Chapter 16
"Hi, Coach."
Quinn turned around to see Cory standing behind the bench. A couple boys turned at the same time to look, including Gray.
"Towson!" Quinn nearly shouted. "Where have you been?"
Quinn tried to appear angry, but was not doing a good job of it.
"It's a long story, Coach."
Quinn met Cory at the end of the bench. "You okay, son?" he asked. "We've been looking all over for you."
"I'm good."
Looking past Quinn, Cory noticed Gray sitting on the bench. He wasn't dressed in his goalie kit. Cory looked quickly at the Grandview goal and saw Tim filling in as goalkeeper. The second half had just started.
"Coach?" Cory was staring at Tim, who looked uncomfortable standing in front of the goal. "How come Tim's in goal?"
Gray walked over to where they stood.
"It's my ankle," he said, looking down at the ice pack wrap. "It's not healed yet." Gray looked up at Cory. "We need you out there, Cory. We're losing by two goals!"
Cory looked back at Quinn.
"Well?" Quinn asked. "You ready to play?"
"Yes, sir!"
Suddenly, Cory remembered he did not have his goalie gloves. Thank goodness he had taken his pants and shirt for warmth last night. He glanced back toward the bleachers but Gene was nowhere in sight. He thought about saying something to Quinn, then decided not to. There was no time to wait. Quinn told Gray to get some balls and warm up Cory. Cory saw Gray dig in his bag and pull out his own gloves. Cory tried them on. They were too big, but he would have to make them work.
Quickly, he sat down in front of the player's bench and changed into his goalie kit. A couple of the boys jostled him in good fun for changing out on the field. It helped Cory loosen up and relax as he shot back a smile.
Warming up, Cory realized he was going through the same routine Tony Banks had shown him. He stopped, instinctively glancing at the bleachers, then quickly looked away. If Banks was up there, he didn't want to know. He had to focus and Banks would expect him to. Then, an image of his mother, coming out of the bleachers and pulling him from the game flashed across his mind.
He jumped up and jogged over to Quinn. He was about to tell Quinn he was ready when a hand gripped his shoulder. Cory involuntarily sucked in his breath and slowly turned. The stress on his face turned to relief. It was Gene.
"Gene! Don't scare me like that!"
Gene looked amused. "Sorry, man. You must be pretty nervous."
Cory laughed, relieved, and took the gloves from Gene. He tossed Gray's back to him. "Let's do this!"
Quinn turned and noticed the two boys talking. He quickly walked over to the bench, retrieved the clipboard and walked over to Cory and Gene.
"Towson! Ready?"
"Yes, sir!" answered Cory, interlocking his fingers to make sure the gloves were snug. When Cory looked up, Quinn was calling for a substitution. At the same time, he gave his clipboard to Gene and quickly went over how to record statistics for the rest of the game. Gene nodded, then turned and walked over to the bench and sat down on the near end. He was instantly absorbed in the paper on the clipboard. Cory smiled. He liked knowing Gene was there, on the field.
"Okay, Towson," Quinn snapped. "You're on. Play smart in that net."
The referee signaled and Cory ran onto the field. The familiar fear he usually felt before a game was not there. This time, it felt good to be stepping on the pitch. Like he belonged there. As he jogged to the goal, Tim passed by.
"Thank god you're here, Towson!" Tim said, slapping Cory on the shoulder. "Don't worry, mate. I got your back out here. Tim jogged off laughing his cackly laugh as he set up in his center fullback position. "They've got to get through me first!"
"Nice to see you, Cory."
Cory looked up, surprised at the greeting. It was Jeff Shue.
"Yeah, that goes for me, too," shouted Brett from the midfield.
Cory gave a quick thumbs up, then shuffled between the posts. Just then, the whistle blew, and Grandview threw the ball in at midfield. As soon as the ball was trapped, West put pressure on the Grandview player. Brett fought to lose the tight marking opponent while trying to find an open teammate. Billy moved over to support, but Brett rushed his pass. It went off target and was easily picked up by a West midfielder. Cory was already on high alert, amazed at his anticipation of the action.
The West midfielder sent the ball wide right. The outside halfback trapped the ball and quickly passed it up to his right wing. The wing dribbled the ball down the outside, almost to the corner, and sent in a high cross to West High's tall center forward. Cory was ready. He leaped up.
"'Keeper!" he called as loud as possible and grabbed the cross just before it made contact with the West player's head. He quickly hugged the ball to his chest as he came down and waited a few moments while players cleared the area around him.
