Home Game

[Jacob Christianson]

(( Saturday, August 25th, 4pm ))
Jacob paced, back and forth, back and forth, outside the locker room. Silas never missed a game, and he always met Jacob before he got dressed for a game to wish him luck. Jacob was worried because Silas was late.

Silas Christianson, better known in the papers as Puissant, the hero who won a Medal of Valor, walked around the corner at 4:07pm, seven minutes behind. Jacob smiled. "Hey, Si. I thought you wouldn't make it."

"And miss J-ball? Not a chance, kid. Sorry I'm late. Had to break up a Freakshow party. But I've got the evening off. Never miss a home game."

Jacob gave his brother a hug. "Awesome. Light exercise, huh?"

The shared a laugh, and Silas said, "Your sister and her whole team are coming, too. I finally talked her into actually showing up for once."

Jacob defended his sister, "She's seen me play once. That's been enough for her. What about Mom and Dad?"

Silas shook his head. "Sorry, kiddo. They're taking their turn patrolling for Rikti near the zone. But Lucy'll be here."

Jacob smiled. Lucy was one of his grandmothers. She was a feminist from when women weren't quite so equal. Back, according to her, when feminism meant something. They all called her Lucy because, "I ain't old enough to be a grandma yet. You'll call me Lucy until I'm at least a foot and a half in the grave."

"Keep an eye out for some Westbrook kids, Si. I invited a bunch of them to come watch."

Silas nudged his brother with an elbow. "Anyone in particular I should be looking for?"

Before Jacob could begin to blush, Joey, the right back stuck his head out of the locker room. "Christianson. Time to get rolling. Oh, hey, Silas. How's crime-fighting?"

"Good, Joey. Knock 'em dead today."

"Sure thing, Silas. You coming, Jacob?"

Silas gave Jacob a playful shove. "That's your cue. Show 'em how to play soccer out there."

Jacob turned and headed into the locker room. Somehow, he was always less nervous when he knew Silas would be watching.

[Jacob Christianson]

(( Saturday, August 25th, 6pm ))

Jacob came in off the field after warming up with the team. The stands were just starting to fill up as the early comers, mostly parents, arrived. His sister had come by the entrance tunnel to lean down and shout at him.

"Hey, bro. I heard you have a game tonight."

Jacob smiled, "Mags! You're actually coming to a game?"

"The team thought we should still do stuff that wasn't work together. Usually, we'd go to PCUH games on Saturday, but we're too old for that. Then Si told me about your home game. Do well, and you'll earn some fans."

Jacob laughed. Magdalena Christianson, his sister and known among heroes as Neap Tide, had just graduated from Paragon City University of Heroism in May, and her team from school had stuck together. She was usually too busy to come to his games, and thought that soccer was a distraction from serious work, but she was good enough not to bring it up right before a game.

"Well, thanks for coming, Mags. Keep your eyes open for Si and for some folks from Westbrook."

"Don't worry, bro. I won't embarrass you more than you'd do for yourself."

Jacob went into the locker room and sat down on the bench in front of the cubby he'd claimed for the game, next to Joey and Griffin, the back-up goalkeeper, and his two closest friends on the team.

"Got a lot of family coming, Jake?"

"First home game as a starter? Every one who isn't working."

"Must be cool to have heroes around all the time. Must be like living with celebrities."

"Nah, it's just like normal. At least Mom and Dad try to keep it as normal as they can. Just conversation about work can be kind of crazy."

"I bet."

The coach came in to give his last minute talk about tactics.

"Alright, we've got Philly. Now I know we're six and one, but tonight, we've got to be zero and zero. Philly is chasing right on our tails in the division, and if we want a shot, we got to stay ahead. So, today is about match-ups. They're slow on their left side, so don't be afraid to push up, Joey. Keep your positions, and play as a team, and we'll come out one and zero. Christianson, I want you taking all the corners tonight, instead of just the ones from the right. Fredericks, push the middle to give everyone on our right side room. Alright, everyone in. On three. One, two, three."

The team responded, "One and Oh!"

Jacob turned back to his cubby, and started changing into his game kit. He could feel the excitement, the adrenaline. There was no better rush in the world. It was game time.

