It was a cold and dark Saturday morning, Austin Rivers was getting ready for his morning run. The streets were clear and the neighborhood was quiet, the lamppost at the cul de sac lit the path as usual. Austin re-adjusted his earbuds as he jogged onto Maine street. Today was the big game, today the warriors would go head to head with the Knights fighting for a place in the tournament, the New York Classic. The Knights were coming all the way from Chicago to play the Warriors in Michigan. Austin had trained for this day since he was a little kid, this tournament only takes place every 4 years and only the most qualified teams attend.

Austin slowed down from a sprint to a jog as he passed the soccer field, as captain, he was in charge of making sure their team brought home a win. The entire school would be there and they were all counting on him to lead the West High Warriors to victory. Ever since the fall of 2012 when his brother, Aidan Rivers, had passed away due to a soccer injury, everyone expected Austin to fill in his role and be the confident, skilled soccer player his brother once was. Aidan and Austin looked like twins even though Aidan was older. The brothers were tall muscular and blonde. Austin had blue-green eyes resembling their mother and Aidan had brown eyes like his father. Even though Aidan died months ago it still seemed like the game was just yesterday.

The crowd screaming, cameras flashing, then it fell dead silent and time seemed to stop as Austin watched his brother fall to the field intercepting a pass meant to take out their forward who was oblivious to the situation. Aidan participated in all sports possible constantly pushing his body to its limit, as a result he was diagnosed with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, which is a disease that forces the young heart of athletes to operate like an 80-year-olds. Sudden strain, like a soccer game, demands an overwhelming effort. According to the doctors, If a player is lucky, shortness of breath and chest pain warns them something is wrong. But often the first sign of trouble is collapsing or what doctors call sudden cardiac death. All it took was one hit and Aidan’s heart shut down, there was no recovery, no hospital, he was gone just like that.

Austin had always wished he could time travel and stop his brother from playing in that game, but being the stubborn teenager Aidan was, Austin knew his brother would have played anyway even knowing his fate. He used to find it annoying when people mixed up their names or called them twins, even though Aidan was one year older, but now he missed it. No one mentions his name anymore as if Aidan never existed.

What if I can’t do this? Austin thought to himself as he decided to take a detour to the soccer field. He climbed over the short metal fence and dropped down onto the cool grass which was still wet from the storm last night. The motion sensored stadium lights flashed on illuminating the field as Austin walked up the sideline. No matter how many times Austin set foot on the pitch it always took his breath away. Austin sat down in the center circle, his mind ran through all the plays they had gone through at practice when a streak of pain ripped through his left knee drawing his attention away from his thoughts. A few weeks ago he was informed that he had hyperextending joints, he was given a knee brace that he refused to wear. Austin had to sit out during the cross country season because his knee “wasn’t strong enough”. As he started to stretch out his leg, Austin regretted running without the knee brace. He decided he better head back so he could ice his knee before the game, then his phone started to vibrate, he turned on the screen and a picture of his mom illuminated.
¨Hello?¨  he questioned as if he didn't know who was calling,

¨Hey bud, where are you? We have to hit the road soon your game got moved to the field in Westland. The knight's bus broke down at Athens High school. You have ten minutes to get back here or you can walk!¨ his mom, Emma, exclaimed with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

¨Ok mom, i'm on my way¨ Austin responded. Couldn’t bus have broken down a little closer? Austin thought to himself as he walked out of the gated field. Once he reached the sidewalk he sprinted back to his neighborhood, remembering his mother's warning.

When Austin reached the driveway his parents and his younger sister, Chloe, were already in the car. He hastily ran inside the house and grabbed his drawstring bag with his uniform and switched out his tennis shoes for his cleats.

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The car ride was long and slow, traffic was heavy turning what should have been a ten minute trip into a thirty-minute trip. Chloe didn’t make the trip any more enjoyable by singing let it go over and over again. By the time they reached the parking lot Austin was convinced his ears were going to explode.

“Austin! Hurry up or you'll miss warm-ups!” coach Miller called as Austin stumbled out of their family’s silver escape. 

