Chapter Text
Stepping foot on the ice at TD Garden is like nothing Ava has every felt. So many stars have called this their home ice, from Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand to David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy. Each of them has been a huge inspiration for Ava and the way that she has dedicated herself to the game, so getting to play at the same rink that her favorite players have practically lived in is such a thrill.
Warmups go by in a blur, with Ava and most of the team taking the time to get used to the rink, the way the puck comes off the boards and the way their skates cut deep into the ice at every sharp turn. Before they know it, they are lined up on their goal line, getting ready for the announcer to go through the starting lineups.
Holderness’s players are introduced first since they are the lower seed and technically the away team even though the game is on neutral ice. The Knights stay in their places on the goal line, tapping their stick once for everyone announced without showing any other emotion. After the announcer gets through Holderness’s lineup, he moves on to Cruciform Academy’s.
“Starting on defense, number 7, Shannon Masters! And number 18, Beatrice Young! Starting at left wing, number 13, Lilith Villumbrosia! And at right wing, number 17, Mary Powers! At center, number 10, Ava Silva! And starting in goal, number 33, Camila de la Cruz!”
As each of their names are called, the players skate up to the blue line to take their positions. Once the announcer is finished, the rest of the team joins them and turns toward center ice, looking up at the flag that is hanging from the rafters opposite the Bruins’ championship banners. The national anthem plays from the speakers, and Ava shifts from skate to skate in nervous anticipation.
When the song finally ends after what feels like an eternity of waiting, both teams head back to their benches for one last conversation with their coaches. Coach Superion goes over the plan of attack one more time, highlighting the other team’s best players and how they can be stopped. Ava and Chanel pay special attention, since they are going to be shadowing the any time they’re on the ice.
At the sound of the referee’s whistle, the Knights break up, with the starting lineup heading to their positions and everyone else filing onto the bench. Ava glides over to the center dot, lowering her center of gravity and looking up at the linesman. After checking with both of the goalies, he drops the puck, and the game is on.
Ava loses the opening draw, so she immediately shifts back into a defensive position, taking up space in the middle of the ice. The other team’s defenseman makes a crisp pass up to the winger, and they chip the puck into the zone by Shannon. Tight turning, Ava takes up position in the high slot, relying on her wingers to hold their points.
Having chased the puck into the corner, Shannon wins a puck battle and makes a D to D pass to Beatrice, who outlets the puck to Mary on the wing. Seeing the breakout, Ava cuts up the middle of the ice, swinging past Mary and giving her a option. The winger immediately sees this and makes a tape to tape pass to a streaking Ava, who carries the puck through the neutral zone and into the offensive zone.
After setting up their attack, Ava heads to the bench for a change, calling for Chanel as she jumps the boards. The other girl is on the ice lightning fast, already skating away to take up her position in the offensive zone. As Ava catches her breath, the rest of her line changes out and the second line takes over. They manage to keep the puck down deep for another thirty seconds, but lose it after Yasmine misses just to the right of the net with a shot.
As the other team breaks out of their zone, the second line changes man by man. Ava is the first one to jump on the ice, replacing Yasmine and heading straight for the man with the puck. As she gets there, Chanel peels off and heads to the bench, with Lucia hot on her heals. Mary and Lilith soon join the fray, but they are unable to deny the other team entry into the zone, and they end up an a battle for body position down low.
Seeing Dora locked in a battle for the puck along the end boards, Ava dips in and pokes the puck out of the tangle of skates. She’s immediately bombarded by an opposing player, so she hits Mary on the wing, who in turn passes the puck to Lilith, who had taken off up the ice as soon as she noticed the breakout attempt. The winger catches the puck in stride and carries is into the offensive zone, waiting for her line to catch up.
Ava ends up the trail man, so she finds herself hovering in the high slot with another player attached to her like glue. The girl that is defending her slashes at her stick, trying to knock it out of her hands, but she is able to hold steady and release from the pressure just in time to screen the goalie on a shot from the point.
As the puck sails by her and clanks off the post, Ava feels a stick getting jammed into her lower back. She falls forward, catching herself and turning around to see the girl who had been on her, number 19, sneering down at her. Ava ignores her, choosing to get up and backcheck instead, since the puck is now heading down the ice. When Lilith makes a steal in the neutral zone and dumps the puck in deep, Ava heads to the bench and takes a seat.
“Are you good?” Mary asks, her breathing unsteady. “That girl crosschecked you.”
“I’m good,” Ava says, shaking her head. “It was fucking cheap, but she caught my pants so it didn’t hurt.”
“I’m gonna fucking kill her if she does something like that again,” Lilith says.
“Awe, you do love me!”
“No, I…your my teammate, and I protect my own.”
