There's No "I" In Team

Part 4

          Noelle had moved up from defense to midfield. She passed the ball to Faith, who was determined to notch another goal! She practically leapt over the Cougars the with ball! Just like a flash of light, one second she was at one end of the field, and the next second she was at the other end! It was amazing!

       "Go Faith! Go!" I practically screamed!

       She speedily reached the goal and after making a cunning trick move, she scored!  Screaming, laughing, cheering and clapping could be heard as the crowd went berserk!                                     

"We still have a shot," I thought. The scoreboard once again changed the score. The score was tied three to three! We were neck and neck! Even though we got the goal, for whatever reason, the refs (instead of letting the goalie kick it into play) brought the ball to the center circle again! It was getting more intense by the second! Sweat dripped from everyone's foreheads. Dirt covered our cherry red faces!  Unfortunately, the Cougars obtained the ball. They started dribbling and passing it to one another. It seemed impossible to regain control of the ball again! We could not afford to have them score again! I was losing hope.

        Suddenly, as I was zoning out I saw someone with a red and black jersey steal the ball. As I quickly made myself zone in again. It was Rebekah!  The Dragons had gained possession of the ball once again! "Yahhooo!" I yelled inside my head! Now, we were the team who was passing! It was awesome! I didn't know we could pass it so well. I guess Coach was right when he told us all that drilling would pay off!  The ball swerved from Rebekah's cleats to Emma's, and made its way to Noelle, as it made a zig zag pattern down the field.  Noelle passed it to Kayla, but it didn't have enough "kick" in it! As precious milliseconds sped by, I knew something had to be done! I quickly dodged and span in between everyone not caring what was in front of me! The ball was right there  in my kicking distance! The seconds flew by like a little boy throwing a clock outside his window trying to make time fly, except we didn't want it to! The clock showed only 30 seconds left! The ball was only feet away from me! All of a sudden I heard a loud yell! Out of the side of my eye I caught a glimpse of an enraged #17 bounding towards me! She had jumped over the benches where she was supposed to remain till after the game. She wasn't about to let us win! The refs charged after her. I knew I had to act even faster than I already was! 

     

       Instantly, an idea came to mind! I had seen this move done while watching the FIFA World Cup once.  It was a long shot, but I knew I could do it! One, two, three... I ran as fast as a cheetah! I said a quick prayer! Probably the quickest prayer ever prayed, but nevertheless. I closed my eyes and chipped the ball, it went flying! I chipped the ball at such an angle it made my cleats slip, and I fell, but I wasn't the least concerned about that! All I could think of was the ball! All of the sounds seemed to cease. The only thing I could hear was my heart beating. Boom...BOOM...BOOM!

I thought it was going to explode with suspense! I opened my eyes.  The ball, which seemed to move in slow motion, flew closer and closer to the target.

                                                                   

The goalie "slow mo" jumped up to grab it, but barely missed and went tumbling out of the goalie box as the ball kept rolling forward. I closed my eyes again as I fell the rest of the way to the ground.                                                            

                 Instantaneously, the buzzers sounded meaning...A GOAL! It seemed like the whole world exploded with jubilation!  Popcorn, and confetti exploded everywhere, while the crowed hurdled to their feet! The Dragons went screaming and well of course running but more than anything yelling with over joy-ment out onto the field.  Anna and Kayla scrambled over to me to pick me but yet again. Smiles were on everyone's faces!  We either chest bumped, first bumped, secret hand shacked or just plainly did a high five!    

The referees brought out the championship trophy and gave it to Coaches Alvaro and Mailand! We all bolted, scattered, dashed, and quite frankly just got over there to where everyone was leaping on top of one another with excitement!

" And the L.A. Dragons have won it! Four to three! Great job L.A!" The announcers declared over the speakers the blasted throughout the complex!