Audrey's POV
"Alright." Vlatko says. "We have zero subs left so one of you has to go in goal for Alyssa."
We're playing Australia today in the quarterfinals, we've had to use all our subs, and it's only the 48th minute.
Lucky us.
Alex got taken off in the 12th minute with an ankle injury after Carpenter slide tackled her, but missed the ball. In the 25th minute Rose came off with a hamstring injury then in the 43rd minute Pinoe got a knee injury and had to come off. Christen came on for Alex, Sam came on for Rose, and I came on for Pinoe.
A minute ago Australia had a corner, chaos ensued, and Alyssa came away with a broken wrist.
"I'll do it." I say.
"You sure?" Christen asks.
"Yeah. I have my own gloves in my bag in the locker room."
"Go get them." Vlatko says.
I nod, run to the dressing room, grab my Mom's old gloves from my bag, then run back to the pitch.
"Here." Someone says and hands me Alyssa's jersey.
I take my jersey off, put Alyssa's green jersey on, then put on my keeper gloves.
"Be safe my child." Ash says then she hugs me.
"You know you can be a bit odd at times." I say then both of us laugh.
"I know." Ash says as Ali hands me Ash's towel. "But in all seriousness just trust your instincts and you'll do great."
I nod and grab a water bottle then I head to the goal. When I get to the goal I hang the towel up on the net then lay the water bottle outside of the net. Once I'm all set up I look down at my Mom's old gloves then I kiss the stitching on the cuffs that says SOLO before I turn around.
"Your ball." The ref says then she drops the ball and heads up field.
When the ref blows her whistle I send the ball upfield to resume the game.
A couple minutes later Abby deflects a cross out for a corner.
While everyone is setting up for the corner I keep getting pushed.
"Fuck off." I say and push Sam Kerr away from me.
"What the hell is your problem?"
"What do you mean what's my problem? You're pushing me into the fucking goal."
"That's enough." The ref says. "Both of you cut the shit."
The ref heads back to her position before she blows the whistle then Raso floats the ball into the box.
Instantly I realize I can catch the ball so I run out to the 6 yard box, jump up and catch the ball. Unfortunately one of the Australians decided not to jump so the moment I catch the ball I flip upside down then I crash to the ground.
"Son of a bitch." I mumble into the grass as I hear a whistle blow.
"You alright?" Becky asks as someone rests their hand on my back.
"I'm fine." I say then I roll over and come face to face with the 9 remaining outfield players.
"Why do you look confused?" Sam questions.
"What formation are we playing?"
"4-3-2." Becky says.
"Ah okay." I say.
That means Becky, Abby, Crystal, and Kelley are in defense. In midfield is Julie, Lindsey, and Sam and our attack is Christen and Tobin.
"You ready to get up?" Christen asks.
I nod and the girls help me up then they head to their positions. A couple seconds later the ref blows her whistle so I send the ball back into play.
The next 30 or so minutes are a bit boring with myself only having to make a few routine saves.
In the 88th minute some Australian midfielder slides a ball through to a wide open Raso. Raso sprints towards goal as my defense race back to stop her, but when she gets into the 18 yard box she rips a shot low and to my left. I quickly dive for it and thankfully I get a glove to it which sends the ball back out into the field of play.
I swiftly pop back up right as the ball squirts out to an Australian. The Australian, who I recognize as Foord, puts her laces through the ball and sends it rocketing to the far upper 90. I time my jump and get a finger tip to the ball then as I fall down to the ground I watch the ball hit the cross bar and ricochet out into the mass off players.
Once again I pop right back up and rush to the other side of goal just in time for Raso to let another shot fly. This shot is down low and to my right so I swiftly get down and stop the ball with my leg then I shoot back up so I'm standing up. The ball rolls straight to Kerr who rips a shot right at me so I get my hands up and block the ball, once again sending it back into the mess of players.
"FUCKING CLEAR IT." I beg.
Logarzo gets to the ball first and she sends a low hard ball straight at me so I catch the ball and fall to the ground as the crowd burst into a loud cheer.
"Thank fuck." I say into the grass.
One of the girls touches my back so I stand up and launch the ball upfield only to have the ref blow for full time.
When the whistle blows I grab my towel and water bottle then I walk towards the bench.
As I'm walking to the bench I look towards the friends and family area and try to find my Mom. When I do find my Mom I subtly wave to her to which she smiles and waves back.
"You ready little Solo?" Tobin asks as I reach the bench.
"Yep." I say then Ash picks me up and spins me around.
"Okay I know you're Mom's Hope Solo and everything, but that was one of the best pieces of goalkeeping I've ever seen."
"Thanks Ashy." I say.
"Hell you may even take my job." Alyssa says.
"You can keep it." I say as Ash sets me down. "I much rather score the ball than keep the ball out."
"Well you do a good job of that too." Ash says.
"So what's the verdict?" I ask.
"Broken like they thought." Alyssa says.
"So what does that mean?"
"Ash will start most likely and AD will be promoted to the number two spot for the rest of the Olympics."
"So will all three of you get medals?" I question and Alyssa nods. "Sweet."
"Let's go Audi." Julie says so I follow her onto the field.
Once on the field I head to my goal which is in front of the USA fans. When I get to the goal I hang the towel up on the net then lay the water bottle outside of the net. After that's done I get ready for the kick off.
Once we kick off everything goes smoothly until almost the end of the second half of extra time.
In the 114th minute the Aussies push everyone on their team forward and they flood the box. Logarzo brings the ball into the box and battles with Abby, but a couple second later Logarzo fires a shot low to my right. I quickly get down and parry the ball away, but, unfortunately, the ball rebounds back into the fray of players.
