The two guys nodded.
“Finn. Their forwards are rookies and are still getting their feet wet in the arena. You should have no problem blocking their shots.”
Finn clapped his hands together once and rubbed them together. “I’m ready.”
“Bastian, I want you to stay on Valle like your life depends on it. If anyone is going to score, I think it’s going to be him.”
“Got it.”
Coach continued to go through the roster, giving each of the players a specific task. When he was done, he talked about what he’d written on the whiteboard, mostly plays if they got a penalty kick.
There was no way of knowing if it would happen, but it was where the Storm shined. They almost always got a goal thanks to their coach’s plays.
“Now go out there and get warmed up.”
With a final few whoops of excitement, they filed out of the locker room and onto the field. Fans were just starting to arrive, and Silas could see them coming in and finding their seats as the team worked on passing and dribbling.
Even though he knew he wouldn’t see her, his eyes scanned the crowd and the floor seats for Miriam. He wondered if she would watch the game tonight, or if she planned on hiding in the halls of the arena like last time.
“Think you could focus on warming up instead of watching the stands?” Grant yelled as the ball rolled past Silas feet and hit the wall.
Silas jogged over and kicked it back to Grant.
The midfielder still hadn’t forgiven him for what happened at the first meet and greet. Even though word had never gotten back to Greg about him and Vinny showing up late to The Sports Emporium, Grant was convinced that it would somehow count against him. He was only cordial enough to practice and play with Silas—and even that wasn’t exactly comfortable.
The two passed the ball in tense silence for the duration of that part of their warmup, and when it came time to work on shooting drills, Grant was quick to move to the front of the line. Silas, meanwhile, hung back to put some space between them.
The guys took turns taking shots on goal. Finn was running back and forth in the goalie box blocking them one after another. The guy never slacked, even during warm up. When Silas’ turn came, he was sure that Finn became even more determined not to let the ball pass.
This went on for another ten minutes as fans continued to fill the stands. When the buzzer went off, Silas gave the crowd, mostly a sea of green and black shirts, one last glance before jogging off the field with the rest of the team.
They all hurried to change into their kits, and Coach was giving them one last pep talk before the announcer started calling them out onto the field.
“This is our game. We’re going to get the win tonight.”
“Yeah,” the guys all answered in unison.
“We’re going to send Maryland back home with the L.”
Everyone started cheering and clapping. “Yeah.”
“Let’s go get ’em.”
One last cheer went through the room as they all filed out once again. This time it was different. Everyone was bouncing on the balls of their feet as they waited to be called, whether it was pure excitement, to keep their muscles warm, or a combination of both, it didn’t matter. This was it.
Silas’ heart raced as he listened to his teammates get called out one-by-one. The crowd was going wild, and he got even more pumped waiting for his turn. The lights in the arena were low, and there was a spotlight on the place where all the players entered the field.
“On offense, number thirty-two, Silas Jenkins!”
Silas jogged out to meet his teammates. Like the last game, he looked to the floor seats next to the home bench to see if Miriam was there yet. To his surprise, she was. Harris was next to her, of course. And Allie had decided to grace the arena with her presence two games in a row. Only this time, it was to watch the game beside Miriam.
He didn’t let Miriam’s little bodyguards deter him. He still wanted to acknowledge Miriam—do something that would make it obvious that he was looking for her. At the last game, he’d sent her a wink, and it had gone terribly. This time, he tried a different approach. He gave her a tentative smile.
Miriam must have liked it much better. She smiled back and gave him a little wave, which Allie immediately repaid with a sharp jab with her elbow. Silas chuckled. Miriam’s smile grew.
Did that mean he was making progress?
He couldn’t stop to think about it too much. They were a short rendition of the National Anthem away from kickoff, and he needed to make sure he played hard like the last game. Silas gave Miriam one more smile before he pushed back his shoulders and tried to clear his mind.
The song finished and the lights came back on. Everyone but the refs and the starting lineup for both teams left the field. The whistle blew, and the game started.
Maryland got the kickoff, and Silas tried to get possession of the ball but didn’t have any luck as one player passed the ball to another. The players moved into the Storm’s side of the field. Silas knew Coach was going to have a coronary if it stayed there for very long since this team was known to have a weak offense. It made the Storm look bad.
Silas stayed on his assigned player while he watched Cardosa take the ball from one of Maryland’s guys. He kicked it back to Finn, who quickly scanned upfield looking for a target and kicked it to Silas. Silas got the ball and dribbled it upfield, passing two of Maryland’s guys. He took a shot...blocked.
The other team’s keeper
