Fearless - Ashley Sanchez

Chapter 10

Kyla's POV

Today was the day of the Challenge Cup opener vs Orlando Pride. We flew out to Orlando the other day, and to be honest I'm shocked by the heat after being in freezing D.C. for a few months. 

Ashley and I were also sneaking around, and we're damn good at it. The one time we did get caught was by some complete stranger when we were in some random hallway of the hotel. We were a lot more careful after that, because getting caught by a teammate would be bad. Especially Trinity. 

I ended up getting roomed with Trin, and Ashley got roomed with Tara, and while she knew, Trinity didn't/ So we couldn't just switch room.s 

Ashley ended up getting a whole other hotel room on a different floor. 

"Are you sure this isn't illegal?" I asked her. 

"What? How?" She asked, swiping the key to the room. 

"Well aren't we supposed to be in our assigned rooms?" 

"This isn't senior trip, Kyla. We're adults." Ashley opened the door to the room.

"And remember. I have to be back before Trinity gets up." I said. 

"Right. Or you could just say you went to go get breakfast early." 

"We just need to be careful, that's all." 

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At the game I didn't start, but at halftime e were up 2-0 off a goal from Trinity and another from Hatchy. 

"Ripley, warm up." Said coach Kris Ward. 

"Alright." I said, and started doing the dynamic stretches we all do on the sidelines during the game. 

"Bayley's tired. You're going at center attacking mid." 

"Good, because that's my position." I joked. 

The team had our last quick huddle and talk, and then the 10 girls who were staying in the game took the field.

I walked up to Bayley Feist and handed her my pinny and gave her a high five. 

"Good job out there." 

"Go get em, rook." She smiled, and put on the pinny as I walked to stand at midfield. 

The ref in the middle held up the board that had in red Bayley's number, 13, and in green my number, which is 8. 

I jumped in the air twice and then stepped over the line, my right foot then my left as I always do walking out onto the field. Ashley pointed me to where I needed to be, and I listened. 

The ref checked both keepers, then blew the whistle to start the second half. 

Orlando came running down the middle, but I stepped right to the ball, taking it smoothly and passing it off to Ashley. She dribbled the ball up, and I overlapped her on the run, giving her an option. But she passed the ball off to Hatch instead, who took a nice shot but it was stopped by the goalie. 

We went for about 15 minutes no goals but a few good chances. We dominated offensively, and I was in the attacking third a good amount. I took 2 shots, one off frame and another stopped by the goalie. 

But in the 62nd minute, we got a god chance. 

I passed the ball to Trinity, who took it to the corner. I made a run inside, along with Hatch and Ashley, and then Trinity took the cross, a perfect ball right to Hatch's head. She directed it into the corner, and GOAL. 3-0 us. 

We all high-fived Hatch and Trin, and Kelley came over to me. 

"Making things happen. You know what they say? The player who wears the number 8 is the unsung hero of the team. That pass you made to Trinity was A+. So impressive." She said, potting her arm around me. 

"Thanks Kelley." I said, taking my position on the center circle and she took hers in our defensive third. 

Kickoff again, and this time they passed the ball backwards. I was the closest, so I pushed into a high press with Trinity and Hatch, and the other forward, Anna Heilferty, hung back in the midfield. 

Our press was working because Orlando kept passing the ball further and further back. That gave me more space to push up, and when the ball was back at the keeper, I moved in even closer. 

The goalie passed the ball to a girl on Trinity's side, so I sprinted to it and she took the middle. I won the ball, and I saw Ashley making the run in, so I rolled the defender with some fancy foot skills and passed the ball to Ashley, who did a nice turn and shot the ball right into the back of the net. Now we were up 4-0. 

Ashley ran to me and gave me a big hug, and it felt like it lasted quite a while before the others joined. 

"Nice shot, Ash. Nice skills, Kyla." Hatch said, giving me a high five. 

After that, Anna Heilferty was pulled and Tara McKeown was put on. 

I got a good breakaway and was inside the box in the 80th minute, and a defender came in and slide tackled me, not getting any piece of the ball and just my ankle. 

I fell over, trying not to roll and look like a flopper, but it was seriously painful and I needed a minute. 

The ref ran over to see what was going on, and I just held my ankle, trying not to cry. Trinity sat down next to me, trying to talk to me as the trainers ran out onto the field. 

The ref was taking out cards, a straight red for the girl and it looked like she had a yellow out too, but I was focused on the trainer's questions. 

"Ky, if it makes you feel any better Sanchez just got a yellow." Trinity laughed, still sitting next to me. 

"For what?" 

"Shoving that girl that took you out." 

"Good." 

Then the trainers told me to stand up slowly, and I walked off the field just fine. It hurt pretty bad, but nothing to keep me from finishing out this game. 

The trainers taped up my ankle as I watched Hatch take the penalty kick to get a hat trick, and I almost jumped up to cheer as it hit the back of the net.

"Good now?" The trainer asked me as I stood up to walk to the midfield. 

"I'm great." I said, and the ref waved me in.