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le-amewzing · 3 years ago

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The Fish Collectors

I figured there had to be some good to come out of "Rule 91"—and I found it. c:

Fic: "The Fish Collectors" [FFN] [AO3]

Pairings/Characters: Tony DiNozzo & Nick Torres (friendship, but discussion of Ellick & Tiva, so please tag with Ellick & Tiva, ty! -w- )

Rating: K

Words: ~2,250

Additional info: friendship, hurt/comfort, 3rd person POV

Summary: The official, unofficial meeting of former Very Special Agent Tony DiNozzo, Jr., and Special Agent Torres.

�� With a roast in the oven and the kitchen cleaned of supper's preparations, Tony pushed up his sleeve to check his watch for the time. A little after six—this was good. Ziva and his father would be back with Tali after shopping for school supplies in a little bit, and the time difference meant his ambush should go perfectly according to plan, if McGee had played his part.

Tony double-checked that the kitchen timer was set and working. Then he did another visual sweep of their eat-in kitchen—keeping it pristine was half out of his own habit, half to set a good example for Tali, half to provide order in the post-chaos part of Ziva's life (he didn't dwell on his three halves)—and deemed it fine to excuse himself and execute a mini mission of his own, something he'd been thinking of these last few months and finally had decided to act on a few weeks ago, at the start of August. He grabbed his laptop from the coffee table in the living room and set up just inside the closed balcony doors, at the little table where Ziva often liked to sit and read, preferring to let Tony use the bedroom as a home office when working remotely.

When he opened the computer lid and brought up the application, Tony only had one thought running through his mind: Timmy, you better have come through.

And when his Skype call connected and startled an unsuspecting NCIS agent on the other end, Tony grinned, because clearly McGee had come through.

"Hello there, Special Agent Nicholas Torres, I presume," Tony said to the wide-eyed Latino face gracing the work computer that had once been McGee's in the big orange room back in the day. "Very Special Former Agent Anthony DiNozzo, at your service."

Torres gawked at him—honestly, a little rude, because Tony knew his smile was as friendly and as award-winning as they came—but recovered quickly and held up a hand at his screen. He disappeared from sight for a moment, ducking under his desk, but then he reappeared with earbuds in his ears and the jack end out of sight, clearly plugged into his monitor. "Uh," Torres said eloquently, "hi. You're him. You're DiNozzo."

"Feel free to call me 'Tony.' I'm sure you've heard enough about me over the years from McGee and Gibbs and Palmer. Ducky and Abby, too. Not everyone calls me 'DiNozzo,' and not everyone says it with a groan in their voice." He said all this without much room for pause, even though he obviously left one specific name off the list he'd just recited.

Torres nodded, and the right corner of his mouth quirked up. "…not always a groan. McGee's…got more exasperation, but it's fond exasperation when he talks about you." He grinned.

Tony laughed, liking the guy's honesty. "Good to know I can annoy him even from a continent away. I haven't lost my touch, then."

Torres half nodded, half shrugged. But his grin dimmed, and he furrowed his brow. "Uh, DiNozzo—"

Tony raised his eyebrows.

"Tony," Torres corrected. "Were you looking for McGee? Or someone else? I mean, it's barely past noon here on a Sunday—we're pulling a weekend shift, of all things, but at least it's slow. Anyway, name the person, and I'm happy to grab them. You've only got me right now in the bullpen."

"No, no one else. This call is for you."

Again, Torres gawked at him, but at least the agent's mouth was closed this time. "But—"

Tony shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me that this is our first time 'meeting.' As I said, you probably know a lot about me from the others. I know a lot about you from the others, too, Nick—mind if I call you 'Nick'?—and I knew you'd be at the office today." He paused, decided not to mention that he'd leaned on McGee to find some time in the August schedule for his team to take a weekend shift just for this purpose, and plowed on. "I hear you've spent a lot of extra time solely at the office," he tacked on, his voice softer, cautious.

Nick stiffened.

Tony knew why. Several years ago, whenever someone had prodded him about Ziva, he had reacted similarly. Or worse, he'd laughed it off, as though Ziva's leaving hadn't hurt. And that was before the whole having-to-fake-death extravaganza… But he now digressed and focused solely on the younger man in his old shoes. "I'm not here really to offer my opinion," Tony admitted. Another pause. "Not unless asked. But…on the team? Of our circle of friends? I'm the closest to having been there, Nick, where you are, so." He gave him a tiny nod, an urging to speak and a motion of assurance.

