And here is part 3, at last.
The day after the Dorson match was the girls team's own game against fellow title-challengers Mistletown, a long-anticipated match that had been billed as a potential title decider.
The spectator stand was rocking. Every fan in the stadium knew the importance of this match. The girls' team currently led the division table by five points. Victory today would open that gap to eight, an all-but insurmountable advantage, while a defeat would cut the gap to only two points. The Goode fans were in full voice, savouring the possibility of winning the first league title in the school's history.
A natural attacker, Annabeth played in an advanced central position ahead of midfielders Piper and team captain Clarisse, with wingers Thalia and Hazel on her left and right. Centre-forward Victoria led the line ahead of her, a towering goal machine who'd scored nine goals in ten matches so far, making up almost a third of Goode's total goal tally all by herself.
The game began at blistering pace. Goode were clad in their classic blue shirts and white shorts, while Mistletown were direct opposites in red tops and black shorts.
Mistletown were fast and fit, relishing the clash with their opponents Goode. Annabeth's team came under immediate pressure as red shirts closed them down from all sides, going one-on-one across the entire pitch. Goode battled back in a compact, ball-oriented shape that changed and shifted as they moved with the ball.
Neither team could maintain possession. Mistletown's pressing was relentless, dispossessing Goode whenever they tried to surge forward and intercepting their passes at every opportunity. Goode could make no progress up the pitch, instead concentrating numbers around the ball to force Mistletown back. The sun was high in the sky and both teams started to pant and gasp as the minutes ticked on.
Goode's back line could find no way into midfield. Mistletown seemed to be everywhere at once, red shirts glowing like hot coals in the sun. Clarisse dropped deep to get on the ball and a Mistletown player went in hard on her as she tried to turn. Both players came together and Clarisse grunted as a pair of red boots tangled with her's, fumbled, then she was clear of the Mistletown player and passed the ball to Piper.
Annabeth came short instantly, seeking to get on the ball. Piper played the ball to her and another Mistletown player was immediately beside her, fighting for control. Annabeth felt the player's strength as they bucked and shoved. She could not shake the red shirt off, but then there was an outlet as Hazel ran past her at full speed. Annabeth slid the ball into her path and Hazel took it in her stride, touching it past the challenge of the onrushing Mistletown left-back. She halted at the edge of the box, stopped the ball with a touch. The left-back had recovered and came rushing back in as she shaped up a cross. Hazel feinted, ducked two paces forward. The left-back followed her and she backheeled the ball to right-back Katie Gardner who'd arrived in support a half-second ahead of the left winger marking her. Katie made a one-touch pass into the inside half-space before the winger could get across to block her.
Free of her marker at last, Annabeth ran onto the ball, looked up and sent a short cross into the centre where Victoria waited with two centre-backs. The powerful forward outmuscled one defender to chest the ball up and smacked a volley goalward before the other defender could dispossess her. Mistletown's goalkeeper parried the ball away and it fell straight toward Annabeth who'd continued her run into the six-yard box. Annabeth stuck out a foot and managed to divert the ball toward the bottom corner, but hadn't been able to control the ball at such short notice and it came back off the post. This time she was able to shape up and shoot, only to be denied by the goalkeeper's diving save. Her jaw dropped at the goalie's stunning reflexes, then she was skidding and turning to follow the ball upfield.
A Mistletown defender had intercepted the ball and found space to play it forward as Hazel went skidding past her. Katie Gardner battled Mistletown's winger all the way into the final third, but could not match her speed. Mistletown's front three were racing toward Goode's goal like red-hot tracer rounds. The ball came into the box and the Mistletown striker's shot was deflected and stopped by a boot, bobbling away just outside the six-yard box. Their right winger was the fastest to react and curled a shot into the top corner.
Annabeth swore in frustration, panting lightly as she slowed to a stop just past the halfway line. All around her, Mistletown players were jumping and punching the air. The Goode fans had fallen silent, deflated by the sight of their goalkeeper picking the ball out of her own net.
Annabeth realised that Mistletown's strength was also their own weakness. A man-marking team could be stretched and pulled apart if their opponents knew how to exploit them. Their team coach Chiron had evidently come to the same realisation and shouted instructions as Mistletown gathered near the corner flag for their group hug.
"Drop into midfield to get on the ball," he told Victoria. "Draw their defenders out. Thalia, you make runs into the middle. Annabeth," The blonde playmaker jerked around as she heard her name called. "You go to the flanks to support the buildup. When their CDM follows her, Clarisse you advance into the space."
"Got it, Coach." The girls nodded and raised thumbs-ups in acknowledgement.
Goode went on the attack from the restart, going long down the left wing in an attempt to bypass Mistletown's press. Thalia outsprinted the opposing right-back and managed to bring the ball down. Red shirts closed her down from all sides as she tried to dribble her way out. Her attempted pass out was intercepted by a red shirt, then Annabeth stole the ball back from the Mistletown player and drove into the box, unleashing a fierce strike that was blocked by a defender. Mistletown passed the ball out of defence and Clarisse dispossessed the receiving player with a crunching tackle. Victoria was first to the loose ball and looked to play Annabeth in before she too was tackled and dispossessed.
