The Hat Trick

chapter thirty one

as I skated beside my teammates while we made our way to the bench, I smiled up at the huge crowd in the full arena.

I was surprised my anxiety wasn't through the roof; it usually would be at a time like this. but I was happy in the moment, and prepared to conquer anything thrown at me. I was ready.

"heads high! stand tall! fly straight! USA!" shouted coach Bombay. "all the way!" we all shouted.

some of us sat on the bench, while others skated to their positions. just as I began to skate off, Luis reached over the boards from where he was sitting on the bench and pulled me back. we were face to face for a second before he pulled me in and kissed my lips for a moment. "good luck, babygirl." he smiled after pulling away. I giggled as I put my helmet on while skated to my position.

Averman and a huge Icelander took the face off, and Averman was immediately knocked down.

here we go again.

Iceland skated off with the puck and knocked over anyone who got in the way. I chased after the puck and got ahold of it right behind our goal. just as I began to skate away with it, two Icelanders checked me into the boards; causing me to immediately fall down. though it hurt, I knew I couldn't be weak or let anything touch me. I was determined to help my team win this game.

right as I got up, I heard the goal horn go off. I looked up at the scoreboard only to see the thing I hoped I hadn't; Iceland scored a goal within a matter of seconds into the game. I rolled my eyes and skated over to the bench for a line change.

"don't worry, Hallie." said Charlie after I sat down beside him on the bench. "I'm trying not to." I sighed.

after several minutes of watching my teammates struggle to keep up, another goal was scored by Iceland. everyone on the bench threw their sticks at the boards in anger and disbelief, including I. it was only a few minutes into the game and we were already losing!

"Banks, Bradley! you're on." shouted Bombay. Adam and I shot each other a devilish grin before climbing over the boards and onto the ice.

Adam took the face off and won, then shot the puck to Averman, who was desperately trying to reach the point where he could shoot. just before taking his shot, he was tripped by Sanderson.

I wanted so bad to fight someone then; the next player who got out of line with me would be getting it.

Sanderson was escorted to the penalty box by the ref while Adam and I skated back to the bench. "what a douche." I angrily said. "let me know if he does anything to you. he's gonna get his ass beat." Adam said as we climbed over the boards.

just a few moments later, Connie got ahold of the puck and passed it to Luis. he skated at top speed to the goal, but lost his balance and fell.

"Luis you spasticated idiOt!" I shouted. leave it to Luis to screw up something as simple as that.

an Iceland player took the puck and immediately shot it past Goldberg, making the score 3-0 in just the first period. and what I surprise, Iceland scored once again within minutes of their previous goal. 4-0; and that was the end of the first period.

Averman and Stahl took the face off at the beginning of the second period. Averman was knocked over immediately, once again.

I was really starting to loose hope at this point. my teammates were falling over and getting checked left and right. I didn't even want to watch; it was making me nervous.

"we're pathetic." mumbled Julie, whom I was sitting beside on the bench. "hey, don't say that. sure, we may not be winning, but we are here. we made it this far." I said, grinning. "yeah, you-" Julie's sentence was cut short by the loud noise of the goal horn.

"we scored!" shouted Julie. we all stood and cheered as the crowd went wild. Fulton and Dean, the Bash Brothers, pumped up the crowd even more as they skated around the ice, cheering loudly. I couldn't help but laugh.

"maybe we aren't so pathetic." laughed Julie.

it took a few moments to round up the Bash Bros, but once they were back on the bench, Connie and some others went onto the ice for a line change.

just several seconds after the face off, Connie got checked hard into the boards by Sanderson, knocking her over. "hey!" we all shouted from the bench.

as she lied there, Sanderson hovered over her, staring at her like she was a meal. but Dwayne wouldn't tolerate it. he quickly grabbed the lasso that just happened to be sitting beside him on the bench and hopped over the boards, then twirled it over his head as he quickly made his way to her.

"I'm comin' Connie!" he shouted as he approached them. he threw out his lasso with perfect aim, wrapping it right around Sanderson. he pulled him back and shot a grin to Connie.

we all cheered at the bench; the game was getting so fun!

the two of them skated back over, and with that, the buzzer went off and the second period came to a finish.

"this isn't a hockey game this is a circus." huffed coach. I didn't see what the big deal was, we were having fun!

"team USA!" shouted coach as we excitedly rambled to each other about the previous events, "I need to see you all in the locker room; lets go!" he finished as he motioned us to follow him.

moments later, we were gathered in the locker room. we all sat on the bench that wrapped around three sides of the square shaped room. I sat between Luis and Connie as we listened to coach Bombay begin his pep talk.

"Iceland is three points ahead, and we are one period away from defeat." he said, calmly.

"we still have a chance at winning this, coach." spoke Charlie as he stood from the bench.

"he's right." said Adam.

"and if we can't win, we can at least keep our pride." smirked Luis.

"and remember we made it this far." i added, then smiled over at Luis who wrapped his arm around me.

bright smiles of hope grew across the faces of my teammates. even coach had a slight smile plastered across his lips.

"confidence is key. if we are confident we can do something, we conquer anything; together, as a team." said Charlie.

"because ducks fly together." said a familiar voice.

everyone's attention was moved to the front of the room. standing there was Miss McKay, holding a large box. she set it down and opened it with a smile, then pulled out a new and beautiful jersey.

"Germaine, Hall, Wu," she named off as she tossed the jerseys at us. "Banks, Mendoza, Bradley," she continued. the three of us caught the jerseys and stared at them in admiration.

they were white with blue and dark purple details. the ducks logo was stitched to the front, and my lucky number 2 was stitched on the back, below 'Bradley' and on the shoulders of the new jersey.

"can we really change? is this against the rules?" asked Julie. "there's no rule against it." smirked Miss McKay. we all cheered in excitement for a moment.

"well, what are y'all waiting for? put them on! let's go!" shouted coach, excitedly. we rapidly threw on the jerseys before coach had one more thing to say.

"this is the turning point, this is where we step up our game!" shouted Bombay.

"let's get out there and kick some Iceland butt!"

we all cheered and followed him out to the arena, proudly flaunting our new jerseys.

with one period remaining in the championship game, we, the team USA Ducks, still had a chance to go home with a gold.

authors note;
hEllo eVerYonE!
let me know what y'all thought about this chapter & don't forget to vote! (i love reading comment so feel free to spam me with them)! alright, i love y'all, have a great day, and please enjoy this chapter. 😌💞✨