Chapter 4

Coach Alexander treated the team to ice cream and told them to meet for the game by two o'clock. The championship game started at three and he wanted everyone to be stretched, warmed up, and ready to go. Beth's mom picked Stephanie and Beth up from the ice cream shop and took Stephanie home. She congratulated them on their win today and Stephanie thanked her for the ride.

Stephanie got into the house and threw her soccer bag on the floor. Her parents were in the living room.

"What a great game today, honey! How's you're head?" Her mom asked concerned.

"I'm fine. You guys will be at the championship game in two days right?" Stephanie asked. Her parents said yes and suggested she get some sleep. It had been a long day and Stephanie didn't argue. Taking her dirty clothes downstairs she flung them into the washer and then headed for bed.

Stephanie took a shower, put on her pajamas, and crawled into bed. Her body hurt and she was exhausted from the lack of sleep. She hoped to go to sleep and not have that awful nightmare again. As soon as her head hit the pillow she drifted off into a deep sleep.

Today was the day of the championship game. Stephanie hadn't had the nightmare for two nights and was confident that she finally got it out of her system. She showed up at two o'clock like Coach Alexander wanted. He could see Stephanie was more alert than a few days ago and told Beth to help Stephanie warm up.

Soon the game started. Stephanie realized that tomorrow she would be headed to LazyTown and was excited. She focused on the game and how she would tell Sportacus how her team won the game. Whoa, I'm getting a little ahead of myself, she thought.

Stephanie's team scored their first goal only ten minutes into the game. But the other team answered right back five minutes later when Stephanie missed the ball by a few inches. At halftime they were still tied at one apiece.

Coach Alexander told his team that they could beat these guys if they scored one more goal. The team was nervous and they wanted to win the Champion's Cup. The whistle blew and everyone took their positions.

The next forty-five minutes both teams played their hearts out but no one scored. When the final whistle blew, both teams went to midfield. The officials explained that the game would have a thirty minute overtime in which the first to score won the game. In the event no one scored then each team would have five penalty shots and the team with the most goals scored during the penalty shots would win.

Overtime failed to determine a winner and Coach Alexander picked out the five best scorers to kick the penalty shots. Stephanie tried to focus and make sure she was loose. She hated penalty shots. All goalies do. The scoring rate for penalty shots is almost one hundred percent. Coach Alexander came over and asked Stephanie if she was ready.

"Ready as I'll ever be Coach." Stephanie replied.

Stephanie's team had the first shot. They scored and now it was Stephanie's turn in the net. Unfortunately, the other team scored on a well placed shot to the corner. Back and forth they went until both teams only had one scorer left. With the penalty shots tied at four apiece, someone had to miss or there would be more penalty shots. Stephanie's team scored and Stephanie replaced the other goalie in the net.

Sweat beaded up on Stephanie's forehead. She had to block this shot. The player from the other team lined up for the shot. Stephanie cleared her mind and focused on the player's body movement. The player looked as though she was going to aim for the top left corner or that was where her eyes were looking. Carefully Stephanie watched her every movement and the whistle blew the girl hauled her leg back and let the ball have it.

To Be Continued…