A/N: Thank you to everybody who read this story! I'm sorry for the irregular updating towards the end. This is going to be the last chapter, but I'm thinking about writing a epilogue to properly finish the story. Again, thank you for all the support! Enjoy!
The girls looked like a bunch of lost puppies. They were sitting in the changing room waiting for Aubrey to yell at them. The yelling never came, as Aubrey felt just as lost as her team. She had no clue what to say to get the girls back on track. Objectively, they weren't even doing that badly, they were just the one goal behind, but everybody could feel that mentally they were much further behind.
Chloe was sitting in the corner, looking even more hopeless than her teammates. She got scared and did not go for the tackle. She let her team down, and it was her fault that they were behind. She wanted to make things right, but felt like she couldn't. She wasn't prepared, she hadn't been training and felt weak. Maybe the best thing for her to do was just ride the bench in the second half. Someone else could take her place, someone that wasn't afraid to take a hit.
All the girls looked up when they heard the door. Dawson walked in with Beca closely behind. Aubrey had seen the tiny captain talk to Dawson and she hoped the two had come up with a plan. Beca looked at her, as if she was asking permission to take the floor. Aubrey nodded encouragingly.
"That sucked," Beca started. A few girls laughed, others just scoffed. "So, what do you say, shall we call it a day? Cut our losses and go home? I mean, we made it to second place, that is more than anyone had expected. And it doesn't seem like we're going to win, right?"
The girls looked at her with disbelief. Where was their captain going with this? She wasn't serious about quitting, right? Aubrey made eye contact with Beca, and she could see that the freshman had something up her sleeve. She sat back and looked around at the team. The girls had started murmuring things like 'but we're only one goal behind' and 'we can't give up now'. Beca waited a few more moments, until Amy finally spoke up.
"Of course nobody wants to give up, but it's not like we can just work harder. We are killing ourselves out there and can't even get a ball into their circle. They are so much bigger and better, even you can't get past them."
"Exactly, we shouldn't try to get past them." This earned Beca another round of incredulous looks. "We should try to go around them. The entire game they have been seeking the one-on-one situations and they always come out on top. They don't pass, they don't work together. So we are going to do the exact opposite. We are going to be a team. We are going to trust each other blindly. Avoid any and all one-on-one situations and just keep passing. Pretend that the ball is a ticking time bomb that can go off at any second. Never keep it for more than a few seconds, but keep passing. That way they can never get a grip on us."
The girls looked at her with interest. This seemed like a half decent plan, a plan that might actually work. And it was simple enough. If it turned out to be horrible, they could easily go back to their old strategy. Aubrey was very impressed with this insight from her co-captain.
The girls were all murmuring their approval of the plan, and slowly the murmurs turned into cheers. They were stoked to get out there again and crush this game. With complete faith in their captain and each other, they should at least have a shot at the championship. Aubrey got up and replaced Beca in the center of the group, causing the group to fall silent again. Normally she would have some elaborate discussion of the mistakes they could fix, but she knew that was not needed right now, so she kept her speech short.
"Let's do this!" she yelled, initiating a round of cheers from her team. The girls got up and walked out of the changing rooms. Dawson followed the team, she would brief them on the starting positions for the second half on the field. This left just the three co-captains in the room. From just one look it was clear to Aubrey that Beca also had a plan to get Chloe back on track. She nodded at Beca and followed her team.
Beca walked towards the redhead, who was still sitting in the corner. Chloe did not look up at her as she approached, and actively avoided her gaze. Even when Beca crouched down in front of her and took her hand, she still did not dare to look at the tiny freshman.
"I was afraid, I couldn't do it. I should have tackled her, but I couldn't. She was just so big, and I was afraid that my shoulder… I shouldn't be playing." Chloe finally looked up at Beca. She had expected a worried look, or maybe even an angry look. She didn't expect to see her girlfriend smirking at her.
"What are you laughing at?" she asked. She knew Beca long enough to determine that this was really weird behaviour. She had no idea what the brunette had up her sleeve, but she couldn't imagine her saying anything to get her back on the pitch.