“I appreciate that,” Ava says softly. “But stay out of trouble. We can’t afford to be shorthanded, especially if you’re the one in the box. Leave the fighting to Crimson.”
“Fine,” Lilith grumbles. “But if someone takes a run at Camila, I make no promises.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to.”
The first line’s next shift is uneventful, with most of it spent vying for position in the neutral zone. As soon as one team gets the puck and tries to make a pass, they find themselves with no outlet and either throw it away or get stripped. By the time Ava finally manages to dump the puck deep into the offensive zone, she’s exhausted and she heads to the bench yet again.
When the buzzer sounds to indicate the end of the first period, everyone lets out a sigh of relief. They’re wearing down with the intensity of the game and are in need of a break. Between periods, Coach Superion revises the plan a little bit, releasing Chanel from her shadowing duties and putting them on Yasmine to give their line a better chance at scoring. The winger takes this in stride, talking to Mary about what her responsibilities are when she’s in man coverage.
As the Knights come out in the second period, the put the pressure on Holderness. It all starts with Lilith winning a puck battle along the boards and finding Ava streaking up the wing, and they suddenly find themselves controlling the offensive zone. They keep the puck down deep for the first five minutes of the period, only having to regroup back to the neutral zone twice when the puck bounces out past the blue line.
By the time Holderness manages to get any sense of traction, there are only seven minutes left in the second. The second line finds themselves in the defensive zone, defending against the other team’s first line. Holderness is able to move the puck around relatively easily, setting themselves up for a few shots that Camila is able to fight off. That is, until the puck is tipped in front and bounces up and over her pad.
Half of the crowd erupts in cheers, and Ava looks skyward on the bench. While they had come from behind last game, it’s not an easy thing to do, especially against a team like this. They have the number one ranked goalie in New England, and she hasn’t allowed more than one goal in a game yet this season.
The second line comes to the bench and makes a change, and Ava’s line hops on. The goal seems to have given Holderness a lot of confidence, and they quickly find themselves on the defensive yet again. After managing to get the puck down into the offensive zone and keeping it there for thirty seconds, Ava makes her way to the bench to complete the line change, with Lucia stepping out onto the ice.
In the dying seconds of the second period, Chanel wins a puck battle against the boards and sets up Shannon for a one-timer from the point. It gets blocked by one of the other team’s defenseman, but it pops right back out to Yasmine, who makes a pass to Lucia below the goal line. The winger ends up forcing the puck into the slot and trying to stuff it in on the short side, but she comes up short of the goal line and the other team clears.
As the buzzer goes off, once again signaling the end of the period, Ava lets out a sigh of disappointment. They had come so close to tying the game, but it just wasn’t enough. The locker room is quiet as they listen to Coach Superion’s pep talk. Everyone is in their own head, trying to figure out how to get pucks past this goalie when she’s make every save so far look like a piece of cake. Just as they are bout to head out for the third period, Ava comes up with an idea.
“Screens!”
“What?” Mary asks, confused.
“Screens,” Ava repeats. “We move into a two man forecheck with one man in front of the net instead of high. It’ll make us vulnerable up the middle, but if our D stays conservative, then we won’t have any problems.”
“I think that could work,” Coach Superion says, rubbing her chin. “Ava and Chanel, you two are going to be taking up the net front presence roll. I want you to stay there no matter what the other team does, until you see them breaking out, then you’re hauling ass on the backcheck.”
With a new plan in place, the Knights take the ice for the third period. Ava wins the opening draw to Lilith, who carries the puck down deep. Instead playing her usual third man high role, Ava heads straight for the net and plants herself in front of it. She’s immediately tied up by a defenseman, and her stick is lifted off the ground. She angles her skate as the puck comes towards her, and it glances off her blade and into the back of the net. Just as she starts to celebrate, the referee waves it off.
“What?!” Ava yells. “The fuck are you waving it off for?”
“Distinct kicking motion,” the referee answer.
“There was no kicking motion, I angled my blade.”
“No, you kicked it.”
“I fucking didn’t! Are you blind?”
“Watch yourself,” the referee warns.
“Come on, Ava,” Mary says, pulling her away by the back of the jersey. “We’ll get another one.”
Pouting and severely pissed off, Ava heads to the bench and takes a seat. She watches the second line work through the neutral zone and get the puck down deep, only to have it shoved right down their throats when a winger cuts to the free center of the ice to get a breakout pass from the defenseman. They stay hemmed in their zone for the next two minutes, only able to change out man by man.
Back on the ice and burning with a vengeance, Ava calls to Beatrice when the defenseman gets the puck along the end wall. The pass hits her perfectly in stride, and she turns on the jets. As she makes a move to the outside, the defender sticks their knee out and Ava goes toppling over it. While she slides across the ice, she looks up for a penalty call, but there isn’t one. She turns to the nearest referee and glares at him before getting up and going for a change.
