Soccer Duel by Matt Christopher Page A

game!”
    “What!” Turk exploded. “He hit me first!”
    The ref blew his whistle again and pointed toward the sidelines. Turk backed off, still staring furiously at Renny.
    Let him steam, Renny thought happily. He can't touch me now.
    With very little time left and the score still tied, Renny knew that Turk's ejection had given him the chance he'd been waiting for. Getting to the ball, he kicked it as far as he could toward the Crush zone, then ran for all he was worth to catch up to it.
    John Singleman was already there, trying to get around the defense. Renny got free and called for the ball. John passed it to him.
    All second half, whenever he'd gotten the ball in the zone, Renny had taken the shot. Now, when the Crush rushed up to deny him, he remembered Bryce's advice to keep them off balance. Renny lifted the ball with his foot and headed it over the defenders, right to Brian Cardone, who was on the right wing.
    Brian quickly turned and shot. The ball went just past the goalie's outstretched hand and into the net. At that very moment, the ref's whistle blew three times, signaling the end of the game. The Blue Hornets had won!
    The whole team went wild. “We're in the playoffs! We're in the play-offs!” Jordan Woo kept saying. “I knew we could do it! You've got to believe!”
    Renny had to laugh as his teammates hoisted Brian skyward to put him on their shoulders. Jordan had been the biggest pessimist on the whole team. Arguing hadn't convinced him — only Renny's brilliant play on the field had made a believer out of Jordan.
    So why should I hold it against him? Renny thought. We're in now — and no matter what happens from here on in, nobody can take that away from us. Not ever.

12
    B y the middle of the first half, Bryce had had enough. He couldn't stand to see Renny beaten up any more. So he'd headed for Conroy's, where he knew the winning team would soon show up.
    As he sat there, sipping a glass of milk and picking at a plate of fries, he thought of Renny getting stomped into mush by Turk Walters. It was all his fault, Bryce knew. He had done something awful, and his punishment would be the gift of getting the Orange Crush as a play-off opponent.
    He wondered what Turk would say when he walked in. Bryce could picture the big, mean grin he'd be wearing. He hated Turk Walters almost as much as he hated himself at that moment.
    But it wasn't Turk who burst through the doorway with a big smile on his face. It was Renny Harding! Renny came in yelling, “We did it!” at the top of his lungs, followed by ten other Blue Hornets, all high-fiving and whooping it up.
    Bryce sat there, frozen. He was totally unprepared for this unexpected turn of events. Unbelievably, the Blue Hornets had won!
    Renny saw him and came up to him. “Guess what?” he told Bryce, putting an arm around his shoulders. “We beat the Crash, four-three!”
    “Hey, all right,” Bryce said with a weak smile and a little nod. “Good for you.”
    He looked at Renny to see if he could spot any major wounds. But no, there was nothing… a little limp, maybe, but certainly nothing like Bryce was afraid would be there.
    “I'm glad you're okay,” he told Renny truthfully. “I saw you get hit a couple of times.”
    “Awww,” Renny said with a warm smile; “I'm okay. That kid Turk is really a dirty player! He was purposely trying to hurt me.”
    “Yeah…” Bryce mumbled, looking away.
    “He had me messed up for a while there,” Renny confessed. “I was starting to shy away from the action. But then I thought of what you told me.”
    “Me?” Bryce turned to look at Renny again.
    “ ‘Don't let them intimidate you,' you said,” Renny reminded him. “You were my inspiration out there today.” He clapped Bryce on the back. “So now we get to face off in the championship series. It's going to be so cool! Two out of three, Blue Hornets and Yellow Jackets, for the title. I can't wait.”
    “Me neither,” Bryce said, his mood