Lacrosse Face-Off (7 page)

Garry grinned. That was Michael they were talking about!

Coach Hasbrouck took Michael, Garry, and Pedro out of the game at the end of the first quarter. “But, Coach,” Garry heard
Michael complain, “I haven't scored.”

“And yet we're still winning five to one,” the coach answered, “so we must be doing something right.”

Michael had no answer for that. He sat down, frowning. Garry and Pedro exchanged delighted looks, then turned their attention
back to the game.

Evan was now on the front line with Todd and Conor. Jeff was still in the game. He scooped up the ball after Conor raked it
free in the face-off. With a quick flick, he sent it to
Todd. It was a hard throw and Todd fumbled the ball. As it dropped to the ground, Michael snorted with disgust.

“What a loser,” the older boy said.

Garry stood up, walked over to where Michael was sitting, and stared down at him.

“Hey, Wallis, clear off. You're in my way!” Michael said.

“I'm going to say this one time, Donofrio,” Garry said, his voice so low and menacing that Michael looked up at him with surprise.
“Stop knocking my brother. He's here to stay and he's here to play.”

“And if I don't?” Michael replied, narrowing his eyes.

“Then you can kiss any chance of being the league top scorer good-bye.”

Michael's jaw dropped. “Did you hear that?” he said to Christopher, who was sitting next to him. “Can you believe what he
just said to me?”

Christopher looked from Michael to Garry and back. “Yeah,” he replied. “Wish I'd said it. Now pipe down so I can pay attention
to the game.”

Garry grinned the whole way back to his seat. He was still smiling when he went back into the game halfway through the second
quarter—and when he scored the first of his four goals that game. The Rockets took the win easily, beating the Bulldogs.17-10.
Michael had scored only two goals.

After the game, Coach Hasbrouck called the team together. “I'm proud of you boys,” he said. “You did a great job working that
ball around today. Even better, you made good use of every player on the field.”

He put his hands in his pockets and looked up at the sky. “You know, my objective for this team is to make each of you better
players by the end of the season. And the only way for me to do that is to make sure you get
plenty of experience. That's why I make sure everyone on this team gets equal playing time.”

He turned his gaze back to the team. “I know some of you don't like sitting on the bench. You think your place is on the field,
scoring goals,”—he glanced at Michael—“and that the measure of a good team is how many goals you score against the other side.”

He spread his hands. “But in my opinion, the strongest teams are those made up of players who work together. Like you all
did today.” He grinned. “Okay, enough speeches for one day. Gather your stuff and head on home!”

Garry picked up his stick and his equipment bag.

“Coach Hasbrouck is such a turkey,” he heard Evan whisper to Michael.

“No kidding,” Michael replied, his disgust plain. “Get my gear, will you?”

“Sure thing, bro!”

Garry shook his head. Michael and Evan, he realized, would never change. But that was okay.
After all,
he thought, watching his brother horse around with Jeff,
there are plenty of other people I'd rather hang out with!

Baseball Flyhawk	Dirt Bike Runaway
Baseball Pals	Dive Right In
Baseball Turnaround	Double Play at Short
The Basket Counts	Face-Off
Body Check	Fairway Phenom
Catch That Pass!	Football Fugitive
Catcher with a Glass Arm	Football Nightmare
Catching Waves	The Fox Steals Home