No. 119

Aaron Lee stepped into the shot from the middle of the repurposed tennis court. The bright orange ball sailed towards the goal but was deflected at the last second by a defenseman diving to protect the net.

It was game three of the Street Hockey Fives tournament and team Puck Off needed a win to move on. Lee ran for his own rebound and shoveled the ball towards the open cage.

The keeper, who’d tripped while attempting to block the initial shot, recovered in time and got a piece of it to make the save.

 Lee got a stick in the mouth for his efforts. The lone referee was distracted by a scuffle in the corner. Lee checked for blood.

None.

Good.

He could continue playing.

There was still a minute and thirty seconds left on the clock, or, on the stopwatch as called out by the referee’s girlfriend. Puck Off was down by one.

The whistle blew for an offside, and Craig Harper lined up to take the draw. The ball was dropped and Harper played the ball ahead to Aaron who was primed for the attack. The defenders were caught flat-footed and Lee ran ahead on a breakaway.

He was about to start his deke when an opponent’s stick found its way between his legs and tripped him up. He tumbled forward and the ball rolled off his stick.

The whistle blew, and Aaron saw the referee pointing to center.

A penalty shot.

Twenty seconds left in regulation time.

This was the moment.

After the match it was widely agreed upon by team Puck Off that the goalie had cheated, the referee had made the wrong call, and, that if only the time-keeper wasn’t playing favorites, the rest of the tournament would have been theirs.

They consoled themselves with their beer and told each other that next year they’d win it all.

And play dirtier, too, now that they had time to think about it…