The Knights were already on the field warming up, their bright red shirts made them stand out in the crowd of anxious high schoolers. Austin scanned the field for the Warriors and found them laying down on the bleachers.
“You guys ready?” he asked as he dropped his bag behind the bench.

“Is it time for warm-ups already? ” Ethan, former captain, asked as he reluctantly peeled himself off the bench.
“Austin guess what!?” George, their current goalie, exclaimed as he clutched his side gasping for air which confirmed that he had been “spying” on the other team again, “Cole joined the Knights! Also instead of playing goalie, he’s out on the field as their attacking midfielder!”.

“No way!” Connor replied suddenly finding their conversation more amusing than his phone.

“Ok everyone calm down” Austin reacted, “That doesn’t change the fact that we are an undefeated team playing the Knights, who have barely won half of their games. We got this,” he added trying to reassure himself more than the group.

Before he could say anything else, Coach Miller joined the group with a map of the field and a pen behind his ear.
“Ok boys I need you to pay attention for like ten seconds ok?” he  announced.

“Oh sure coach!” James, who had noticed Coach’s gesture, snickered a little too innocently.

“Rhetorical question James you're lucky I'm feeling benevolent today” Coach Miller cautioned, “Anyway let's move on! James, I have you in as our attacking midfielder, Ethan you can start out as a forward, Connor how do you feel playing defense? Actually don’t answer that question yet. . . George make sure you wear those gloves! Chase center defense, Liam right, and we are still waiting on the others! Ok, boys start your warm-ups. Oh, wait Austin I need to talk to you for a second.” Coach announced out of breath from talking so fast.
“Sure coach, what's up?” Austin acknowledged sliding off the bleachers. 

“How is that knee of yours? Brayden will be here today so if you would prefer...” Coach started to explain when he was interrupted by a scream. They turned around to see a group of boys gather around a startled Ethan.
¨What happened!?” Austin asked pushing through the crowd to get to Ethan who was staring at his finger in astonishment.

¨I tried to stop that ball then I heard a snap!¨ Ethan exclaimed pointing to a red, white, and gold soccer ball lying on the ground.

“I’m pretty sure you're finger shouldn’t be turning that color, you need to get that looked at . . . like now.” Austin stated as he inspected Ethan’s finger.

While the paramedics attended to Ethan’s broken finger Austin took a closer look at the soccer ball.

¨The New York Knights¨ Austin muttered under his breath as he struggled to read the faded logo.  Filled with rage he chucked the soccer ball back to the other half of the field where a tall player with light brown hair stopped it. It was Cole, the warrior's former goalie, and Aidan’s best friend, he smirked at Austin then returned to his inutile stretches.
¨They did this on purpose!¨ George accused as he backed away from the group of paramedics.
Still, in shock from seeing Cole, Austin snapped back to the present.

¨George calm down it was an accident, the game is starting we have to get in position¨ Connor reacted noticing the fear in George’s voice, as he calmly strolled onto the field.

The audience fell dead silent as the refs called the teams into position. The field was big and flat with no ditches or hills. The air smelled like fresh cut grass and the sun beat down on the field, evaporating all the rain from the storm last night. Adrenaline kicked into overdrive as the players got into position, both teams ready to give it they're all. They both knew only one team would walk out of this field as winners and both sides were equally determined that would be them. This was guaranteed to be a close match.

This is for you Aidan, Austin whispered to himself as the game commenced.

Austin could feel the adrenaline pumping through his blood as he swiftly navigated around the Knights defense, he crossed the ball over setting Brayden, who was filling in for Ethan at the moment, up for a chip shot.
¨A well executed shot by Brayden puts the Warriors ahead!¨ Josh, who was running the radio station,  announced over the speakers with pride.

Time passed quickly in the first half with a series of goals, misses, and moderate injuries. One of the linesmen blew the whistle for halftime and both teams jogged to the benches exhausted and parched.

¨Great job out there boys! Everyone is doing great, we're working like a team and that is helping a lot. We need to be winning more shots out of the middle, the Knights may be tall but not many of the players are willing to go for an airborne ball. Also, I would like you guys to start taking more straight shots, I don’t think that is a real goalie. Remember you can't score a goal if you don't take a shot” Coach Miller encouraged as the boys inhaled their water in nearly one gulp.

