Page 73 of Jesse and the Ice Princess
She wanted this win like she'd never wanted anything in her life. No matter how much she had to push her legs, how ragged her breathing grew, she wouldn't give up.
Tied two to two with three minutes to go in the third period, they were running out of time.
Jesse scored a goal in the first period and Damien added another in the second. But Venice hadn't let them generate much offense since.
Every time Charlotte touched the puck, they came for her. Her lips curled up at the thought. Too bad they couldn't catch her.
Damien leaned in beside her. "You okay?"
She nodded. She wouldn't admit just how exhausted she was. True to his word, her dad was careful with her ice time, but she wanted to be out there.
Her dad tapped Jesse and Roman, telling them to get ready. "Damien, I'm sending you out with the first line."
Charlotte turned to look up at him. "Coach, I can go."
He crossed his arms. "You're exhausted, Morrison. I can see it every time you set foot on that ice."
She shook her head. "I'm fine. Two minutes, Coach. That's all we have to break the tie and get the win."
A whistle blew as the referee called a penalty on a Hurricane player. Charlotte's dad cursed.
"Coach," Jesse called. "We need to score a shorty." He jerked his head toward Charlotte. "Put us out there."
She swallowed. The penalty kill? She’d watched enough hockey to know basic positioning, but she'd never practiced one.
Jesse went on. "We can win this game, Coach. But not if we play it safe."
"All right." Her dad leaned forward. "This is what we're going to do. Carrigan, Morrison you're going out there as soon as we can do a line change. No set play. We need a breakaway."
Jesse clapped her on the back. "We've got this."
Charlotte nodded. For once in her life, she wasn't afraid of messing up. Because Jesse was right. They did have this.
Play started again, and one of the defenders managed to clear the zone, allowing for a line change. Charlotte jumped off the bench, her legs aching with every stride.
Keep going. Keep pushing.She repeated the words in her mind again and again.Don't stop moving.
She chased the play as Jesse battled for the puck along the boards behind the opposing net. It broke free, and two Venice players passed back and forth as they skated through the neutral zone.
Charlotte skated backward, swiping her stick along the ice to try to break up their passes. Their power play unit got into formation as Jesse reached them.
The four Hurricanes skaters on the ice fanned out, trying to cover all five Venice guys.
Until Charlotte saw her opening. She watched as one of the opposing skaters pulled back, preparing for a slap shot. The puck hit his stick before he lobbed it toward the net.
Charlotte fell to the ice without thinking, stretching her leg into the shooting lane. Pain exploded up her thigh as she took the shot in the pads. She grit her teeth to keep from crying out and used her body to redirect the blocked shot to where Jesse waited, poised to break out.
He cradled the puck and slipped between two defenders. Charlotte popped up, ignoring the agony still racing through her as she tried to catch up with him, dodging out of the way of a skater trying to block her path.
She put everything she had into those few seconds of skating, trying to get ahead of the five Venice players catching up to Jesse. One of the defenders stretched out with his long stick, trying to poke check the puck away.
Jesse slid it through his legs, passing it back to her as if knowing exactly where she'd be.
Charlotte swerved out of the way of a large boy coming at her. Two others came for her.
She bore down on the net, crossing in front of it, doing a full three-sixty turn before flipping the puck high off her backhand. It hit the crossbar and dropped back down in front of her. She went for it again, battling with the goalie as he tried to cover it up. The puck popped free, and she jammed it into his pads as the final horn sounded overhead.
It felt like all the air had been sucked out of the building as they waited for the referee to find where the puck was. The goalie lifted his pad, showing the puck over the goal line.