It was a strange thing, offering his ear to someone who was a complete stranger. At the same time, the longer the silence stretched between them, the more the confusion cleared from Nick's expression. His eyes darkened a smidge, too, as he appeared to dwell on Tony's offering as well as his suppositions.

Tony cocked his head half a degree, as though saying, "Well, whaddaya say?"

Nick, on the other hand, stared at Tony, a stare that was borderline glare, all pinched eyebrows and reminded Tony of a certain, absent blonde when she focused on something… Eventually Nick exhaled a long, slow breath and ran a hand over his mouth. "Nah, you're not that far off."

"Mm?"

"Kinda knowing each other to an extent, given the stories shared by everyone else."

Tony smiled this time, friendlier and less triumphant.

Nick looked around him, both to either side and behind him before leaning closer to talk. "It—it's weird. I don't even have a better word for it than 'weird.' But it's weird to think, to know that it's going to be yet another new month without her around. Soon it's going to be a new season, and still she's not going to be here."

Ah, yes. The first change of the seasons. Tony remembered that time well. "I'm not going to lie to you and say it gets easier," he confessed.

Nick's face fell.

"But give yourself some credit. Back in May, the first night, you thought about not getting out of bed the next morning, but you did it anyway, right?"

He grimaced. "Well, yeah…"

"And the same went for the first twenty-four hours. Every hour felt like a struggle, but you succeeded with each one that passed."

Nick's grimace mellowed to a straight line, with the way his lips pressed flatly together.

"The hours rolled into days. The next thing you knew, you made it through your first weekend. But the weekend ended, a new week started, and you made it through that, too. So the weeks rolled together, too, into a month. Into months. You've made it the almost the whole summer so far," Tony pointed out with a glance to the family calendar they had hanging on the wall to the right side of the television, "and, yeah, you're gonna make it through another month. But I don't see anything to demonstrate you won't make it through another season or the next."

Nick scowled. He opened his mouth, but he closed it when he couldn't find the right words.

And Tony understood why. "You can tell me off or be angry with me, I won't mind. I know the me of seven years ago would've grinned a split-second before biting someone's head off, if that helps."

Nick exhaled again, but with more visible effort this time, so it came out more like a huff. "Is this supposed to make me feel better?"

"That depends. You've mostly dealt with the denial in the form of shock. Clearly we're on anger now. Three more stages to go."

"Hopefully not all in one video call." Nick rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Which stage is next?"

"Fish."

Again with the gawking! "That doesn't sound right at all, Tony."

"It is in the Anthony DiNozzo, Jr., model for stages of grief." Tony snorted softly, but it wasn't aimed at Nick. No, he definitely was thinking of how quickly he'd gone out and purchased his first fish. That had been after a loss more permanent. The second fish he'd hoped for a while would've fed a temporary loss—but, again, he stopped himself here from thinking on the ups and downs he and Ziva had suffered these last several years. "So how do you feel about goldfish?"

"Hold on minute," Nick interrupted, holding his hand up to the screen a second time. "Fish really is your answer?"

Tony stared back, unblinking.

Nick grumbled something in Spanish under his breath. "Okay, so you're serious." He scratched his chin, hesitated. "I…am not there yet. I'm definitely not to my fish stage, Tony."

Oh.

"Plus," he added with a sigh, "I was gifted Carl by Sloane before she left for Afghanistan."

Now Tony was confused. "Who's Carl?"

"He's a betta fish. I follow the instructions Sloane left, but half the time I worry I've killed him."

"Yeah. Fish are unnerving to own initially," Tony concurred.

Nick frowned. "…I think…one to look after already…is enough for me. Y'know?"

Tony nodded. For saying so little, Nick said a lot, so Tony knew not to pry and not to bring up that McGee still cared for the goldfish Kate and Ziva in his stead and definitely not to point out that bettas, even with all the right conditions met, didn't last more than a few years, at best a quarter of a goldfish's lifespan, in captivity. Instead, Tony said, "It's okay if you ever find you and Carl need company at some point."

At that, Nick chuckled. He even nearly cracked a smile. When his smile dimmed this time, he seemed less hostile, more tired than anything. It took him a couple minutes before he asked, "Does it get easier?"

"Which part?"

