Hat Trick (4 page)

In fact, he was feeling so good, he decided to try to talk some sense into Greg. He’d hate to see his brother lose his best
friend the way he’d almost lost Lou.

He needn’t have worried. When he walked into the house, he found Greg and Roger sitting together at the kitchen table.

“Okay,” Greg was saying, the grin on his face a mile wide. “
I’ll
admit I’ve been a jerk
for the past few days, if you’ll admit that my scoring a hat trick was the best soccer playing you’ve ever seen in your life.”

Roger threw up his hands in defeat. “Fine, fine. I bow down before your greatness.” He flopped his arms down onto the table.
“Now get dressed for practice, you big jerk. You’re lucky you’re still on the team, you know.”

Greg turned serious. “I know. If I hadn’t called the coach to apologize as you suggested, I bet I’d have been kicked off for
sure. Thanks for talking sense into me, buddy.”

Just like Lou did for me,
Stookie thought. He headed upstairs, thinking about how lucky he and his brother were to have such good friends.

Stookie bounded out of bed the next day, eagerly looking forward to the game against the Tadpoles. He hoped he and Lou would
have a chance to run the fake crossover play.

The game started promptly at ten o’clock.
Stookie took his position at center field. When the ref’s whistle blew, he kicked the ball to Lou. Lou tore up the grass,
dribbling with all his might toward the Tadpoles’ goal. Stookie and Jerry kept pace with him.

Lou came face to face with a tackier and shunted the ball back to Stookie. Stookie started down the field but met a Tadpole
halfback. A quick glance to the right told him Jerry was open. He aimed a pass in that direction. But before he could get
the kick off, a second Tadpole defender stole the ball from him.

Rats!
Stookie thought, spinning around to give chase.
Where did that guy come from?

Fortunately, the Tadpole was better at stealing than he was at dribbling. Bundy Neel got the ball away from him easily. With
an expert pass, he sent it back to Stookie. Stookie controlled it, then took off like a shot.

He crossed over into Tadpole territory, dodging a halfback, then a fullback. All of a
sudden, the goal was right in front of him. Heart pounding, he drew his foot back to take a shot on goal.

Wham!

The same Tadpole who had stolen the ball hit him from behind. Stookie landed hard.

Tweet!

The ref called for a direct kick. Stookie stood up and shook himself off. As the Tadpole defense lined up in a solid wall
before the goal, Stookie caught Lou’s eye. Now was their chance to try the fake crossover!

But which player would take the kick, Stookie or Lou?

A
fter a moment’s hesitation, Lou raised his hand, signaling that he’d take the kick. The ref placed the ball on the ground
where the foul had taken place. Stookie took position a few feet to one side of it. Lou moved into his place.

Stookie charged forward. Lou did the same. Thanks to the extra practice they’d put in the day before, they moved like a well-oiled
machine. Stookie stepped over the ball. He shielded Lou for just a split second. But that was all Lou needed to trick the
defense.

Whap!
Lou’s foot connected solidly with the ball and sent it soaring past the wall of fullbacks. The goalie made a frantic dive,
but he was too late. Goal!

Lou and Stookie leapt into the air, whooping and slapping palms. Not five minutes into the game and already they were on the
scoreboard!

“Great shot, Lou!” Stookie yelled.

“It’s your turn next, buddy,” Lou responded.

But the score stayed at 1-0 for a while. Then, ten minutes before the end of the first half, the Tadpoles scored on a corner
kick.

“The game’s not over yet!” ’Cats captain Bundy Neel cried, as they took their positions.

“You’ve got that right!” Stookie agreed loudly. At the ref’s whistle, he set the ball in motion. Passes flew across the field
from Lou to Stookie to Jerry and back again. Slowly but steadily, the front line powered their way past the halfbacks into
Tadpole territory.

But the Tadpoles weren’t about to let them
go unchallenged. When Stookie received the ball from Jerry, two fullbacks double-teamed him. The other fullback and a halfback
were covering Jerry and Lou. Stookie didn’t have anyone to pass to!

He heard Dewey London call to him from behind. With a desperate stab of his foot, he pulled the ball away from the Tadpoles.
There wasn’t time or room to turn around to pass to Dewey. So instead, Stookie kicked with the heel of his foot and sent the
ball rocketing blindly backward!

The fullbacks were caught completely by surprise—and out of position. Dewey didn’t even have to move. He just kicked the ball
into the goal!

“Yes!” Dewey screamed. “I made a goal! I made a goal!” The usually quiet halfback was jumping for joy.

The half ended with the score 2-1. The team crowded around the coach, sucking orange slices and downing cups of water.

“I like what I see out there,” Coach Bradley praised. “Good teamwork and good thinking on your feet. Fancy footwork out there,
mister,” he added, grinning at Stookie. “That move will give you a check mark in the assist column.”

Stookie grinned back, then pretended to turn thoughtful. “Hmm. Assists are almost as good as goals, aren’t they?” He tapped
a finger against his chin. “Let’s see, if I set a team record for assists
and
score a hat trick, why, that should be enough to earn me a full color picture on the front page!”

“You even think about it,” Lou growled menacingly, “and the next time we try a fake crossover you’ll find yourself flat on
your back.”

Stookie laughed and threw an arm around Lou. “There are worse things in life than having a friend who keeps a person in line.”

Lou gave Stookie a shove and the two boys fell over in a heap, laughing.

#4 Hat Trick

Matt Christopher

Illustrated by Daniel Vasconcellos

When Stookie Norris’s older brother, Greg, gets his picture in the paper for scoring three goals in one game, Stookie is dazzled.
Greg insists strikers should try to score a hat trick every game, though Stookie’s coach has never told him that. Still, when
the Soccer ’Cats have their next game, Stookie does his best to score three goals—even though it means running wild all over
the field chasing the ball. But is that really the best way for him to play his position?

Here is the fourth paperback entry in the Mall Christopher Soccer ’Cats series, an exciting line of first chapter books perfect
for sports tans ready to start reading on their own.