Chapter ONE Go to the middle Aiden Connelly quickly tapped the soccer ball from his right foot to his left foot and sprinted toward the middle of the field Down a goal he thought We’ve got to score fast Aiden slipped a pass to Daniel Novak his friend and Thunder teammate who was charging down the right wing Daniel tried to swing a crossing pass toward the front of the goal The ball sailed wide and over the goal line The referee signaled that it was the Avengers ball Get back Coach Schmidt called out waving his hands on the sidelines Aiden hustled back thinking about the
game situation with every step Down 2 1 Just a few minutes to play If we can’t beat the Avengers we really need to salvage a point in the county league standings with a tie Aiden stepped in front of an Avenger forward to regain possession of the ball He raced up the field checking the defense All the Avengers were dropping back clogging the passing lanes Aiden and his teammates swung the ball from side to side looking for an opening Jayden Jefferson a Thunder midfielder sent a long high ball in toward the goal Thunder and Avenger players scrambled to get a head or a leg on the ball The ball spun loose from the tangle of players players Daniel kicked it hard with his left foot spinning it through the air toward the net Just before it reached the goal the ball smacked against the arm of an Avenger defender Hands Aiden screamed along with his Thunder teammates Tweeeeeeet The referee blew her whistle and pointed 2
to the penalty mark twelve yards in front of the goal The Thunder had a penalty kick Coach Schmidt stepped out onto the field Have Jayden take it he shouted Pick out a side and let it go Just like in practice Jayden set down the ball on the penalty mark Aiden lined up with Daniel along the line in back of the penalty mark ready to burst in if the goalkeeper made a save and the ball was loose The Avengers goalkeeper bounced from side to side along the goal line trying to guess where Jayden would kick the ball He dove to the right as Jayden made contact contact with the ball but he’d guessed wrong Jayden blasted the ball to the left Goal The game was tied 2 2 The ball stayed in the middle of the field for the remaining minutes with neither team generating a single shot on goal Finally the referee blew her whistle and crossed her hands over her head to signal the end of the game 3