As the minutes tick by, Ava starts to get more and more nervous. Even with the new plan working and getting them opportunities, they haven’t gotten a good bounce yet. Every time they have a scoring chance, it’s wiped away in the blink of an eye. Emotions are starting to run high, and Ava can tell that Crimson and Lilith are frustrated. They’ve both started playing with more of an edge, and it all comes to a head when someone pokes at Camila after the whistle.
Lilith comes down from her point and levels the girls, who takes out and unsuspecting Dora. The defenseman ends up on top of Lilith’s victim, and the arms of both referees are immediately in the air. Knowing that the call is on her, Lilith heads right to the box, not even arguing. Surprisingly though, the girl who she decked is sent to the box too, and they end up playing at even strength.
With the clock winding down under three minutes, Ava knows that she needs to make something happen. She sees her opportunity when the other team telegraphs a pass to the point, and she picks it off in stride, going one on one with the deep defenseman. She angles out wide and drops the puck to the trailing Lilith, who is now out of the box and streaking up the middle of the middle of the ice. Ava cuts around her defender and to the net, receiving a touch pass from her winger and roofing the puck.
“Let’s fucking go!” Ava yells, turning and backing into the boards as her teammates swarm her. “Wave that one off, motherfucker!”
Time expires with the score tied 1 - 1, and the teams find themselves heading to sudden death overtime. The ice is resurfaced quickly, and then the puck is being dropped. After winning the draw back to Beatrice and the defenseman making an outlet pass to Mary, Ava finds herself chasing the puck as it is dumped in deep.
Skating into the corner, Ava comes up on the defenseman who is shielding the puck with their body. As she goes to initiate contact, an elbow comes up and clips her in the jaw. Her head snaps back and she falls to the ice, clutching at where her chin strap is now choking her from her helmet riding up. As she lays prone on the ice, she hears yelling and lifts her head to see Beatrice in the corner about to kill somebody.
“Bea, no!” Ava yells.
That catches Beatrice’s attention, and the defenseman gives Ava a long look before letting go of the other player’s jersey, but not before giving them a rough shove. Ava sits up, only to be scolded by Coach Superion as the woman arrives at her side with the trainer. After briefly getting checked out, Ava is allowed to get up and she skates back to the bench under her own power. As she sits down, the referee announced a two minute minor for elbowing.
“You’re done,” Coach Superion says as Ava tries to head out for the powerplay.
“What?” Ava says incredulously. “No I’m fucking not.”
“You just took a shot to the head, Ava. I can’t let you go back in the game.”
“The fuck you can’t.”
“You need to go through concussion protocol.”
“Then put me through it as fast as you can. Hell, use our time out and go over the plan to give us longer.”
“Fine,” Coach Superion relents. “But if you’re not cleared, you’re not going out there.”
“Fine.”
Before the linesman can drop the puck, Coach Superion gets the attention of one of the referees and calls time out. He grants it, and the power play unit comes back to the bench and huddles around their coach. Meanwhile, Ava finds herself being put through a rapid fire concussion test. After double checking everything, the trainer clears her and she takes her place on the first powerplay unit.
Ava wins the draw in the offensive zone back to Beatrice, who passes it to Chanel on the wing. The other center carries the puck to the far boards, setting their powerplay up, and then makes a pass back to Shannon at the right point. The defenseman fakes a slapshot and passes the puck across the ice to Ava, who rips a one-timer at the net. She loses sight of it as it blows by the other team’s defender, but a cheer erupts from Lilith at the back post, and she knows it went in.
Immediately ditching her helmet and gloves, Ava takes off down the ice and damn near tackles Camila. The rest of the team piles on as the crowd goes wild, until one fan starts a chant. The name ‘Cruciform’ echoes around the stadium, and Ava takes a minute to take it all in, knowing that there aren’t going to be a lot of moments quite like this in her life.
When everyone starts detangling from the pile, Ava gets up and looks around for her girlfriend. She finds her talking to Dora excitedly, so she skates over and slides in next to her, wrapping an arm around her should. Beatrice immediately pulls her attention away from the conversation and smiles widely over at Ava.
“We did it,” the captain says.
“We did it,” Ava repeats, leaning in to press a soft kiss to Beatrice’s lips. “God, I’m so in love with you.”
“What?”
“I love you.”
“Ava…are you sure? I’m not completely convinced that you don’t have a concussion.”
“I’m sure. More sure than I’ve ever been in my life.”
“Then I love you, too.” Beatrice leans in kisses her, this time staying for longer. “I love you so much.”