The younger man gestured vaguely. "It. Especially—being an active, impulsive personality was all I knew before. Now I'm waiting in the wings, with nothing left to do but think…"

Tony would bet a thousand dollars he could finish that thought for Nick: Nothing left to do but dwell on the good memories and the bad ones that threaten to overtake me. Tony didn't know precisely what had happened between him and Bishop, though he certainly could infer based on hearsay and on personal experience, and he hoped the bad memories didn't outnumber the good ones.

But personal experience also told him that sitting on one's hands wasn't always the solution. So Tony hoped Nick would forgive him for offering up advice anyway without being asked.

"Nick, look. It's all right to wait for as long as you can stand the pain."

Nick's frown was close to a pout.

"Then there are two options: Move on or go after her."

He glowered at Tony. "'Move on'?!" he spat, scandalized. He rattled of some rapid-fire Spanish cognates that Tony identified as curses, but Tony shrugged his ire off.

"I never said you could only pick one option. I did one and then the other. So learn from my mistakes."

Swearing at him one second, frozen mid-sentence the next—Nick was caught off-guard by that proclamation. But the gears turned in his brain, and there was a spark in his eyes that he hadn't had at the start of their conversation. It was a fire Tony remembered having himself, back in his agent days…

Tony discreetly checked the time on his laptop's screen. His family would be home soon, so it was time to wrap this up. "Well, I think I'll let you get back to your Sunday afternoon of nothingness, Very Special Agent Torres. But hit me up anytime you need to, for any reason. I'm an email, a phone call, a video call away."

The end of their chat snapped Nick out of his daze, and he dumbly nodded. "Oh, uh. Right, right. Thank you, Tony."

"Although I have heard through the nerdvine how you're bosom buddies with a certain Autopsy Gremlin," Tony gently teased as he stood and headed for the kitchen with his laptop in hand.

Tony caught Nick's grin out of the corner of his eye. "Yeah, Jimmy surprisingly knows how to have a good time, even if he can't pick a sexy car to drive to save his life."

A good-looking agent with bad luck in romance who unabashedly appreciated his nerd of a best friend—Tony was right. He and Nick Torres had far too much in common.

They really ought to stay in touch.

Tony and Nick didn't exchange verbal goodbyes so much as a nod between comrades, friends who knew they'd talk again. No clue when, but again, for sure. And maybe, next time, it'd be in person.

And yet, a short while after they'd hung up, a new thought picked at Tony as he watched over dinner in the oven. And the thought needled him enough that Ziva found him sighing in the kitchen when the other three came home, but Tony wouldn't admit just yet what was going through his mind.

No, instead he was busy internally apologizing to McGee, because he wondered how long it would be before he got another call from his best friend about yet another agent leaving NCIS…albeit for different reasons this time….

:3c Okay, how cute and fluffy was this friendship piece? XD *lol* When s18 ended, I had the ideas for "Anchor," "Stand-In," and "Ghosts" right away, but this idea came during the editing process of "Ghosts" and I don't recall precisely what inspired it other than vaguely back when watching "True Believer" and Nick receiving Carl thinking that was such a terrible omen. Ofc, in the course of writing this, then I did look up how long goldfish and bettas live, and I RLY DON'T LIKE THAT THEY GAVE NICK A FISH THAT WON'T LIVE V LONG. LIKE WTF. ANYWAY. Kind of my same reasoning for writing "Family Matters," this needed to occur bc Tony clearly is in the best position to offer Nick support bc, as he points out, he's been there, done that. As to why Tony would contact Nick at work instead of at home…well, no guarantee Nick would answer at home, but with McGee's help rigging things, I can imagine Tony calling Nick's work computer until the poor guy answered, *lol*. I can also picture Tony not wanting to see Nick making his mistakes in the same way Ziva doesn't want to see Ellie making hers; the ships do juxtapose each other in some ways when not alike in others. Also, some passing Tiva fam things! :'D Some remaining odds and ends: Listening to some old Jpop and Jrock from 10, 15yrs ago rly got me in the right mindset to write this, funnily enough. This in general feels like a bigger transition for Nick, tho, than was it going from being an undercover agent to a field agent—as he suggested to Tony, having to wait is quite painful…hence why I ended on the idea of Nick chasing after Ellie in the future. :3c Lastly! Nick's "Does it get easier?" line actually echoes smthg Ellie says in my oneshot, "Ghosts," so I highly rec reading that, too, if you haven't already!

Thanks for reading, and feel free to leave an anon/unsigned review via the FFN link or comment via the AO3 link at the top of the post, especially if you enjoyed this!

