An hour out from serve the stadium guards unlocked the gates and started letting people in. Neil thought he could feel the stadium shake beneath the weight of tens of thousands of feet. He dressed to the distant rumble of excited voices and met his team in the foyer. Wymack had the stick rack out already. Kevin opened the lids over his pair and threaded his fingers through the nets.

"Can you do this, Kevin?" Abby asked, searching his face for any sign he was okay. "Can you play?"

"If I am breathing, I can play," Kevin said. "This is my game too."

"Words to live and die by." Wymack motioned for them to line it up. "I expect a double-digit score from my offense line. Kevin, you know their defense better than anyone else and they don't know how to face you right-handed, so run them into the ground. Neil, get at least five points or I'll have you running marathons every month until graduation."

Neil stared at him. "Five points?"

"You got four last week."

"We weren't playing Edgar Allan last week, Coach," Neil said.

"Irrelevant," Wymack said with a jerk of his hand. "Five points or twenty-six miles. Do the math and decide which one makes you happier."

He didn't give Neil a chance to argue but looked at Allison and Dan. "You ladies let offense drown if you have to. They're not your concern. Your focus tonight is keeping the defense line afloat. Get me? We know the Ravens are faster and bigger and better than us. We only have a chance so long as we can control their score. Defense, keep the strikers away from goal. Period, end of story. Andrew, for once in your miserable midgety life play like you want us to win, would you?"

Andrew looked amused by that request, which Neil didn't find at all reassuring. The warning buzzer sounded over their heads, alerting them they were due in the inner court in a minute. Neil wasn't the only one who started when it went off and he was more than a little alarmed that Kevin was one of the ones who jumped. Abby fixed Kevin with an intent look that Kevin refused to return. Wymack clapped his hands at his team until they fell in line.

"Let's do this," he said. "The sooner we kill these bastards, the sooner we can get roaring drunk at Abby's place. I spent all damned morning stocking her fridge."

It wasn't exactly a vote of confidence, but it made most of Neil's teammates smile and Nicky whooped a little in glee. There was no point pretending they weren't going to get completely slaughtered tonight. Wymack was offering them a chance to drink themselves to sleep so they wouldn't stay up all night stewing on their failure. Neil guessed that was better than nothing, even if it didn't help him at all.