[Jacob Christianson]

(( Saturday, August 25th, 7pm ))

Time slowed as the coin flipped, end over end, through the air. Nathan Hall, captain of the Paragon City Heroes, felt his heart beat in his chest. The coin hit the turf and bounced once, twice. The referee bend to look at the coin, lying in the grass. He stared at the coin, where the profile of John F Kennedy gazed blankly to his right.

"Heads it is. Home team, you have choice of kick or receive."

Nathan let his breath out, the most stressful part of the game for him past. "We'll receive, and guard that end."

He pointed to the goal that was down wind, so they would be playing with the wind in the second half.

"Philadelphia, you will start with the ball. Play a good, clean game. Remember, this is supposed to be fun."

The captains returned to their teams. Nathan looked at each of the other starters. "We so got this, guys. Let's show them some PC hospitality. On three. One-two-three."

The team answered with him, "One and Oh!"

The first five minutes of the game were a blur. There was a larger crowd than usual. Jacob thought he saw some kids from Westbrook, his new school, cheering, but his mind was on other things. The game plan was simple; possess the ball, break down the defense, and play down the right, where the Philadelphia Press were slow. Oh, yeah, and defend like crazy when they had the ball.

Everything seemed to be going well. It was clear that it was only a matter of time before they would break through. Then, the unthinkable happened. A deflected pass went straight to their center back in stride, and he went off for the races. A quick pass up to the right wing, and there was one man to beat. Nick Falconetti, the defender on that side lost his footing on the turf, and a clean chip shot went where Mickel Barrings, the goal keeper, couldn't get to it. Just like that, in the twenty-third minute, Phily was up 1-0.

This seemed to light a fire under the Heroes. Nathan shouted encouragingly at the team, saying things like, "No one comes in here and disrespects us!" and "This is our house!"

After that, things became frantic. Jacob did his thing, everything else in the world forgotten, save for what would happen on the field. His mind raced.

Slide to the left to open the passing lane. Here comes the ball. OK, options. One touch to Neal, no, he's covered. Hold the ball, quick stepover to juke that guy, and... nothing opened up in front. Back to Joey to switch the field.

"Come on," Jacob shouted, "Keep sharp, keep moving to open passing lanes."

He drifted over to the left side of the field, and stepped into a pass in stride. A quick chip over the defender left Nathan open with two to beat. Time was getting short. The fourth official had already held up stoppage time. This was the last chance of the half.

Jacob made his run to the right as Nathan streaked toward the goal, taking both defenders with him.

Good. They've done their homework, and know that Nathan is our leading scorer. Come on, Nathan, drop the ball off and break across.

As if Nathan read Jacob's mind, he tapped the top of the ball to stop it dead on the field and cut left. The defenders went with him, and Jacob was two steps away from the ball. He tapped it once to clear the passing lane and put it forward into space for Nathan, right at is left foot, a perfect set-up for a one touch shot. Nathan pounded the ball.

The ball rose toward the upper corner of the goal. The Phily goal keeper dove with no hope of getting there in time. Time seemed to slow down. A defender turned to watch helplessly.

*CLANG*

The ball flew off the post back onto the field. Before anyone could collect the ball, the ref blew the half time whistle.

The Paragon City Heroes went into the locker room down by one goal at the half.

[Jacob Christianson]

An empty plastic bag blew in the wind across the soccer field as the second half started. A modern, urban tumbleweed that seemed appropriate to the determination in the eyes of the Paragon City Heroes. Nathan stood over the ball with Neal at the center spot. Coach had called up a play that would start the half on the attack, something that the team had practiced and were about to put into action for the first time. Nathan saw the striker for the Philadelphia Press staring at him, trying to intimidate him.

Nathan smiled and blew him a kiss. The ref blew the whistle to begin, and the ball was put into motion, and back to Jacob.

Jacob dribbled the ball down the field which Neal and Nathan dropped back on their side. He passed the ball back to Joey, who one-touched it back, as if they were going to hold the ball to build up some possession. The Press started to move up to apply pressure as Jacob played one and two touch ball with Joey. Finally, he saw the opening, and passed the ball up to Neal on the right wing, and the attack was on.

Jacob cut down the middle of the field, drawing two defenders as Neal pressed the ball into the corner. Jacob drifted right, and received the pass back from Neal for a give and go that left one defender between Neal and a cross to a wide open Nathan, cutting in from the left. The defender blocked the cross, and it shot into the stands behind the goal for a corner kick.

