by David Starr
This was it. Dylan struggled to control his breath as the whistle blew. Emmanuel bobbed back and forth on the line. The crowd yelled, trying to distract Abbas. Dylan could hardly watch.
As if in slow motion, Abbas stepped toward the ball. He planted his right foot, swung back with his left and drilled it.
The ball soared toward the net. Abbas had placed it perfectly, high and to the right. Emmanuel guessed wrong and dove toward the left, totally out of position as the ball flew through the air. Then it started to curve. Dylan watched helplessly. The ball, once headed for the back of the net, spun faster and faster to the right. It brushed against the outside of the post and bounced harmlessly out of bounds.
Abbas fell to his knees. He had a horrified look on his face, as if he couldn’t believe what had just happened. Dylan could tell his friend wanted the earth to open up and swallow him as Emmanuel smiled and picked up the ball.
“I said there’s no way you’re beating us on our field,” Emmanuel said as Dylan turned and followed the ball. “You guys should just go back and play in the chicken yard.”
20
Golden Goal
“I missed. I never miss.” Abbas looked ready to cry.
“It’s okay,” said Dylan, patting his shoulder. “You’ll get it next time.”
Neither team came close to scoring for the rest of the half, and for the first time in the playoffs the Grandview Eagles finished regulation time in a scoreless tie. In the regular season the match would end this way, each team walking away with a point. But this was the playoffs. A tie meant ten minutes of extra time. And if the game was still even after that? Penalty shots.
“I’m sorry.” Those were the first words out of Abbas’s mouth as the team huddled up on the sidelines. “I should have scored. I don’t know how I missed.”
“Put it out of your mind,” said Coach T. “Focus on the next ten minutes.”
“Any one of us could have missed that shot,” said Dylan. The rest of the boys nodded in agreement. Dylan knew that if he had still been playing for Regent Heights the reaction to a missed penalty kick would have been very different. Abbas would have been benched and Coach Alvarez would probably still be yelling. The team would be blaming and cursing their teammate who had made a mistake.
“You’ll get another chance,” said Claude. “Believe me. I have a feeling you’re going to get the Golden Goal.”
“Hands in,” said Coach T as the referee signalled the start of extra time. “I am so proud of you, however this game ends. Now, for the last time this season, play hard, play safe, play fair. And most of all, play for each other!”
“And for the Golden Goal!” Claude grinned.
“Golden Goal!” Abbas said. “I really hope you’re right.”
Extra time started just as the second half had finished. Both teams played cautiously, neither wanting to make a mistake that would cost them the game. But two minutes in, Regent came close to scoring when Tony beat Mo to the ball and raced toward Grandview’s goal.
Alvin rushed over to cover, forcing Tony to shoot sooner than he would have liked. It was a hard kick aimed right at Michael. It was too powerful to catch, but Michael made a great save anyway. He punched the ball to Jake who managed to clear it away from the Grandview end.
More back and forth followed, neither side getting a clear break. With less than two minutes to go it seemed certain that the game would end in penalty kicks.
But then Steven made a great clean tackle on Tony, stripping him of the ball. It rolled to Claude.
Claude had been running up and down the field all game. He must have been exhausted, but he somehow managed to gallop like a racehorse. “I love this field!” he cried out. “I could run on it all day!”
The Regent players were tired as well, and Claude’s burst of energy caught them by surprise. Dylan and Abbas saw what Claude was doing and moved quickly toward Emmanuel, making sure they stayed onside.
Three defenders hurried to stop Claude. As fast as he was, there was no way he could outrun them.
“Dylan!” Claude shouted. Dribbling just enough to get some open space, Claude booted the ball toward the left touchline.
Heart racing, Dylan took the ball and ran toward the crease, ignoring the pain in his leg. A nasty bruise had spread all over his calf, but Dylan wasn’t thinking about that now. The only thing on his mind was scoring on Emmanuel.
Regent had triple-teamed Claude, leaving only one defender in position. It was Tommy, and Dylan knew he was a much better player than Tommy. I have you this time, he thought.
