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it.” She saluted and then marched away just as the ref’s whistle blew. I ran out onto the field for the coin toss, and the Roses won, which meant they would start with control of the ball. Both teams spread out on the field, and Jessi, Brianna, Maya, and I took our places on the forward line. The ref blew his whistle again, and the Roses charged forward.
    Right from the start we were in trouble. I thought having four forwards would be good, but it caused us a lot of problems. For one, it meant that we had only three midfielders on the field—Alandra, Taylor, and Anna. They were the ones who did the most running on the field, because they were in a position to defend the goal from the opposing players, as well as trying to get the ball up to the forwards. It was a lot of ground to cover, and the three of them got tired out quickly, so the Roses offense got past them pretty easily and kept breezing past our defenders.
    â€œThe spy camera is about to infiltrate headquarters!” Frida yelled as the ball whizzed past her. The Roses midfielder chasing after the ball looked at her quizzically as she passed, but that didn’t stop her from shooting the ball past Emma and into the net.
    â€œI have failed!” Frida cried dramatically, dropping to her knees.
    â€œDon’t give up hope!” Emma called back. “Hold that line. I’m counting on you, Agent Frida!”
    Frida saluted. “I won’t fail again.”
    But the tired midfielders couldn’t hold off the onslaught of the Roses’ offense. One of their strikers tore down toward the goal. Frida, Anjali, and Sarah all converged toward her, but she kicked it right past them. Emma dove for it, and her fingers brushed it, but she couldn’t stop it.
    â€œNooooo!” Emma wailed.
    The Roses had scored two goals in ten minutes. Afterthe second goal Coach switched out Anna for Gabriela, one of the eighth grade players, and that helped for a little bit. But then when the midfielders passed the ball up to the forwards, things got confusing. At one point Alandra sent the ball skidding across the grass up the middle of the field, and Jessi and I charged toward it at the same time. At the last second I remembered the Zoe-Brianna crash and I stopped short—and Jessi did the same. One of the Roses forwards swooped in and got control of the ball for their team.
    Maya got the ball a couple of times, but while she was petite and full of energy like Zoe, she had more stamina than speed. She couldn’t zigzag her way through the Roses midfielders the way Zoe could. At one point one of the Roses midfielders got the ball and dribbled it all the way up the left flank, which was wide open because Gabriela couldn’t get to her in time. The Roses midfielder kicked the ball hard and high past Frida on the defense line, and my heart sank as it looked like the ball would fly right into the goal. Then Emma jumped up and swatted it away—but still, it was a close call.
    Coach Flores took advantage of the break and called Maya off the field.
    â€œOlivia, play midfield!” I heard her yell, but Olivia must have gotten confused, because she thought she was supposed to replace Maya, so she ran up to the forward line. For the last five minutes of the first half, the Roses kept getting past the midfielders again and again.
    Finally the first half ended. I ran up to Coach Flores, panting a little.
    â€œSo I guess that was a bad idea,” I admitted.
    â€œWell, now we know,” Coach said with a sympathetic smile. “So let’s try something different in the next half, okay?”
    I nodded. “Definitely.”
    I kind of felt bad about how the first half had gone down, so I stepped back a little and let Coach Flores run things. We went back to a pretty standard three-four-three formation (three defenders, four midfielders, three forwards). She put Maya back in the midfield with Anna, who’d sat out most of the first