The frenzied pace of the game gave little time to think and even less to recover. Goode had left themselves short at the back by committing so many players forward. Piper was outnumbered in midfield, retreating toward her back line as a tidal wave of red shirts flooded toward her. A cross toward the far post was headed away. Piper jumped in to block the rebound. Mistletown circulated the ball out of her reach and came forward again. A Goode defender tackled Mistletown's centre-forward as she shaped up to shoot. A second Mistletown player ran onto the loose ball and Clarisse made a sliding block as she pulled the trigger from the edge of the box.
More blue shirts arrived to defend their goal. Mistletown recycled possession and Goode forced them back with their numbers. They attacked down Goode's left flank and Annabeth combined with Clarisse to dispossess a red shirt before firing a long pass up the pitch toward Thalia.
Thalia got on the ball, swerved round her marker and accelerated toward the halfway line. Another red shirt stood in her way and she passed the ball infield to Victoria who'd dropped deep. The big striker held off her marker and sent the ball back into the gap between Mistletown's centre-back and fullback. Thalia ran onto it, outsprinting everybody else, but a slight nudge from a Mistletown defender sent her tumbling in a sprawl just outside the box. The crowd erupted in outrage and the referee blew for a free kick.
A wall of red shirts formed on the line of the six-yard box. Clarisse and Victoria jostled and shoved in the centre, surrounded by Mistletown defenders. Hazel waited outside the box, eyeing up the lone defender guarding the far post.
Two players stood over the ball. Annabeth was unmatched in precision when it came to free kicks, but at such close range it was left-back Reyna who had the greater ability to score.
Annabeth took a short run-up before leaping over the ball and away. Reyna ran up and struck a perfect shot that lifted over the wall and into the top corner.
Goode's spectators exploded with noise as the ball thumped into the back of the net. Annabeth and the Goode players went crazy, mobbing Reyna and screaming into the air. Annabeth's throat was raw by the time they had finished celebrating and walked back to the halfway line. The referee's whistle blew, plunging them back into the match.
Mistletown turned up the intensity after the restart, moving the ball across the pitch with dizzying speed. Waves of red shirts pounded Goode's box like tsunami waves. Goode repelled each attack as it came, but could find no way out of their own half. Mistletown were always one step ahead, as if they knew where the ball was going to land before it started moving.
The pressure was building as the ball rotated in and around Goode's penalty box. Two shots from range went narrowly wide of the post. Another was saved by Goode's goalkeeper. A corner kick was headed away by Clarisse, slammed upfield by Annabeth. Hazel ran onto the ball and made it to the halfway line before being surrounded and dispossessed by three Mistletown players.
Goode continued to defend stubbornly, but were undone in the 35th minute when a long-range shot crashed against the post and skidded across the face of goal. Both sets of players came rushing in. Goode's keeper recovered in time to block an attempted tap-in from a Mistletown player. The ball spilled out of her gloves and a second Mistletown player arrived to poke it across the line through Reyna's despairing dive.
There was no respite. Mistletown continued to push forward after the restart. Goode responded strongly, but were unable to break through Mistletown's defence. Neither side managed to create any chances in the remaining ten minutes before the whistle blew.
"It's still eleven against eleven," Chiron told the team during the half-time team talk. "Whenever the ball is near our box, their man-marking leaves massive space behind. If we break through the press we have the pace and ability to hurt them on the break." Chiron gave a nod to Thalia at the word pace.
"They haven't played any better than we did," Chiron stressed. "We're only a goal down. They'll tire in the second half in this heat and with all that running they're doing. We just need to stay calm, regain our composure and we'll turn this game around."
"We can do this," Annabeth said.
"Stay compact," Chiron continued. "This will nullify their pressing; it only works when we're spread out and they have spaces to attack. Victoria, keep dropping into the gaps between their midfield and defence. Once you get hold of the ball, hold it for the others to make runs in."
The big striker nodded, looking eager at the prospect of doing some damage.
"Let's go shut them down!" Clarisse pounded her fist into her palm, raising a chorus of whoops and cheers.
Goode marched out of the tunnel, determination on their faces. The home supporters gave a massive roar as the second half kicked off.
The pattern of the first half continued in the second; Goode holding their ground in their own half, Mistletown throwing bodies forward with aggression and pace. The game looked slightly one-sided, but with superior numbers around the ball Goode were now able to keep Mistletown at arms' length, counterattacking at pace whenever they regained the ball. Mistletown continued to play at full throttle, but Goode were starting to understand how to deal with their opponents. Mistletown's high press made it difficult to build up the pitch, so they concentrated on keeping the ball instead, circulating it between midfield and defence. With Victoria dropping into the advanced central space Annabeth usually operated in, she was free to follow the ball around, using her vision and passing range to maintain possession. Twice they set off dangerous counterattacks that made Mistletown scramble back toward their box. Both resulted in attempts on goal, but the red defenders did just enough to stop Goode from scoring.