~mew

#ncis #ellick #tiva #tony dinozzo #nick torres #fanfic #mew writes too much #have some feels #i need them to be buddies okay

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ravenvsfox · 6 years ago

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rockband chapter 5 babey 😈🤘🏻

Neil tilts a record out of the stacks, and the sun catches the sleek surface and shows him his reflection.

“You’re not even in the right section,” Kevin calls. He’s two rows away flipping through rock-punk CDs, looking exhilarated when they fall towards him like dominoes.

The whole store is no bigger than a spacious bedroom, and the shop front is all boxy windows, letting in honeycombs of late-afternoon light. Kevin’s never looked so relaxed, dragging his fingers along the spines of albums, inspecting the equipment behind the till, smiling and chatting with the owner.

“There is no right section,” he mutters, sliding the album back into its slot. “It’s all music.”

“Right,” Kevin says. Neil glances up and finds him unexpectedly close, mouth pursed reluctantly with amusement. “Except we’re not here for all music.”

“What are we actually here for again?” Neil asks, distracted. He can see Andrew waiting outside with his back to them and his arms crossed, serious and stock-still as a bodyguard.

“Inspiration.”

Neil watches Kevin’s face. The crease that’s usually between his brows is only suggestion now, a slouchy, un-tensed line. He’s tolerable like this, Neil thinks, almost impressive, choosing music to feed his creativity.

“You love it here,” Neil accuses. “This is a vacation for you.”

Kevin scoffs. “Like you’re not the same.”

Neil shrugs. There’s an upright piano on the wall and he wants to squeeze the keys in his hands like fingers in a crowd. The sound of voices and tires on asphalt from outside spreads like frosting over the crumbling drumbeat from the stereo. The rusting brown of the wallpaper behind the counter looks almost orange with the full force of the sun on it.

He could live and die in a place like this, head down, hands full of bright new music and dark classics, never in silence, never alone.

"Come look at this,” Kevin says. Neil follows him to the far corner of the shop where there are picked-over alternative CDs and peeling tape labels. He plucks an album from the stack and wiggles it at Neil. “Old school Ausreißer.”

Neil squints at the cover art. “You look like a bad metal band.” The original four are caught in the middle of a set, dressed in all black under a red spotlight, mid-howl. The word Ausreißer is so stylized that it’s almost illegible.

Kevin rolls his eyes and puts the CD back in its slot. “Things change. When we found you you looked like you were on day ten of a bender.”

“I can go back to that, if it’s the look you’re going for. Wouldn’t want to stand out in a band full of junkies and burnouts.”

“Funny,” Kevin says flatly. “Just bring that smart mouth to song writing.” He gathers his little stack of music and a clear box of sturdy picks, and drops them on the front counter to be checked out.

Neil hesitates, swaddled in the darkest, warmest corner of the store, reluctant to splash back out into the cold. He can already see how it will play out: Andrew’s silence and Kevin’s focus, the way they take up so much of the sidewalk that Neil has to fall in behind them or walk in the gutter, the drive home like a never-ending commute to nowhere at all.

He’s listless without a stage, and Kevin won’t let him forget that he’s not a natural born songwriter. He’s waiting for inspiration like that second raindrop after you swear you felt the first one.

His eyes wander and catch on a lurid red flier stapled to the bulletin board above the stacks, and he does a double-take. Foxes. Township Auditorium. Friday, January 25th.

“Dan’s group is playing this Friday?” Neil wonders aloud, and Kevin looks at him over his shoulder, handing bills off to the cashier.

“Oh yeah, the Township gig. I think they’re hanging out in town for a week or so, too.”

“We should go.” He thinks of the way the girls had laughed about their public personas and plastic recognition. He wants to hear them for real, as magnetic and driven as they were at Abby’s, assuring him that they do pop like he’s never heard in his life.

“Waste of time,” Kevin says, accepting his bag with one of his frozen, ken doll smiles and making towards the exit.

“We’re not touring right now,” Neil argues, catching up. “We can take two hours off from the new album.”

“We can,” Kevin says, “but we shouldn’t.”

“And yet you find the time to drink six hours a day.”

“The creative process looks different on everyone,” he grits. They push out into the sunlight and Andrew looks vaguely in their direction, his face chapped from the wind.

“Great. Mine looks like going to local concerts and supporting our label, and you know full fucking well that Wymack would agree with me.” They start walking, Neil leading them in a frantic triangle down main street. Andrew doesn’t ask or care about what they’re arguing over, which is why Neil tells him, “I want to go to the Foxes concert on Friday.”

