A speedy Rocket forward outran the Wildcat defenders and took a perfectly aimed pass to within ten yards of the Wildcat goal. Tina bounced on her toes, facing the ball, hands near her sides. As a teammate tried to get between the forward and the goal, the Rocket chipped a high pass across the field, where another girl in a green-and-white jersey timed her kick perfectly, and volleyed it to Tina’s left side—at the corner of the cage!
Tina, who had advanced to her right, expecting a shot from the other forward, now took two quick steps to the left and dived to that side with both arms extended and her hands locked together. She was able to punch the ball away from the goalmouth, and it skittered out-of-bounds before another Rocket could reach it. The referee signaled for a Rocket corner kick.
Cindy darted back toward Tina and whispered, “Watch out for that redhead, she’s going to try a header off the corner kick!”
Tina saw the redhead just beyond the penalty box on the right, and nodded. Sure enough, the corner kick came straight for the redheaded girl, who headed it toward the upper-left corner of the cage. But Tina had anticipated the move and leaped high to make a catch. At the same time, Cindy broke for the far end of the field. Tina rolled the ball to a back, who relayed it to Zoe. Three quick passes put the ball on Cindy’s right foot. Cindy faked as if she were going to kick a goal and, with her other foot, passed to a wing. The Rocket keeper had been drawn out of position and tried desperately to get back, but the kick by the Wildcat forward was out of her reach and rolled into the net! The Wildcats led, 1–0.
A minute later, the referee signaled for a substitution time-out. Andrea came in for Tina, among several other replacements, including Meg, who came in as a defensive player. When play resumed, the Wildcats, with Cindy on the sideline, seemed a little disorganized, and the Rockets moved the ball into the Wildcat end of the field. Andrea stopped the first shot that came at her, scooping it up and quickly throwing it out to Meg. Meg tried to dribble the ball away from the goal, but she was tackled by a Rocket forward, and the ball was controlled by their center forward. The center made a nice back-pass to a midfielder who had come up. The midfielder fired a hard shot that Andrea couldn’t see until it was too late. The tying shot was good, and Andrea lay stretched out full length on the grass. She started to get up, winced, and fell back down.
The referee stopped play, and Danielle and Pepper ran out to their player. A minute later, they helped Andrea up and supported her on both sides as she limped off the field. Andrea’s face showed that she was in pain. The crowd stood up and applauded respectfully. While Pepper wrapped Andrea’s leg in an ice-filled towel, Danielle came over to Tina.
“Andrea pulled a thigh muscle. It isn’t serious, but she can’t play anymore today, so it’s going to be up to you in goal. Think you can go the rest of the way yourself?”
Tina was stunned. Could she?
“I think so,” she said, after a moment. “It’s not like I have to run up and down all day.”
Danielle smiled and said, “Try to pace yourself. I think you can do it, too.”
Tina trotted over to Andrea, who was sitting on the bench with her leg stretched out. “How are you doing?”
Andrea sighed. “The ice kind of makes it numb. I’ll be okay in a few days. Good luck!”
Tina ran onto the field to cheers from the crowd and her teammates. The referee gave the ball to the Wildcats to put into play, and the action began again.
Within a minute, the Rockets had taken the ball back from the Wildcats, and Tina found herself having to stop two more shots. After the second one, she kicked the ball to midfield and hoped that her teammates could hang onto it for a few minutes so she could catch her breath. As it happened, neither team was able to get any scoring opportunities before the first half ended in a 1–1 tie.
As Tina came off the field, panting, Cindy ran over. “You’re doing great! Keep it up! We’re going to win this game!”
Tina was too out of breath to do more than nod. Danielle clapped her hands to get the team grouped around her.
“All right, we suffered an injury, but we’re right in the game! Remember, you’re all wiped out right now, but so are they. In the second half, keep up the good work and try to help Tina out where you can. Don’t block her view of the ball if you can help it. When she wants you to move somewhere, do it. Tina, if you make more of those downfield kicks, that might get our offense going more and tire out their defense. You’re all doing well, so take a breather, and then let’s go out and play a strong second half!”
Pepper squatted in front of Tina. “Watch out about getting too far away from the goal. That could be a problem.”
Tina nodded.
Too soon for Tina’s liking, it was time to start again. This half, it would be the Rockets putting the ball in play. At the whistle, the Rocket center toed the ball to her wing, who passed it back. The center advanced with the ball, and Tina came forward to cut down her shooting angle. The center passed to the side, but Zoe intercepted the pass and dribbled away from the goal. Watching the play, Tina was slow to retreat to the goalmouth again. Before she could react, a Rocket darted in front of Zoe and knocked the ball loose. Another Rocket took the ball, and before Tina could recover, fired it into the cage for a score. Tina dived but couldn’t touch the ball. She lay on the ground, feeling awful: Pepper had just warned her about staying out of the goal, and she’d done it anyway!
“It’s all right,” said a voice. It was Cindy, kneeling in front of her. “We’ll get it back! Don’t let it get to you. Stay focused on the game! We need you right now!”
Slowly, Tina got to her feet and managed to smile at Cindy. “Thanks,” she said. “I’m okay.”