Suddenly Dylan was at the top of the penalty box, only Tommy standing between himself and Emmanuel. This ball is going in the top left corner, Dylan thought, looking past Tommy.
Dylan cocked his leg. Tommy sprinted toward him, sliding, sticking out his foot in a desperate attempt to tackle the ball. Emmanuel bounced up and down on his feet. He stepped out of his net, cutting off the angle, ready to spring.
From the corner of his eye, Dylan saw Abbas cutting in to his right. Dylan had a high percentage shot. He wanted to score more than anything else in the world. But Abbas was wide open.
Without thinking, Dylan faked the shot. When Emmanuel dove to where he thought the ball would be, Dylan slid the ball quickly to his right. On Grandview’s home field who knew what might have happened? The ball could have rolled to a stop in soft sand or it could have taken a funny bounce on a small rock. But on the smooth turf field the ball rolled perfectly to Abbas. Abbas tapped the ball into the wide open net, scoring the easiest goal of the season.
For a second there was complete silence on the field. The Regent players and fans didn’t understand what had just happened. Neither did Dylan. It was only when the rest of the Grandview players swarmed Abbas, screaming and shouting in joy that Dylan realized they had done it. They had won. Grandview: 1, Regent Heights: 0. The Grandview Community School Eagles were School District champions.
Dylan was almost bowled over by Abbas running to hug him. “That was a great pass!” he said. “Thank you for believing in me. Especially after I missed the penalty shot.”
“Everyone needs a little help from their friends — their true friends sometimes,” Dylan replied. He was smiling so wide he thought his face would split. “Not a bad game for a bunch of losers,” he added.
“No. Not bad for a bunch of losers at all,” Abbas agreed.
“Golden Goal!” laughed Claude. “I said you’d score it, didn’t I, Abbas? I’m never wrong when I get one of my feelings!”
On the sidelines, Dylan’s mom, Mrs. Wassef and Julie were jumping up and down in excitement, hugging each other just like the boys were. Dylan saw that their eyes were wet with tears.
“I’m glad my sister was here,” said Claude, looking a little teary himself. “I just wish my parents could have seen it, too. They would really have enjoyed this game.”
“And my dad and brothers,” said Abbas. Dylan could tell that Abbas finally felt okay talking about his past, about his family. “They would have loved this game!”
“Don’t worry, Claude,” said Dylan, his arms wrapped around Claude and Abbas. “You’re not the only one who gets feelings, and I have a feeling your parents saw this game. So did your dad and brothers, Abbas,” Dylan said. A memory of his own father’s smiling face washed over him. “All of our fathers did, and they would be proud of us, I just know it.”
About the Author
DAVID STARR is a principal in Burnaby, B.C. He is a Vancouver Canucks Community MVP and is one of the UBC Faculty of Education’s Top 100 graduates, along with Canadian paralympian Rick Hansen and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. David is the author of several other fiction and non-fiction books and has spoken nationally and internationally on community and refugee education.
Copyright © 2017 by David Starr
All rights reserved. No
part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
James Lorimer & Company Ltd., Publishers acknowledges the support of the Ontario Arts Council. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund for our publishing activities. We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts which last year invested $24.3 million in writing and publishing throughout Canada. We acknowledge the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Media Development Corporation’s Ontario Book Initiative.
We acknowledge the [financial] support of the Government of Canada.
Nous reconnaissons l’appui [financier] du gouvernement du Canada.
Cover design: Tyler Cleroux
Cover image: Shutterstock
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Starr, David, author
Golden goal / David Starr.
Issued in print and electronic formats.
ISBN 978-1-4594-1202-6 (paperback).--ISBN 978-1-4594-1204-0 (epub)
I. Title.
PS8637.T365G64 2017 jC813’.6 C2016-906038-1
C2016-906039-X
This digital edition first published in 2017 as 978-1-4594-1204-0
Originally published in 2017 as 978-1-4594-1202-6
James Lorimer & Company Ltd., Publishers
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Toronto, ON, Canada
M5V 0M3
www.lorimer.ca
