Between the Sticks

Between the Sticks — page 3 — ONEONE Who M The soccer ball rolled into my zone with two Cyclone players in pursuit I darted to it nudging the ball toward the sideline and moving away with it A Cyclone elbowed me but I pivoted hard and faked him out With one swift motion I booted the ball up to midfield Great defense Griffin called Spencer He’s our goalie Spencer gets all the credit for our four straight shutouts But without me as the middle defender he’d be in trouble No one had scored on us all season and it looked like we were on track for shutout number five We’re a high-scoring powerhouse thanks to my friends Torry Marcus and Javon up front I should say we’re usually high scoring 4

Between the Sticks — page 4 — With the clock ticking down toward the end of this game we’d managed just one goal this morning Still 1 0 is a win If we could hold on The Cyclones were applying a lot of pressure I’d spent most of the second half clearing the ball away or trying to force our opponents into traffic I’d been backpedaling or running sideways constantly I hadn’t done any wheezing yet but I was getting tired Javon made a nice steal and scooted along the sideline He’s the shortest player on our team but one of the fastest so he raced deep into the Cyclones end of the field before anyone caught up He crossed the ball to Torry who one-touched it to Marcus Marcus’s shot was on target but the goalie made a diving save Then the Cyclones came again desperate to tie it up Their defenders were on their way up too so our end of the field was swarming with players 5

Between the Sticks — page 5 — I bounced on my feet ready to move No one gets by I told myself Torry and Marcus double-teamed the guy with the ball I closed in toward the goal with our other defenders The ball squirted free I raced toward it but Ernie got there first for the Cyclones He planted his foot and drove the ball toward the corner of the goal Spencer dived stretching and reaching He deflected the ball over the back of the goal but then fell to the ground and howled My wrist Spencer yelled rolling onto his back The referee blew his whistle and ran toward Spencer waving for our coach to come over Clear away boys the ref said Ernie stepped over to me He looked shook up I didn’t kick it that hard he said It happens I replied You didn’t hurt him on purpose Ernie’s a good guy He’s in two of 6

Between the Sticks — page 6 — my classes and we’ve played baseball together Besides I think he hurt it when he hit the ground not the ball It took a good five minutes to stabilize Spencer’s wrist and get him off the field He shook his head as he walked past our team I heard him mumble Finish this thing Where were we the referee asked glancing around The Stampeders goalie knocked it out Ernie said Right The ref nodded Corner kick Cyclones How much time is left I asked The ref looked at his watch Forty seconds when they put the ball in play He rolled it toward the corner Then the ref yelled We need a goalie He was pointing at the empty net We’d overlooked that little detail 7

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