Neal took two steps toward the spot, then turned to Jacob.

"You're on, Jake. What's the play?"

Jacob thought for a moment, then decided. "Let's run a three. You've got them pretty nervous right now."

Neal smiled, and moved to the left post as Jacob took the ball and placed it carefully near the corner flag. The ref halted play to stop the jostling going on, reminded the players not to shove, then nodded over to Jacob to take the kick.

Jacob kicked a perfect in-swinger as Neal ran across the face of the goal from the far post. The ball sailed up and over, out of the keeper's reach and hung as the golden apple from Freya's tree in front of an open net. The keeper hopped over, scanning the confusion in front of him for which player might reach the ball first. The ball drifted harmlessly over Neal's head. Out of nowhere, left unmarked, Nathan came from the penalty spot and hurled himself into the air. The two central defenders for Philadelphia turned, eyes wide as they tried to throw themselves in front of the ball. Nathan punched the ball into the ground with his forehead as the keeper dove forward to pluck the ball out of the air.

The ball bounced once off the turf and sprung into the back of the net. The Heroes tied the game at 1-1 in the 53rd minute.

The game continued to unfold at a fast pace. The Press surged forward, knowing that they needed a counterstrike to break down the Heroes team style of defense. A tie and one point on the table would be a win for an away game, but the Heroes were determined not to give it to them. Defend your home was the first step in climbing the rankings, and this year, the Heroes had the team to vie for the top spot with Phily and DC.

The game waned on and the final minutes began to tick away with the score tied at one apiece. Finally, Jacob was able to thread a ball into space for a streaking Neal, leaving him open one on one with the goal keeper. The defenders closed and one of the slid, catching Neal right above the ankle, sending him tumbling to the ground. The ref blew the whistle and gave a free kick to the Heroes about three yards outside the box on the left side. The ref reached for his pocket and flashed his yellow card, causing the captain of the Press to protest the call to the ref.

"Christianson," coach called from the sideline. "Come here."

Jacob jogged over to his coach.

"I want you to take the kick, Jake. I want you to take it and shoot. I don't know that a set piece is going to work a second time, and they won't be expecting it. Now, go!"

Jacob was met over the ball by Nathan and Joey. Nathan spoke first, "What'd coach say, Jacob?"

"He wants me to take the shot."

Nathan nodded, then saw the doubt on Jacob's face. "Hey, I know you're not a shooter, but you've got this. If you can knock a slushy off someone's head, you can hit this. Remember, we win and lose as a team."

Nathan ran off to the crowd of players gathered behind the wall ten yards away. Joey left with him, and looked back, giving Jacob a wink. "Show them what J-ball is all about."

Jacob spun the ball and placed it on the ground, the same way he did every set piece of the game. His heart was racing and he fought to breath evenly. The ref held up a hand to back the wall back to ten yards away as Jacob scanned ahead of him.

Everyone is tightly marked. Wall is covering the left side of the goal, with the keeper just to the left of center in the remaining open part. He's left the upper left corner open. That's a hard shot to make. Up and over the wall, enough downward spin for the ball to dip.

Jacob raised his hand in the air, signalling his teammates to begin their cuts. Nathan and Joey had the posts, to clean up any rebound if Jacob missed. Four steps away, Jacob began his run.

First step, breath in.

Second step, let it out slowly.

Third step, head down, eyes one the ball.

Fourth step, Jacob swung his leg and kicked the ball up toward the wall. Two of the four players in the wall jumped as the ball passed overhead. The ball spun, starting a seemingly sudden drive toward the ground from the air. The keeper shifted his weight, heaving himself off the ground and stretching himself as long as he could toward the ball. Joey and Nathan broke their runs toward the posts, eyes following the trajectory of the ball through the air. The ball brushed the keeper's fingers, abruptly changing the direction of the spin.

The only sound Jacob heard was the pounding of his heart. Once the ball was away, all he could do was watch. As the ball passed over the wall, it seemed as if the world stood in silence. It was as if Jacob's heart stopped beating.

The silence shattered with the scrape of the ball on the back of the net. The game ended a few minutes later, Paragon City Heroes 2, Philadelphia Press 1.