Page 34 of Nailing Heat
Halftime comes too quickly. I feel like I need more time. Forty-five minutes have gone by and still no score from the Blaze. Luckily, none from the Stars either, but I sure would like to be on the board. I can see the determination in Mac’s eyes as she readies herself for her pep talk.
“Ladies, you had a strong half, but it’s a lot of defense,” Coach Andie says. “We need you to keep on pushing forward. Defense, leave them off if you can. There was no way one of them will get close enough to put one on goal.”
We all nod and hang our heads.
“Pick them up, girls,” Mac takes center stage in front of the team. “Pick up your heads. We are still in this game. There’s forty-five minutes left of game play. We can do this. We’ve been done like this before, and we can come back again. Because we are the Blaze and we don’t quit!”
“Damn straight!” Hendrix calls from behind me.
“Let’s do this!” one of my teammates calls, but I’m too short to see who yelled.
“Here we go, let’s do this. All hands in and let’s win this thing!” Mac calls out.
We cheer again and then onto the field we go, this time on a run. There are no ceremonious walks out there. We storm onto the field and take our positions. The whistle blows and we are off to finish up this game.
The second half goes very much like the first; just a game of keep-away that doesn’t end with a goal. Until Mac gets a beautifulrun up the field, past their defenders and it’s a one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Something that is a Mac special. I can count the number of times on one hand that she’s lost. This time is no different.
Mac faces down the keeper, who is dressed in bright blue, and sends the ball as hard as she can into the corner of the net. The woman isn’t ready for it, and we are on the board.
The cheers erupt from the bench, and there are even a few in the stands. I hurry up to Mac to give her a high-five. We all do as quickly as we can without having it called a delay of game.
I can see it on their faces; the Chicago Stars are hungry. I look up at the front line, and I see the same girl who has been charging forward on offense is staring us down.
“They want this,” I hear Hendrix call to us all. “But we want it more.”
“Let’s go, Blaze!” I hear Coach Watts scream from the sidelines. “Don’t let up!”
Iwantto win this game. And we’re going to. No one is getting past me. I keep repeating that mantra over and over again in my head.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see that the winger is coming for me. She thinks by sliding down the side and cutting over, she’ll sneak past Carrie. But it doesn’t work. Carrie meets her head-on and sends the ball up the field.
“Nice!” I shout and point in her direction.
“Keep on the good defense, ladies!” Hendrix shouts from behind me.
I nod. Oh, I will.
Our offense gets a turn for a bit, keeping the Stars defense on their toes. Mac is trying like hell to put one in. So is Kelsey, who is not only great at sending a ball up to Mac, but she can shoot from far out. Which is what she did. I peek up at the replay on the screen that is hanging large above the goal and see that the goalie bobbled it in her hands before she could fully hold onto it.
“Keep them guessing!” I shout. I’m not sure if she heard me, but I don’t care. I’ve always been a talkative defensive player. Sometimes it angered the goalies because they wanted to be the ones that were shouting out instructions, but Hendrix doesn’t care. She lets me yell, curse and root for our team all at the same time. I love that about her.
The Stars perform a substitution when it’s their turn to throw the ball in. It looks like in order to stop the run from coming down the field, Cassie kicked it out. Which isn’t a bad move because it kills the momentum and makes the other team have to change their shape. It just so happens that this time it comes with a fresh set of legs.
The Blaze doesn’t sub, though. It’s rare that Watts takes us out or switches things up. If a formation isn’t working, then he absolutely makes the change. But it’s times like this, when we’re all gelling and good things are happening, he won’t. He might be a bit superstitious like that, but I don’t mind. I like that, because he’s right, it would break the momentum.
But right now, it’s helping the Chicago Stars because here comes number eleven right for the goal. She’s driving hard, thinking that she’s going to get to Hendrix. She’s going to have to get through me first. Although judging by the harsh look on her face, I think that’s exactly what she intends on doing.
I size her up as she comes barreling towards me. I know I need to make a move and commit to it. Once I do, there’s no backing down. Because hesitation can cause a goal and, unfortunately in my days of playing, I have been guilty of that. But I won’t do that today.
I step up and watch her eyes and then her feet. My eyes keep snapping back and forth, waiting to see if she’ll give me her tell. There’s no change in direction and she’s not looking for any passes, so she intended to go through me.
Good for her. I commend her for trying.
I move an inch closer and get my foot on that ball as she kicksit at the same time. The ball snaps up and I bounce it lightly off my chest, bring it to ground and get ready to send it up the line or over to Carrie. I’m looking for my options.
Suddenly, I hit the ground hard with my side. It feels like everything is happening in slow motion.
Number eleven falls down on top of me, the weight of her legs coming down on my left knee.