"You're going to play, but not on midfield," Beca said. Chloe raised her eyebrows. She had played midfield as long as she could remember. She didn't think she could even play another position. Besides, she didn't see how this was going to resolve the problem.
"Look, I get that you are afraid to go in for the tackle. Those girls are seriously big, believe me, I know." Chloe couldn't hold back a tiny giggle. "But that doesn't mean that you shouldn't play. If we put you in as a forward, you never actually have to tackle anyone. You just have to use those legs of yours and keep pressuring them."
Chloe shook her head. "Becs, I appreciate the thought, but I have never played as a forward. It would be better to actually put in one of the forwards. I'm not going to do much good there."
"Chlo, I'm not proposing this as some sort of consolidation, this is actually part of the strategy. If we are going to pass more, we need people up front who hang back a bit and participate in the game on midfield. Some of our attackers are really good at the running game, but we don't need that right now. We need someone who can effortlessly connect with the midfielders. You are perfect for that. And seriously, if I didn't think this was the best thing to do, I wouldn't have proposed it."
Chloe looked at her girlfriend pensively. That actually made some sense. And with the change of tactics, she didn't have to be afraid of any hard tackles up front, since she wasn't actually going to have the ball for longer than a few seconds at a time. She might actually be able to pull this off.
"And if it doesn't work, or if you're not comfortable, you can always sub out," Beca continued, when Chloe didn't respond. Before she could continue her argument, Chloe pulled her in for a hug. The hug turned into a kiss, which was only stopped when they heard someone clear their throat from the doorway.
"Guys, the game is about to get underway," Aubrey said, with one eyebrow raised.
The Lions walked onto the field seeming even more confident than before, their behaviour bordering cocky. Some were riling up the crowd, others were throwing menacing looks at the Barden girls. Interestingly, the more confident they were, the less intimidated Aubrey was. This was only going to be advantageous to Barden, they will not know what hit them.
The game got underway and soon enough Barden was driven back into their own half. They had managed to get a few good passes of, but lost the ball and were feeling the pressure of the Lions again. A few of the girls seemed to lose faith again, but Aubrey was not going to let that happen. Normally she would start to yell instructions at her defenders, but instead she started yelling encouragements. The first one felt weird, and she indeed received some bewildered looks from her defenders, but after they had fenced of the first attempt of the Lions to enter the circle, the girls started following her lead. Of course they were still communicating instructions on positioning, but these were now accompanied by words of encouragement.
Soon they had recovered the ball. Now they could start to build up their own attack. Aubrey decided to go for a simple sideway pass. As soon as the ball was received by the defender on the sideline, she moved into position to allow the pass back. She received it and found Beca a few yards away. Beca received the ball and immediately passed to the sideline, just before one of the Lions could step in.
The attack build up according to plan, and within just a few passes the ball reached the Lions' circle. Stacie received the ball inside the circle and was about to get a shot off, when she was tackled again. She fell to the ground and grabbed her ankle. The defender had tried to shoot the ball away from her, but instead hit her just above her shoe. Aubrey was ready to start yelling at the referee, but was stopped by Beca.
"It's no use, go check on Stacie." Aubrey nodded after she saw that they were rewarded a penalty corner. To her disappointment the defender only got a verbal warning and no card was drawn. She walked over to the tall brunette lying on the field. She helped Stacie up and supported her as she hobbled towards the bench. As she walked out of the field, she saw Chloe getting ready. She then looked over at Beca, who smiled knowingly.
Before she could think much of it, she had to get back to her position, as the penalty corner was about to get underway. They didn't set up a second castle, as both Stacie and Chloe were out of the game at the moment. Chloe couldn't come in until the penalty corner was over. Beca got ready and put her game face on.
When the ball was injected, it seemed like time slowed down. She took two big steps forward to line up with Jessica as the ball came to a stop at the top of the circle. Jessica removed her stick just before Beca made contact with the ball. She continued her movement and felt the ball rolling comfortably in her stick. The release was fast and high. Beca expected to hear the sound of ball hitting either the backboard or the net, but instead she hears something else.
She looks up to see the defender that had tackled Stacie lying on the ground grabbing her knee. At the same time the extremely tall captain of the Lions was walking up to her shouting accusations.