“Make sure you guys watch out for number fifteen... he is usually the one that finds a way to drive through our defense.¨ Ethan added trying to put on a smile for the team who could clearly see he was struggling to watch instead of playing.

As Austin got into position for the second half he looked for his family in the crowd of screaming high schoolers and parents, he found them higher up on the bleachers. His sister Chloe was sitting on his mom’s lap, he never really noticed how much they resembled each other until now. They were both not very tall or “compacted awesome” as they liked to say instead of short, with long blonde hair with streaks of brown, bright blue eyes, and faint freckles. You could barely tell that Chloe was related to their dad who was tall like Austin and Aidan, with dirty blonde hair and stunning brown eyes which only Aidan had inherited.

The referee called both teams back to the field to start the second half.

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¨Hang in there Ethan you won't be out for long” James encouraged Ethan with a reassuring pat on the back before he joined the Warriors on the field.

Once the whistle blew Austin started off the second half with the ball, swiftly making his way up through the one hundred pushing through the Knights defense as they stepped up their game.  He passed the ball to Brayden almost instantaneously as he noticed Cole working his was up to him. The last thing he remembered was hearing the crowd screaming as Brayden’s signature bending shot flew into the goal. He could hear someone screaming his name in the background but it started to fade fast. He knew something was wrong when he felt his knee give out, he fell to the field and pain ripped through his leg as if he was just electrocuted. Austin’s vision blurred as paramedics raced onto the field . . . then everything went dark.

When he came around the pitch underneath him was replaced by a hospital bed.

“Hey Austin, how are you doing? Looks like you tore your ACL out there, the team is really worried about you. Oh and congratulations you won 4-2! The doctor informed me about the effects and unfortunately, you won't be able to play in the New York Classic you need to recover” Austin's dad, Carlos, explained as Austin struggled to sit up.

“No dad I have to play¨ Austin demanded suddenly filled with rage as he attempted to push himself off the bed.

“I'm sorry son I cannot allow that I am not about to lose another kid to that field, I know it’s a lot to take in” Carlos reacted gently pushing Austin back into bed.

“I can’t believe” Austin cried as he inspected the brace on his knee. “Do I need surgery”

“Unfortunately, I'll let the doctor know you're awake so he can come explain everything to you. Hang in there.” Austin's dad assured as he backed away from the bed.

“This is SO unfair” Austin whined under his breath sinking back into the bed.

“Austin . . . ?” Chloe, Austin's little sister, asked standing at the door hugging her teddy bear from Disney world, which was worn from being “loved” so much.

“Yeah it's me, Chloe, I'm ok,” Austin replied forcing himself to smile noticing the tears streaking her face.
Chloe dropped the stuffed animal and gave Austin a hug.

“What is that on your knee?” Chloe asked Austin referring to the brace.

“I don't really know Chloe” Austin replied honestly, trying not to scare her. “But what I do know is that I will do anything to get back on that field”

When Austin’s dad came back in, Austin and Chloe were fast asleep. Chloe’s bear still abandoned on the floor. Austin´s dad slowly removed Chloe from the bed giving Austin more space.

“Please don’t play soccer” he pleaded under his breath as he set Chloe down in the chair next to Austin.

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That was six years ago, I was just a  little girl scared to lose her big brother. Regardless of my father's wish, I decided to follow in my brother's footsteps and play soccer for the warriors. Austin is now in College playing for Stanford. If Austin gave up that day he never would have made it this far. After the Warriors won the game against the Knights, taking a few hits, they hopped on a plane to NY and placed first in the NYC. While they were gone Austin went through knee surgery then started physical therapy. According to the doctors, he recovered months before expected, therefore he was able to play next season. Austin returned to the Warriors as captain for one more season before we shipped him off to Stanford. Soccer is the one activity that has the ability to bring my family together and tear us apart. Yet no matter how hard my parents try the River kids will forever be known as the Warrior’s toughest players. There is no erasing soccer from our life.