“Then go,” he says. He’d been chain-smoking while Neil and Kevin were in the shop, and he looks irritable and sick. His pallor has been almost bruised lately, like something’s wringing him out and leaving marks behind.

Neil flips Kevin off and walks further ahead of the group, buoyed by the opportunity to be part of an audience again. He loves the silky anonymity and sway of the crowd almost as much as being doused in lights and held up by a mic stand.

Kevin’s still talking about accountability and wasted talent, but he’s lost his audience.

Neil reaches the van first, parallel parked at a wicked angle. He waits for the muted click of the unlock button, then climbs into the passenger seat. There’s a parking ticket folded over the windshield wipers and Andrew sets them going so that it flutters down onto the street.

“It’s not going to be the same in the crowd as it is onstage,” Kevin says calmly from the backseat.

Neil turns his head. “I know.”

“The fans know who you are now, and I’m not sure you’re ready for what that actually looks like.”

“I’m pretty good at blending in,” Neil says, eyes narrowed.

“You’re not,” Andrew says, pulling jerkily out of the spot without looking and nearly catching a hyundai by the nose. “You’re loud.” Car horns blare on all sides like a chorus of agreement.

“You draw attention,” Kevin agrees grimly. “I’d rather you stick it out in the studio where you can’t get into trouble. And Wymack would agree with me about that.”

Neil watches pedestrians swarm and cars criss-cross beyond the window. “So what, I join a band and now I’m on full-time house arrest?”

“Shouldn’t you be used to keeping your head down, runaway?” Andrew taunts. His hands flash as he makes a left turn, ink spelling yes over no over yes. Neil gives him a look.

“You’re not talking about staying on the move, you’re talking about hiding. And in my experience, your problems catch up with you when you sit and wait for them to go away.”

“I’m not talking about your fucked up past,” Kevin says irritably. “If you want to stumble into the nearest concert, you can, but if you misrepresent us or pull some stupid shit to distract from the set, Wymack will kick your ass. If Dan doesn’t get there first.”

“Don’t worry Kevin,” Andrew says, glancing away from the road to fix Neil with a cool, knowing look. “He has winning impulse control. Right Neil?”

Neil clenches his teeth and ignores him. “I realize that you don’t trust me, but I need you to understand that I don’t care. I’m not going to stay in the cage until you figure out if you’re ready to unlock it or not. I’m not going to live that way anymore.”

“You’re on a team now, and you have to care,” Kevin argues.

Neil scoffs. “Tell that to Andrew.”

Kevin looks pained. “He’s—“

“What? An exception? I’d love to know why I’m held to a higher standard than the person with concealed weapons and an unreliable drug dependency,” Neil says, fuming. Andrew pumps the brakes so that Neil topples forward into the dashboard, then he’s thrown back again when they accelerate. He grips the headrest and seethes, “you’re fucking psychotic.”

“You—“ Kevin starts.

“Kevin,” Andrew says, toneless, barely there, and Kevin stops short. Neil recognizes that easy power, that tongue-biting obedience.

They collapse into strained silence, Andrew looking infuriatingly tranquil, the air around Kevin vibrating with how badly he wants to speak.

Neil thinks about the corner of the music store and that old album, an Ausreißer from back when Neil was still lost in between hotel rooms, when his mother was alive, and she could change the course of his life with just the tips of her fingers. He thinks, things can be so easy and so ugly at the same time.

They get out at Palmetto, Neil wrenching doors closed behind him, trying to feel like he has a raft to himself for once, like he’s not always sharing, feeling for someone else’s shifting weight.

Nicky’s spread between two chairs when he gets to the studio, and Neil’s relieved to see the easy smile on his face. It fractures when he gets a good look at him.

“Oh no. Was it unbearable? I thought music shopping would mellow Kevin out, at least.”

“It was fine,” Neil says, rolling a chair towards the table where they left all of their notes and stray music. He sweeps everything off the table, feeling a vindictive shock when it all settles on the floor; every dangling idea, stagnating chord progression, and experimental piece of garbage.

“Yeah, you seem fine,” Nicky says sarcastically.

“Better,” Neil says, rummaging in the heaps of wasted work until his hand closes around a discarded pen. “I’m inspired.”

_____

The dye burns cold on his scalp. He paints the wispy place above his ears, and tucks it up into the rest of the gummy mess. There’s a dark streak on the porcelain of the sink, and he rubs it with one gloved finger.

