Wild Thing

-17-

With play resuming, Lori promptly coughed up the ball on her first possession and left Hayley with no other alternative than to come racing out and attempt to reach the ball before the speedy Lion forward. Hayley made her move but in the process clipped the opposing player and sent her flying over her. The referee was left with no choice other than to pull the red card from her pocket and show it to Hayley as she got back up to her feet.  As a consequence, the goalkeeper was not only out of this game but suspended for the one to follow as well and Capital City would finish the game with only 10 players on the field.

The referee made her way over to the sidelines, "Capital City, you need a keeper." 

Coach Smith nodded and then looked over at her Captain. As Hayley made her way off the field, the trainer ran back into the changeroom and collected Kasey's gloves and her black goalkeeper shirt, bringing them to her. 

Eyes began to go wide and chants of "Wild Thing, Wild Thing" began to fill the stadium as the crowd realized what was taking place on the field below. 

"Grandma, Mom is going to be the goalkeeper, now." Kylie stood and cheered as her Mom made her way over to the sidelines. 

Kelley stood and watched as Kasey removed her Captain's armband and handed it to Jen before her teammates formed a circle around her, allowing her some privacy as she quickly removed her green jersey and replaced it with the black keeper one. Jen then passed her back the armband and she placed it back on her arm where it belonged. She pulled on her rather beaten up goalkeeper gloves, ripping away at the Velcro straps until they were right and tight.   

Kasey looked over at their Coach and nodded before then jogging down the field, shaking out her arms and hands in the process a couple of times before taking her place between the posts. 

Kelley was noticeably concerned about the situation and Kailen seeing her watching the current goings-on, left her group and sat down beside her Sky Blue FC teammate. "KO, she will be fine." Kelley looked at Kailen and took a breath, "I hope so."

Kailen smiles, "Trust me, you have nothing to worry about." Kelley looks at her questioningly before focuses back on the field. 

Of course, Kailen had seen Kasey in action and knew she would be fine, but she never filled her Sky Blue teammate in only a few of her Canadian teammates, who were now on the edge of their seats like most of the crowd in anticipation as to what would happen.  

Play finally got back underway after a lengthy delay with the Lions having a free-kick just outside the box. Kasey did her best to direct the players to form the wall and also reminding the others to watch their players. The Lions players set up behind the ball and when the whistle sounded, exploited space to send the ball, low and hard towards the goal. Kasey got a good read on the play and was able to react accordingly, diving and directing the ball wide and out of play. 

"Damn!" Kailen could only laugh at Kelley's reaction to the play. 

On the resulting corner kick, Kasey was off her line in a flash jumping and grabbing the ball away from danger. Surprising, the players and crowd alike. Waiting for the players to retreat from the box, Kasey sent her players down the field, lined up her receiver and then sent the ball back into play downfield. 

The teams continued to battle for ball possession, with the Lions holding onto it for most of the second half. In the goal, Kasey was getting a workout, as it seemed like her team defence had fallen apart, and the opposition was looking to take full advantage of their tired legs and wanting to test the forward turned keeper. Kasey was solid though and hadn't let anything through.

Limestone looking to add to their lead was making space and pushing the green team back into their zone. Kasey caught a soft shot and held it. Feeling that her team needed a bit of a breather and noticing the opposing keeper was playing high in her box, she wasted no time in punting the ball towards the goal. The ball sailed over the heads of the player's making a hasty retreat, dropping in front of the keeper, and then bouncing over her head as she ran back towards her goal. She gave a good chase but it was clear to all that the ball was labelled for the back of the net. As the Limestone keeper sat on her knees looking at the black and white sphere in the netting, she hung her head.