar, who was far back on defense. “Go to midfield. Keep the ball down that end.”

Omar jogged forward a bit. Down the other end, Jordan had taken an off-balance shot that went out of bounds.

Ben hopped up and down. This game was nearly over. And what a job he’d done. He’d
stopped every shot, and he’d scored a goal of his own. And his work might already be done. If his teammates could keep the ball up at the other end of the field, the Falcons wouldn’t get another chance.

It looked like that might happen. Kim made a steal and controlled the ball for a few seconds. When the Falcons got it back, the Bobcats swarmed the ball and kept it from coming downfield.

With seconds remaining, Loop finally broke free. He kicked the ball past Jordan and took off at a full sprint. He crossed midfield, then turned it on even harder.

Omar stepped up and forced Loop to go wider. But Alex was racing down, too, and Loop sent the ball directly into his path.

Ben dug in and crouched, ready to leap for the ball. It would be a tough shot for Alex; Ben had the corner of the goal protected.

Loop had cut back toward the middle, and Alex made the pass. Ben dodged that way.

As he lifted his leg to shoot, Loop suddenly fell forward, landing in a heap on the turf. Ben dived onto the loose ball. The referee blew his whistle.

Ben looked over. Mark was lying on the ground behind Loop. Loop sat up and groaned, rubbing his calf.

“That was a dangerous play,” the referee said. “I’m awarding a penalty kick.”

Penalty kicks were very rare in this league, but this one seemed to be justified. Mark had tripped Loop as he was about to shoot.

Mark shook his head, but he held out his hand for Loop and helped him to his feet.

“Here’s the wrinkle,” the referee continued. “Time has expired. So I want only the goalie and the shooter on the field. If the Falcons score, we go to overtime. If not, then the Bobcats win.”

Ben looked at the sky and blew out his breath. Loop set the ball on the penalty mark, about twelve yards in front of the goal.

The referee explained the rule, since neither player had been involved in a penalty shot before.

“The goalie must stand still on the goal line
until the ball is kicked,” he said. “The shooter can kick it only once. Since the game has ended, you can’t score on a rebound, only on the first shot.”

Loop stepped several feet back from the ball. Ben spread his arms a few inches from his hips and bent his knees. He could hear players from both teams yelling from the sidelines. It was just him and Loop. One-on-one.

Loop looked mean. Ben knew that he did, too. He’d made a lot of great saves today, but they’d be worth nothing if he didn’t stop this shot.

He knew Loop would be aiming at a corner of the goal, but which one? If Ben guessed wrong and darted to one side, he’d leave the other side wide open. But would he be able to react quickly enough if he waited until the ball was in the air?

There was no more time to think. Loop charged forward and booted the ball. It soared to Ben’s left, about shoulder height and fast.

Ben dived. He felt the ball strike his hands and he pushed hard.

As he hit the ground, Ben could hear the cheers. But who were they for? He looked back toward the goal and saw the ball, but it was
outside
the net.