Page 132 of Unrivaled Love
Jo
Head in the game, until it’s not.
Sweatdripsdownmyface as I line up for this set play. I'm twenty-three yards out and the girls are all lined up ahead of me pushing and shoving to stay onsides.
It's a little far out to try and snake in myself. The goalie will have enough time to see it coming. My best bet is to drop it in just past the line of bodies and hope Pee Pee finds it to finish the goal.
The ref blows the whistle and I nod.
It's time.
We're tied in the eighty-seventh minute. We need this win to clinch the conference champion title. If we tie at nil, we still make the playoffs but the conference goes to Portland.
I take four strides back, exhale, pop a little hop, start my full run through, and I connect.
The ball sails over the wall of girls who jump up to try and head it away. It falls onto the foot of a defender but Nat is there to tackle it away. Pee Pee is to the left and I watch as Nat passes it wide and Peyton connects mid-stride and sends the ball to the back of the net past the outstretched arms of the goaltender.
"Yes!" Pee Pee yells as Nat wraps her in a hug and lifts her off the ground.
I wipe the sweat from my eyes and jog over clapping and hugging teammates who wrap their arms around me.
We line up for the kick off and there are two minutes left in regulation. I spot the stoppage notification that we're going to be playing six more minutes.
It'll be all defense unless a lane opens up wide for us to score again. I see Coach McEmbry and Brie signaling coverage reminders. It's zone at midfield and transitions to a body-on-body defense the closer they get to our 18 yard box.
Portland can't penetrate to the middle so their best bet is to draw a foul and get a free kick but with us giving them only enough space to pass to each other they're not getting the penalty they want.
I can see Pee Pee getting antsy giving the players space to pass around us. She doesn't see they're not getting any closer to the goal. They keep going back to their goalie who is out towards midfield.
They swing things out wide on my side and I block the passing lane to the middle so they have to return the passes back.
Our job right now is to run off the clock.
I settle in to keep my body between their players. Portland swings it to the right and Pee Pee takes the bait. She is several paces out of position.
"Shit." I curse under my breath as I see our wall of defense start to collapse. She was going after a pass, trying to break it up and now she's opened up a lane to the middle.
I sprint to get there and close it down behind Peyton, which leaves my side open but I hear Nat yelling to back fill for me.
The pass comes straight across from the left sideline towards the middle instead of passing it back to a defender. I'm in the right place at the right time to intercept it.
I kick the ball out of the lane, disrupting the pass, and Pee Pee gets it. She starts to run with it on her toes and I see the goalie scrambling to get back into position.
A defender is on her heels and she slides to stop Pee Pee's momentum.
The defender gets all ball but it goes out of bounds. I stay in line with the ball on the sideline and see players moving into place on defense.
Pee Pee picks up the ball and quickly tosses it into me. It lands on my foot, I turn around one defender, and then scoot around another. The goalie is back in her net but she's winded from sprinting back so I line up my kick to go for the top shelf, the far right corner. It'll be the furthest for her to reach and if she's winded she won't get much power behind her jump.
The ball flies and I watch as it nicks the corner of the post and bounces in.
"FUCK YEAH!" I yell out as Pee Pee runs up to me and jumps into my arms.
"Yes!" She yells and then others join us.
We're up two nil with one minute to go. We line up quickly to avoid any additional time being added because of our celebrations.
Brie is clapping on the sideline and gives me a nod. It wasn't the game plan at all but it worked out for us. Because I could read the play, the players, and knew when to be aggressive. Before play begins again I inhale and exhale with my hands on my hips. Fuck I’m good at this game. I trust myself, I believe in my ability. I see the plays as they unfold both for us and our opponents.