The Wildcats put the ball in play and moved it down the field, but failed to score. A few minutes later, Meg was penalized for getting in the way of the Rocket goalkeeper when the keeper was trying to pass the ball out of the penalty box. The Rockets were awarded an indirect kick. This meant that they were given a kick at the Wildcat goal from deep in Wildcat territory. The Wildcat players had to stay ten yards away from the ball until it was touched. Because it was an indirect kick and not a direct kick, two offensive players had to touch the ball before it could count as a score.
Meg was upset at the mistake she’d made. She had actually stumbled into the path of the Rocket goalkeeper, but it was still a foul, even if it was an accident. As Meg scowled at the ground, Tina came up to her.
“Don’t worry—we’ll get back into this game. Anyone could have done what you did. Don’t beat yourself up over it.”
The teams set up for the indirect kick. The first Rocket chipped the ball over the line of Wildcat defenders, and a second Rocket sprinted around the line to the ball. Tina came out and smothered the shot, falling on it and wrapping it in her arms. She jumped to her feet and rolled the ball to Meg, who was waiting to the left of the penalty box. Meg dribbled a few feet and saw Cindy open at midfield. She kicked a beautiful pass that Cindy took in full stride, racing down the middle of the field as the other Wildcat forwards caught up to her.
Cindy kicked the ball back to Zoe, a few yards behind her, and dashed forward toward the Rocket goal. Meanwhile, Zoe zipped a pass between two Rocket defenders to the Wildcat right wing. The wing volleyed the ball hard to Cindy, who was in great position for a shot. But before she could get the shot off, a Rocket tackled her, sliding into Cindy from behind and knocking her down. It was a serious enough foul to give Cindy a free direct kick.
As Tina watched from the far end of the field, the other Wildcats came up to give Cindy encouragement. Cindy nodded, waited a moment, dribbled once, faked left to draw the goalkeeper off, and fired a hard shot into the right corner of the goal net. The game was tied at two goals apiece. The Wildcats surrounded Cindy, hugging her and cheering.
During the last few minutes, Tina made one more stop, on a ball that curved to her left and forced her to dive to the side. Her uniform was now covered with grass and dirt stains. She kicked downfie
ld, but before the Wildcats could do anything, the referee’s whistle signaled the end of the game—a 2–2 tie.
Players from both teams came out to the middle of the field and shook hands. The game had been hard-fought, and Tina knew that neither team had anything to feel ashamed about.
As she walked slowly to the sidelines, she felt tired but happy. Danielle and Pepper took turns hugging her, as they did every Wildcat in turn. Danielle got everyone’s attention with a shrill whistle.
“Great game! You should all be proud of yourselves. I’m taking Andrea to get her leg wrapped, and then I’m buying pizza for everyone, at Marco’s in one hour!”
Tina nudged Meg and said, “I could use some pizza. How about you?”
Meg looked upset. “That stupid mistake I made cost us a good chance for a goal. We might have won.”
“Hey, stop that!” Tina put an arm around her friend. “You played really well.”
Cindy grabbed Meg’s hand. “Hey, you started the play that set up the tying score!”
Meg’s face brightened. “I did, didn’t I?”
Tina saw her family coming and ran over to them.
“You were great!” yelled Sammy. “Did you see me with my sign?”
“I sure did,” said Tina, exchanging a high-five with her brother.
Mr. Esparza put his hands on Tina’s shoulders. “You played like an Argentine.”
Tina hugged him. “Thanks, Daddy.”
Mrs. Esparza said, “I thought that call on Meg was wrong. She didn’t run into the goalkeeper on purpose. It should have been a simple throw-in for the other team.”
“I thought you knew nothing about soccer,” Tina said.
Her mother shrugged. “Even someone who knows nothing can tell a bad call.”
“Going for pizza, Teen?” Cindy asked. Tina was happy to see Cindy and her mother with their arms around each other’s shoulders.
“Sure,” she said. “We earned it.”
Dave came up, smiling. “Way to go, Teen! Excellent game!”
Zoe and several other girls came up to congratulate Tina, and Tina turned a little red.
“Something wrong?” asked Dave. “You have a nice bunch of teammates.”
“They are,” Tina agreed. “I guess I’m still a little uncomfortable about compliments.”
“You better get used to it,” Dave said. “I bet you’ll get more during the season.”
Tina thought for a moment. “I guess I am getting used to it. And, you know what? It’s really not so bad.”
Matt Christopher®
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GOALKEEPER IN CHARGE
Will Tina’s shyness ruin her
chances to play keeper?
Tina Esparza loves everything about soccer, especially the fact that it’s a team sport in which no one player stands out. That’s important to Tina, who is painfully shy and hates getting attention. So when she joins her new soccer team, she’s looking forward to becoming just another player on the field. Imagine her horror when the coach asks her to train as the team’s goalkeeper! It’s the one position that stands out on a soccer team— even the uniform is different! Will Tina be able to overcome her shyness and accept a position that puts her in the spotlight?
Matt Christopher is the name young readers turn to when they're looking for fast-paced, action-packed sports novels. For a complete list of all Matt Christopher titles, see the last pages of this book.
* Previously published as Crackerjack Halfback
** Previously published as Pressure Play
Goalkeeper in Charge Page 8