"You did this on purpose, you wanted revenge." The captain turned towards the referee. "Look what she did, this was obviously on purpose. She deserves red card."
The referee shot her down and walked towards Beca. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a green card. Beca sighed in relief. The opposing captain was furious and kept harassing the referee. Beca couldn't help but notice that nobody was helping the defender that was still lying on the ground. She didn't want to get involved, but she also felt guilty about what happened, so she walked towards the girl. She said her apologies and offered a hand, but the girl refused to take it. Before she could do anything else, Chloe came up behind her and pulled her away.
"Becs, it isn't your fault, there's nothing you can do. Better not risk them thinking you are trying to provoke her." Beca nodded and followed her girlfriend back to midfield. Here Aubrey had gathered the girls for a quick pep talk. As Beca joined, she received a cheeky smile from the blonde captain, something not even Chloe had seen before.
"I know you didn't do it on purpose, but I must say I'm not too sad about what happened. Let's play some hockey. We are going to crush them!"
The girls all cheered and started moving back to their positions. The Lions had finally helped their wounded player off the pitch and were ready to get the game started.
And just like that, the momentum had changed. The Lions had lost their attitude and seemed almost scared. Instead of stopping her passes, they would jump away whenever Beca hit a hard ball. They still got some attacks going, but Aubrey's defense was airtight and Cynthia Rose didn't receive any balls she couldn't handle.
Unfortunately, the Lions' defense was at least as good. They had trouble with the Barden passing game, but eventually managed to clear the ball every time. As time passed, Barden was playing against the clock more and more. Before they knew it, they had just ten minutes to play and were still one goal behind.
Their opponents knew this as well, and they started wasting time whenever they had the ball. They played it around in the back, or took a long time to take the free hit. The Barden attackers were trying to pressure the Lions, but they always managed to get another free hit out of it, which meant more time was wasted.
Beca looked at the clock anxiously, they had only five more minutes to play. Five minutes to score a goal. Five minutes between the Lions and the championship. She was not going to let that happen. She spurred the attackers on, forcing even more pressure on the Lions. The ball was now near the backline of the Lions. A defender tried forcing the ball into the corner to waste more time. Luckily, Chloe was doing an excellent job of forcing her the other way.
Lilly came in to set up a double. Now the defender had nowhere to go. If she would stay stationary, it would be a foul, if she moved she would be blocked by the players on either side. With one eye on the clock, Beca awaited the player's decision. She heard one of the Lions shout something, but wasn't paying enough attention to know what was yelled.
Suddenly the defensive player made a move. She played the ball high over Chloe's stick, but her aim was off, causing the ball to cross the backline. Beca ran forward to set up for the long corner, but when she looked at the umpire, she saw him give a different signal. He awarded them the penalty corner.
Barden set up the corner. Although Chloe was on the pitch, she wasn't going to inject. They had decided that the motion would be too strenuous on her shoulder. Instead, Lilly was standing at the backline and Chloe was lined up at the top of the circle left of Beca. They had set up a second castle as well, hoping it would create a diversion.
When the ball was injected, it was clear that the Lions were not fooled. The first defender ran towards Beca, but was far too slow. Two of the defenders stayed near the posts, and the last stopped around the penalty spot. Beca dragged the ball, but to her dismay, she shot it right through the middle at a comfortable height. The keeper was already down, but she had a relatively easy save with her legguards. The ball bounced back at an angle, and bounced right in front of Chloe.
Without hesitation, Chloe swung her stick at the incoming ball. It was already lifted, but her hit gave it new momentum in the opposite direction. The ball flew right above the keeper and into the goal. For a moment, Chloe just stood there perplexed. It was not too long before she felt familiar arms around her. She heard her teammates scream in her ear and received pats and hugs as she made her way back to her own side of the pitch.
Beca and Chloe both looked at the clock. Three minutes. That was doable, right? The Lions started the game, and Barden was immediately pressuring. They weren't going to hold back now, they had the Lions right where they wanted them. Scared and hiding in their own backfield. Chloe ran tirelessly and eventually forced the error near the corner of the field.
