Attached - Mallory Pugh/USWNT

Chapter 30

April 14th 2022 - At practice

Morgana's POV

My sister brought Hayley for the last 2 and a half hours of practice, so she got to see a good hour and a half of real practice and got to join us for some games in the last hour. 

When she got on the field, she ran right to Mal and jumped in her arms, which was just about the cutest thing ever. 

We introduced her to all the rest of the team, and she was so starstruck and adorable. She made sure she knew everyone's names, first and last. 

For the first little game we did, we had to take penalty shots, each team getting a goalie. 

My team was my usual people, Mal Pugh, Ashley Sanchez, Ash Hatch, Sophia Smith, Kelley O'Hara, Lindsey Horan and we got Hayley as well. 

"That team's no fair!" Sonnett complained. 

"Yeah! They have the kid!" Said Alex Morgan. 

"If we don't win this I'm gonna be mad." Hayley told us, making us all laugh. "I mean it, girls. I have other people I can be on a team with too." 

"We got it captain." Sanchez said. 

"Who's our goalie?" I asked. 

"I don't know, I think they all want to be on our winning team so they're fighting." Soph said. 

"Hayley who do you wan?" Sanchez asked. 

"Hmmm. Aubrey." She replied. I lifted her up and put her on my shoulders. 

"Hey Kingsbury!" I yelled. She turned her head out way. "Come to our team!" 

She ran over to us without a word to the other goalies, which was pretty funny. 

"Kid picked you." Kelley said. 

"I trust her judgement." Said Sanchez. 

Mal stepped next to me. "I mean I am her favorite coach so I mean...." 

"Aunt Mal! Shhhh! You can't tell Aunt Morgana that!" Hayley said. 

We all laughed, and I think Ashley said something like 'Haha sucker.' 

Hayley  got off my shoulders and into Mal's arms. 

"Hey Aubrey, you're ready to go, right?" She asked. 

"Never been more ready in my life." Aubrey gave Hayley a fist bump, then ran to goal. 

The first team to shoot only made 3 shots, Aubrey stopped a few good ones. 

The other team got 4 behind Bella Bixby. 

"So we're shooting on Alyssa." Hatch said nervously. 

"So what? You guys can score more than 2 goals. You have Aunt Mal." Hayley said. 

"And the NWSL 2021 golden boot winner Ashley Hatch." Said Lindsey. 

"And Morgana and her heart of gold." Mal said. 

"I like that. Heart of gold. You're right, she does have one." Kelley Said. I think I'm gonna call you Goldie now." 

"She does have pretty blonde hair too." Said Mal. 

"Morgana LaRue: hair as gold as her heart." Hatch said. 

"I love that." Said Ashley. 

We picked our shooting order quickly, starting with Hatch and ending with Hayley. 

"Let's go Hatchy!" I yelled. 

"Score a goal Ash!" Hayley yelled. 

She scored, putting the ball to the left when Alyssa predicted the right. 

Kelley up next, saved by Alyssa. Hayley had some words about that. 

"Sanchez you better make up for Kelley's POOPY KICK!" She yelled, making everyone laugh. 

Sanchez u next, got it behind Alyssa. I did too, and so did Mal. 

Sophia stepped up the the spot, and I just had a bag gut feeling. 

It turned out to be correct, she tried low left but Alyssa saw it through. 

We were tied up with one of the other teams, so it all came down to Hayley. 

Alyssa gave us a look, saying that she'll let it by. We all told Hayley she could move up a bit closer than we were too, obviously. 

"WAIT! I need to talk to Aunt Morgana." She ran away from her ball and to where I was standing, and asked me which side she should kick it to. 

"Kick it that way." I pointed to her right, and mouthed to Alyssa that was where it was going. She nodded and looked back to Hayley. 

"Lets go Hayley!" Yelled Ashley Sanchez. 

"You got it kiddo!" Mal yelled. 

"You got it Hay!" I said. 

"Put it in Hayley!" Yelled Hatch. 

"You got this!" Soph said. 

Hayley took a few steps back, and then ran up and kicked the ball into the corner of the net. 

We all cheered, even the other teams, and we ran to the spot, where she was smiling a huge adorable smile. 

"You're the hero!" Sanchez said as Mal lifted Hayley on her shoulders. 

"Clearly runs in the family." Sophia laughed. 

"Kid's better than me! Where's her call up?" Asked Kelley. 

"Ask coach!" She laughed. 

"You're pretty awesome." Aubrey Kingsbury said. 

Alyssa walked over to us and gave her a fist bump, saying "I better see you on this team in 15 years." 

"I want to be just like Auntie Morg and Aunt Mal and Ashley and Sophia and Ash and Kelley and Lindsey!" Hayley smiled. 

Everyone else came over to give her a high five and we moved onto the rest of the games and activities. 

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April 15th, 2022 - 7:30 pm - Kickoff: USA vs England

No one's POV: TV broadcast

"Well it's almost time for kickoff here in Denver, Colorado on this beautiful Friday evening. I'm Sebastian Salazar, and with me is Julie Foudy." 

"This is the last game of the 2022 SheBelieves Cup, and really the championship. Both teams stand undefeated. From the USA  side, Morgana LaRue is leading in goals by far, with 4 over the last 2 games. 1 in her USWNT debut vs France in the first half when she subbed in for an injured Sophia Smith. And the remaining 3 goals were a hat trick against Iceland." Said Julie. 

"Morgana LaRue has proved her spot on this roster in the future for sure. So has Ashley Sanchez. She's also been incredible this tournament, same gees for Mal Pugh." Sebastian said. 

"And here's your USA's starting 11 for tonight against England: in goal we have Alyssa Naeher, at left back Emily Fox, in the center Abby Dahlkemper and Becky Sauerbrunn, and on the right Kelley O'Hara. In the middle Ashley Sanchez, Lindsey Horan, and Rose Lavelle. And up top we have one change from the last game, that being Ashley Hatch starting in the middle over Alex Morgan. Morgana LaRue on the right, Mallory Pugh on the left." Julie said. 

About 5 minutes later, the starting whistle blew, USA starting with the ball. 

Camera zoomed in on Morgana LaRue just before the whistle. 

A lot was riding on her today, and everyone hoped she could show up the same way she had in the last 2 games after everything that happened.