Annabeth sensed a shift in the opposition around the 60th minute mark. Goode were finding it marginally easier to maintain possession. Their players now had the extra second to glance up before they made each pass, boosting the quality of their play. Mistletown were still omnipresent but didn't seem to be breathing down Goode's necks as closely as before.
Annabeth realised Chiron's prediction had been correct. Mistletown were tiring and now Goode could take the game to them.
Mistletown's pressing continued to slow down as the game entered the final thirty minutes, allowing Goode to make headway through their lines. Annabeth dropped deep to help build attacks, playing the ball in and around Mistletown's faltering players. One mistimed challenge allowed her to spin around her stumbling marker and drive upfield. Ahead of her, Victoria had found a pocket of space and Annabeth passed the ball to her as Thalia and Hazel raced ahead. Victoria thumped the ball into the space between Mistletown's left-back and centre-back for Thalia to run onto. Thalia got onto the ball and made it to the edge of the box before Mistletown defenders gathered around her. She passed it backwards into Reyna's path and the left-back unleashed a powerful first-touch cross that bounced away from the overstretched central defenders and into Hazel at the far post. Hazel sent it back across the box and Victoria yelled in frustration as she fired over the bar from point-blank range. Mistletown let out a collective sigh of relief as they regrouped.
The red shirts came forward again, but were not as dangerous without their aggressive pressure and Goode pushed them back. The momentum of the game continued to shift over the next ten minutes as Goode battled for control in midfield.
One overhit pass fell bouncing on Goode's left flank and Reyna raced onto it ahead of Mistletown's tiring winger, darting around her in a blur of blue and white. The crowd roared as she accelerated upfield, outsprinting the red shirt trying and failing to keep up with her. Thalia and Annabeth matched her stride on either side, while ahead of them Victoria was already running toward the penalty box. Reyna slid the ball into Victoria and the striker opened her stride before firing the second equaliser of the game into the back of the net. The stands exploded with noise as Annabeth and the Goode players howled in ecstasy.
Mistletown continued to disintegrate even as they pushed forward in search of a response. Clarisse intercepted a pass in midfield after several minutes of sustained possession from Mistletown, powering through a tired Mistletown player's challenge like a battle tank crashing through a wooden fence. The Mistletown CDM marking Annabeth raced away toward Clarisse, completely forgetting about the blonde playmaker. Annabeth started to run upfield and Clarisse spotted her immediately, sliding the ball across the grass past the Mistletown CDM who realised her mistake too late. Annabeth received the ball just outside the penalty box and glanced up to assess her options.
Victoria was already in the box, heading for the far post with a centre-back on her heels. Thalia and Hazel were running in from the flanks, taking the fullbacks with them. The other centre-back was caught in no-man's land halfway between Annabeth and the goal.
Annabeth pulled her leg back and struck the ball with such power that it shook the crossbar as it glanced off the underside and into the goal, leaving Mistletown's goalkeeper sprawled in a heap on the line after her failed attempt at a save. Goode supporters gave an epic roar as Annabeth shot both fists into the sky. Her teammates ran into her from all sides, knocking the wind out of her as they jumped and screamed. In just under ten minutes they had gone from 2-1 down to lead 3-2.
Mistletown collapsed like a house of cards, unable to find a way through Goode's spirited defence, too tired to press when they lost the ball. Goode maintained their compact shape in their half and were moving the ball around with thumping passes. The result looked beyond doubt at this point and the home team were content to keep possession while waiting for another opportunity.
Annabeth found space in midfield and sent the ball upfield to Victoria just past the halfway line. The towering striker charged forward as three panting red shirts converged on her. She outran the first, knocked the ball past the second and dodged around the third, bearing down on goal as the three of them crashed into each other and fell in a heap. The terrified goalkeeper came rushing out and Victoria fired the ball past her and into the goal. Overjoyed supporters erupted in celebration, a wall of noise that drowned out everything else in the stadium. 4-2. Game over for Mistletown and sweet, sweet victory for Goode High.
"What a run." Jason shook his head, bronze-rimmed glasses reflecting the floodlights overhead.
"Epic." Leo agreed beside him, craning his neck in an attempt to see over the mass of fans in front of them. "Man, I wish everyone would sit back down."
"If you hadn't made us ten minutes late we might have been able to get seats closer down." Jason told him.
"Impressive," Nico noted. "Most teams are usually finished after sixty or seventy minutes, but the girls managed to withstand Mistletown's pressure until they tired out and still had the energy to attack."
Percy had remained silent throughout the whole exchange, his eyes fixed on Goode's blonde number ten as she ran around the pitch. He swallowed hard as the game ended and she turned to sweep her eyes across the stands, a beaming smile across her usually taciturn features.
"Some game, huh?" Leo nudged him with his elbow as the stadium broke into applause.
"Yeah," he muttered. "She's unbelievable."
And that wraps up Annabeth's victory on all fronts. SIIIIII! As always, thanks for the support, it's been nothing short of amazing. Until next time, cheers!