She looked up to find a midfielder that could take the free hit, but saw that they were all too far away. She decided to waste no time and just take it herself. As soon as she took off with the ball, a defender came in to tackle her. She didn't hesitate this time, and easily played through the legs of the defender. A second defender came in, but Chloe moved the ball away from her and passed her easily.
Now she was only faced with the goalkeeper, who was running at her. The goalkeeper was quickly closing the gap between them, and started to slide over the field for a block tackle. Without hesitation Chloe flicked the ball with her backhand, just high enough so it would fly over the keeper. She saw the ball fly into the air, but before she could see the outcome of her action, she felt her legs being swept from under her. She flew through the air over the keeper. Her stick was pulled out of her hands. Before she could brace herself, she hit the field.
People around her were yelling. She couldn't make out who was yelling and what they were yelling about. She also heard cheering, and suddenly between all the noise she heard her name. The source of this sound was rapidly approaching. When she opened her eyes, she saw Beca leaning over her, still calling her name.
"Chloe, are you okay? Please talk to me, Chloe. Did you hit your shoulder? Please, be okay."
Chloe took a moment to investigate her body. Was she feeling any pain? She tried to flex some muscles in her shoulder to see if they would respond. No pain, that was good. She turned to Beca and responded.
"I'm okay."
Beca's face showed the immense relief that washed over her. Still, she wasn't sure if Chloe was just trying to console her or if she was really okay. Chloe slowly got up to a sitting position with the help of Beca. Then she saw Dawson and Aubrey approaching. She ensured both of them that she was okay.
She raised her arm and spun it around to test her shoulder again. It seemed fine. Everything seemed fine. She finally took the chance to look around her. Her teammates were standing a few feet away, all looking awfully worried. The opponent's goalkeeper and captain were talking to the umpire. The Lions were all huddled together near their dugout. She turned towards the scoreboard.
1-2
"I scored?" she asked her girlfriend. A huge grin appeared on Beca's face as she nodded.
"Yes, we won thanks to you."
Chloe looked at the scoreboard again, this time to check the time to play. The time had run out just after her goal. They had won the championship. She quickly got up and threw her arms around Beca.
"We won!" she shouted. She released her girlfriend to hug her best friend. When the team saw that their captain was okay, they all came running towards them. The hug turned into a big group hug, thanks to Amy of course. Somehow the group hug then turned into a big circle of celebration, which prompted several speeches. Beca couldn't remember most of what was said, because the only thing she was paying attention to was her girlfriend looking the happiest she had ever seen her.
After their own little celebration came the official ceremony. Because all the fans were Lions fans, it wasn't too memorable, but none of the Barden girls cared. They were in their own little world, celebrating with their best friends. The ceremony was followed by more hugs, kissing the trophy and champagne that seemed to come out of nowhere. The whole thing didn't last long, but was the happiest moment in most of their lives so far.
As the celebrations came to an end, everybody started packing up. They were all exhausted and wanted to get back to Barden. They showered quickly and headed for the bus. Beca and Chloe were both a bit slower to get into the shower, as all of their teammates wanted to hug and congratulate them personally. They ended up leaving the dressing room last. As they exited, Beca took Chloe's hand and pulled her aside.
"I love you so much, and I'm so proud of you. You are the reason Barden won today," Beca said to her girlfriend. Before Chloe could reply, she was already caught in a kiss. She felt Beca's hand secure around her waist as Beca pulled her against her own body. Chloe draped her arm around Beca's neck. Beca turned her around, so that her back was pressing against the wall, while Beca was leaning against her.
"Guys, I'm sorry to interrupt you again, but we're all waiting for you," Aubrey's voice sounded.
"Yes, and Beca, could you please keep it in you pants until you're in her room," Stacie added.
Beca stepped back, rolled her eyes, and pecked Chloe on her lips before grabbing both their bags.
"We'll finish this when we get back," she said with a wink.
A/N: This is to clarify some of the play that was mentioned in the chapter. First of all, it is not allowed to deliberately play the ball over your own backline. The penalty for this is a penalty corner. I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but in field hockey you are allowed to take a free hit with a 'selfpass', meaning you don't have to actually pass the ball, but you can just run with it yourself.