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stumbled at the third change of direction.
    Edison thought, She’s tiring .
    Steve prodded the ball farther to the right to take it wide of Lily, but she stumbled into his path, knocking him over. By the time the referee awarded a free kick, the Centreville players were standing in a line between Steve and the goal, and the ball bounced harmlessly off them.
    At halftime Steve pleaded with Mr. Field, “Let me stay on. Lily’s getting tired and I can get past her now.”
    â€œYou’ve done a great job wearing her down, but you’re tiring too,” said Mr. Field. “We’ll stick with our plan of putting Edison on for the second half.”
    Steve flung himself on the bench, grumbling, “I would have scored.”
    When the teams lined up for the second half, Lily fixed her eyes on Edison. He tried to stare back, but she outlasted him and he looked away. Her thick legs and broad shoulders suggested he would come off second-best if they went for the ball at the same time, but he thought he had the speed to get past her. He read her expression as she stared — the pouty curl of her lip, the narrowed eyes — understanding it was meant to intimidate him. Normally it wouldn’t have bothered him, because being good didn’t just make him a star. It made him a target, as well. But with his nerves already on edge with the worry that he would choke again, he could feel Lily’s taunting stare unsettling him more and more.
    His first clash with her came ten minutes later when Brunswick Valley broke out of defence for the first time since the break. Edison was in midfield when Linh-Mai passed to him. As he trapped the ball, Lily rushed at him. He rolled it back onto his foot and flipped it over her head before running past her, skipping over her wildly flailing leg. Before he could collect the ball and continue upfield, she turned and tripped him. Under the guise of helping him up, she pinched his arm, muttering, “Think you’re smart, don’t you?”
    Shay took a throw-in to Edison, who knew Lily was close behind. Edison trapped Shay’s throw and backed into Lily, shielding the ball as she poked her shoe at it. He waited until her foot was stretching for the ball again, then rolled it backward through her legs, spinning around her at the same time. He collected the ball behind her as two more defenders closed in on him. Without looking up, he fired the ball over them at the Centreville goal. It was a long shot — so far out that no one would expect him to shoot from there, let alone score — but Edison knew those shots unsettled the goalkeeper and defence, making them nervous whenever he had the ball. And nervous defenders made mistakes. The keeper watched without moving as the ball seemed as if it would fly high across the goalmouth until, at the last second, it curled toward the net and hit the post.
    Edison was feeling more confident by the minute. The choking incidents had surely been just a phase, and were in the past now.
    But a few minutes later the anxiety was back.
    Toby cleared the ball and Edison, running out of defence, reached it just before one of the Centreville backs. He looked for someone to pass to, but with his teammates still not running and chasing the way he’d seen them at practice, he found himself without support. He passed two defenders before looking up. Only Lily was in his way. If he got past her, it would be an easy goal, with only the keeper to beat. He could dribble past Lily, or simply use his speed and take the ball around her, or …
    He hesitated for only a fraction of a second, but she was on him with surprising speed. Her shoulder crashed into his chest, knocking him over as she took the ball and passed to one of her midfielders to start another Centreville attack.
    As Edison picked himself up, he caught a glimpse of Steve on the bench, shaking his head scornfully. He didn’t blame Steve. Edison knew he should