Billy was open on the right side, at midfield and Cory decided to dropkick the ball out to him. Though Cory was fresh in the game, he felt relaxed and the ball was on target. Billy trapped the kick and started working the ball up the right flank as Brett shifted over from the middle to support. Billy passed over to Brett, who moved the ball further upfield. There was plenty of space so he took it and dribbled as fast as he could into West's half.
At the same time, Manny was on right wing, sprinting up the touchline, and wide open. The defender, who Manny had blown past, was frantically trying to catch him. Brett saw Manny's run and kicked a thirty-yard pass out right, ahead of Manny. Manny ran onto it, trapped the bounce out, then angled in towards the near post. He was moving fast, nudging the ball every other stride.
As he crossed the top corner of the box, the 'keeper bolted towards him. Manny dipped a shoulder to his right, the fake causing the 'keeper to shift his weight to that side. Smooth, yet faster than the 'keeper's reactions, Manny curled the outside of his left foot around the right side of the ball and brought it back to his left. In two steps, he was around the sprawling West 'keeper and crisply passed the ball into an open net. The Grandview fans erupted! The score was now West 2, Grandview 1.
The fans celebrated in the bleachers, but Grandview was all business on the field. Things were starting to click and Cory could feel the momentum building all the way back to goal.
"Keep it up, boys!" Quinn shouted from the sidelines. "One more, now. Let's get one more!"
For the next fifteen minutes, Grandview pressed into West's territory. The goal had fired up the team and shifted the momentum in their favor. But West was too experienced to give another goal away that easily!
Deep in their own half, West gained possession of the ball. A defender dribbled it up the left side and quickly passed to his center halfback, who took the ball and charged up the center of the field towards Cory. The tall center forward streaked in front of Grandview's defense, trying to stay onside, ready for a through-ball. Spying the striker, the center mid floated a beautiful pass over the heads of Tim and Brodie. The forward exploded after it, getting a jump on Tim, who was closest to the ball. However, the ball had enough pace to drop just inside the goalie box.
Cory had calculated the chip and moved quickly. The forward saw Cory's body suddenly appear in front of him and hesitated just enough for Cory to snag the ball as it took a wild bounce up from the ground. As Cory wrapped his gloves around it, the two players collided. Cory was knocked back, losing his grip on the ball while the West player stumbled.
Cory hit on his back but merely bounced and was up like lightning! He spun around to see the forward a couple steps beyond him, still stumbling and trying to get to the loose ball. Cory catapulted after him.
As the forward brought his leg back to kick the ball into the open net, Cory pounced from behind like a cat. He curled around, missing the striker's legs, slammed both hands down on the ball, and wrapped his body protectively around it. The West player's foot hit th
e ball but it stopped when it hit and he flew over Cory, into the empty goalmouth. Cory still had the ball!
Adrenaline surged through Cory as he jumped up, feeling an urgency. Scanning the field for an open player, he saw Brett in the center. Open! Cory drop-kicked a 40-yard pass and hit his target. Brett managed to get under the ball and trap it with his chest. Cory heard the loud THUMP! all the way back at goal. With the ball at his feet, Brett turned and saw Jimmy streaking in from the left side, towards the West goal.
"Through ball, Brett!" Jimmy called frantically. "Through ball!"
Brett curled the ball around a defender and Jimmy cut behind him, into the path of the ball. When he touched it, he was 25 yards out, left of the goalie box. An outside defender closed in on him, blocking his route to goal and forcing him to stop and cut back right. Now he dribbled across the top of the goal box, the fullback shadowing Jimmy, keeping him from getting a clear shot at goal. Jimmy had seen Brett moving down the middle of the field toward goal and knew he was coming up behind him. Jimmy smoothly stepped on the ball, stopping it dead, and kept running. Without the ball. The defender fell for it and stayed with Jimmy. It was perfect.
Brett unexpectedly saw the dead ball two strides in front of him, quickly adjusted his steps, and blasted a 20-yard shot. A rocket. Low and to the left of goal. The West goalkeeper never had a chance. Score!
The Grandview crowd was hysterical now as the players piled on Brett. Even Cory ran out of his goal, down the length of the field, to jump on the pile. The game was tied and Coach Quinn was on the sidelines throwing his arms up in celebration.
The West players went quiet. They knew their chance for a win had slipped away. The momentum was Grandview's, and it was obvious on the faces of the West players. Eventually, both teams set up for the kickoff, but just after West touched the ball for a restart, the referee blew his whistle three times in succession, signaling the end of the game. The score was tied at two goals apiece.