Neil kept his eyes off the scoreboard but he knew when the Foxes pulled ahead by the reaction from the crowd. The Terrapins almost scored a few minutes later, but Matt threw his striker into the wall. A second later they were fighting. Renee was closest, so she ran to break it up. Matt threw his hands up and retreated the second he realized she was there, but the Terrapin striker was too fired up to care. He went after Matt again and got in a couple good hits. Matt struggled with him a bit and managed to shove him away.

Renee took the opening. She caught the back of the striker's jersey and drove her foot into the back of his knee. He fell to his knees, and Renee put all her weight on his calf to keep him from getting up again.

The referees separated them with angry words and exaggerated gestures. All three of them were given yellow cards for fighting. Neil thought it a stupid call, since Renee hadn't technically been fighting anyone, but the crowd screamed approval. Because the striker initiated the fight, the Foxes were given possession of the ball near where the Terrapins lost it. Matt knocked sticks with Renee as they found their new starting places.

Kevin put them in the lead with one minute left on the clock. The last sixty seconds were a desperate push from both sides. A point from the Terrapins would put them in overtime, and none of the Foxes had enough energy left to play another fifteen-minute period. Eight seconds from the end a Terrapin striker got the ball. Aaron ran after him, but he was too exhausted to close the gap. The striker's ten steps took him all the way to the foul line for his shot.

Disappointment was a sick lurch in Neil's chest. The goal was too wide and Andrew too small; there was no way Andrew could stop a shot this close-range. The striker aimed for a spot as far from Andrew as he could and fired the ball at the bottom left corner. Even if Andrew could get there fast enough, the ball was too low to the ground for him to swing his massive racquet.

Except Andrew was moving before the striker finished taking his shot, as if he already knew where the striker was going to aim, and he didn't even try to swing. He threw himself at the ground as far over as he could and slammed his racquet down between the ball and the goal so hard Neil heard wood crack all the way across the court. He was just fast enough; the ball hit the taut strings of his racquet and bounced off.

Andrew let go of his racquet and went after the ball himself. The striker raced for it, too, but he'd lost a precious second expecting his point to be good. One second was all Aaron needed to catch up with him, and Aaron crashed into him before he could scoop the ball off the ground. They narrowly avoided colliding with Andrew, but Andrew didn't even look up. He grabbed the ball in one gloved hand and threw it to one side, clearing it away from the goal.