Foord sprints towards the ball and takes a quick shot. Right before Foord connects with the ball I raise my leg up, as i'm still on the ground, and a second later Foord's shot hits my foot and ricochet's out for a throw in.
The throw in amounts to nothing, but I stay on my toes and hope the rest of the game goes smoothly.
In the 119th minute of the game Alanna intercepts a pass meant for Tobin then she plays the ball up to van Egmond. Emily then plays the ball out wide to Raso so I come off my line a bit. Once Raso has the ball she crosses the ball into the box. Kerr gets on the end of the cross and gets her foot to the ball which sends the ball over my head.
"Oh fuck." I say as I scramble back to my goal line.
Right before the ball goes across the line I dive back, reach a hand up, and smack the ball back into the field then I fall to the ground as the whistle blows.
"Are you alright?" Becky asks as my teammates surround me.
"Did it go in?" I question.
"No we cleared the ball up field." Abby says.
"What's with the whistle then?"
"We're going into Penalties." Christen says. "You alright?"
"I'm fine." I say and hold my hands out.
The girls help me up then I grab my water bottle and towel before I head to the bench. When I get to the bench Ash once again pulls me into a hug then Alyssa hugs me.
"Okay how the fuck did you do that?" Alyssa asks.
"Seriously." Ash says. "That ball was going in."
"Uh...Luck?" I say.
"Luck my ass." Ash says then we all move to the team huddle.
"We're shooting first." Julie says. "And we're shooting in front of the Australian fans.
"Audrey do you wanna take one?" Vlatko asks.
"I'll go first." I say.
"Alright." Vlatko says and chuckles. "First five will be Audrey, Christen, Tobin, Lindsey, and Kelley."
"USA lets go." The ref says.
I grab my water bottle and my towel then I walk with Mackenzie Arnold and the ref to the penalty area then I set my water and stuff off to the side. I then head to the ref, take the ball, and set it down on the penalty spot. Once that's done I back up to the edge of the 18 yard box, take a deep breath, and wait.
A moment later the whistle blows so I do my run up then I side foot the ball into the bottom right of the goal putting us 1-0 up in the penalty shootout.
When the ball hits the net I kiss the tattoo of my Mom's name on my wrist then I walk to my stuff. Once at my stuff I put my gloves on then I take a drink of water as Kerr approaches. Kerr finally gets to the penalty box so I get on the goal line and wait for the whistle. After the whistle blows Kerr does her run up then she puts her foot through the ball.
When Kerr hits the ball I dive towards my right, which is the way Kerr shoots, and a moment later I parry the ball up and over the crossbar.
"YEAH AUDI." I hear Kelley's loud ass voice yell as I get off the ground.
Once I'm off the ground I walk over to my stuff as Christen comes up to take her penalty.
Christen buries her penalty past Lydia Williams which puts us 2-0 in the shootout.
After Christen scores she comes over and hugs me then she heads back upfield as Raso comes to take the second Australian penalty.
When Raso gets to the 18 yard box she grabs the ball, sets it down on the spot, then she backs up and waits for the whistle. A moment later the whistle blows so Raso runs up and shoots to my left. I time my dive perfectly and get my hands on it, but the ball hits the top of my hands so there's a chance it could go in.
As I fall to the ground I watch as the ball hit's the crossbar and bounces away from goal.
"Thank fuck." I mumble then I get up and head to my stuff.
Tobin's next to shoot so I wait around with my stuff and watch Tobin drill the ball straight down the middle and past Lydia Williams, who guessed left.
"You got this little Solo." Tobin says as she hugs after she put us up 3-0.
Tobin heads back upfield so I get on my line and wait for Emily van Egmond to set up her penalty.
Once my club teammate has set up her penalty the whistle blows then Emily runs up and puts her foot through the ball. I then dive to my left and look the ball right into my hands.
"Holy fuck." I mumble when I realize I just saved three penalties.
"MUNCHKIN." Ash yells as she and Alyssa run ahead of all the girls.
Moments later Ash and Alyssa get to me first so Ash picks me up then they sandwich me in a hug.
"Okay you may actually take our jobs." Alyssa says.
"I'd rather not." I say as we stop Hugging.
Once the hug is over Alyssa steps away then Ash takes the game ball from me before she backs away.
"AUDREY." Kelley yells as she jumps towards me.
"Ah." I say as I catch my Mom's girlfriend.
Once I've caught Kelley the two of us are tackled to the ground by everyone else.
"Ow." I mumble into the grass.
A couple minutes later everyone gets off me and I'm passed around for hugs then I grab Ash's towel and give it back to her. After that's done I grab the match ball and run towards the friends and family area of the stands. When I get their I find my Mom then I hop over the barrier and hug her.
"Well damn Babygirl." Mom says then she kisses my head.
"I can't believe I did that." I say.
"You did great Audrey." Mom says.
Mom and I hug for a little longer then I take the ball, jump back down onto the field, and head to the locker room. Once in the locker room I put my game ball and gloves in my bag then I take off Alyssa's jersey before I take a shower.
After my shower I dry off, put my necklaces on then put my earrings and nose ring in before I put my clothes on. Once I'm clothed I leave the locker room then head back to the pitch. When I get on the pitch I head to the friends and family area and look for my Mom.
Eventually I find her so I hop the wall then I approach my Mom.
"Audrey?" Mom says then I see a light switch in her head and she get's really sympathetic. "Oh baby come here."
I run to my Mom then bear hug her and let the tears flow.
Two years ago today was when I was rescued from my captors.
"You're safe now Audrey" Mom says and runs her fingers through my hair. "You're safe."