Someone knocks at the door, and Neil reaches behind himself to open it. There’s a beat, and a flutter of movement, and then his eyes meet Andrew’s in the mirror.

“Brown,” Andrew remarks.

“You wanted me to tone it down,” Neil says, focusing on smothering his auburn roots and pointedly ignoring the rest of his reflection.

“Don’t put Kevin’s words in my mouth.”

Neil meets his eyes again. “What do you want?”

Andrew doesn’t reply for a long moment, and then he starts to peel down his armbands. It’s like watching a snake shed its skin, and Neil’s so startled to see it happening that he turns around to watch him directly.

He’s expecting the thatch of scars, but it still knocks the wind out of him to see them, tender pinks and whites that nudge all the way up to the ink on his wrists and hands.

Andrew plucks the brush out of Neil’s limp hand and scoops up a mound of colour that looks black in the weak light.

“Head down.”

Neil complies, chin towards his chest, and feels Andrew smooth the dye from just below his ear up into the coil of loose, wet hair. He can feel the damp heat from Andrew’s bare wrists, smothered for most of the day.

“Who put you in a cage?” Andrew asks, and the hair on Neil’s neck stands up.

“What—“

“You said: I’m not going to stay in the cage until you figure out if you’re ready to unlock it. I’m not going to live that way anymore.” He says it robotically, like an automated recording.

“I know what I said,” Neil snaps, starting to look up, but Andrew grips his neck and steers his head down again.

“Then you should be able to explain what you meant. Without lying to me.”

Andrew’s initiating one of their trades, he realizes, baring a secret and nodding at Neil do to the same. He closes his eyes, flinching when the brush makes sudden contact with his neck.

“My mother.” It’s an easier answer than the reality--a web of injustice too thick to see through. A childhood spent escaping from one cell block to another.

The brush stops midway through a glide towards his hairline. “She hurt you?” Andrew asks, low.

“It’s not that simple.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“You know better than anyone that protecting someone can get bloody. Our circumstances weren’t--they were never good enough for us to have a decent relationship. But she kept us moving.”

A bare hand curls in his hair, and Neil’s eyes open. His breath catches when he recognizes the hateful look on Andrew’s face.

“Did she hit you, yes or no?”

Neil swallows thickly, trying to focus on the feeling of Andrew’s hand against his scalp. “Yes.” The hand tightens painfully. “But she’s dead now. My parents are dead.” He doesn’t know what drives him to say such a hasty, partial truth, like it has any bearing on the way it felt to be forced to the ground and pinned until his arm broke. Death gets rid of the person, not the memory.

Andrew’s hand drops altogether. He moves into the space at Neil’s side, hip to hip, and rinses his hand under the tap. “If she was beating you, she wasn’t protecting you.”

“You don’t understand what people are capable of when they’re struggling to survive.”

Andrew steps slowly and lethally into Neil’s space. “Yes, I do,” he says, nearly whispering. Neil’s eyes hitch down to his destroyed wrists.

He nods, and Andrew backs off. He feels a strange, remote disappointment watching him move away, like climbing out of a roller coaster and watching it take off without him.

“We’re not keeping you locked up,” Andrew says. “We do not own you.”

Neil shakes his head a little, running a hand over his hair under the guise of checking for dry patches, trying to reclaim the tingling, grounding feeling of Andrew’s fingers.

“Contractually, you do.”

“You’re with us,” Andrew says, “until the second someone abuses your contract, then you leave. We both know you could outrun me if you really wanted to.”

“Maybe,” Neil says, on the blunt edge of a smile. “But you might be able to outlast me.”

Andrew looks at him in the mirror for a long while. “You’re disgustingly stubborn,” he says. “And dense. I wouldn’t count on my ability to put up with you for that long.”

Neil shrugs. “It doesn’t matter, anyway. I won’t leave. We have a deal.”

“I just told you—“

“Not the contract. You and I have a deal. And I’m not ready to give it up,” Neil says, and he means it. The tenuous promise of protection, the give and take, the lure of the stage. He’s only grown more and more obsessed with the whole thing.

Andrew wavers. He reaches for his discarded armbands, and takes his time rolling them back up. Neil feels a painful rush of recognition at seeing his scars swallowed up, and he reaches out impulsively to hold him by the wrist. Andrew’s fingers are still ruddy with dye.

“This isn’t a cage. You’re nothing like—it’s nothing like my mother.”

At Abby’s, he’d told Andrew he reminded him of home, the most nightmarish insult he could lay his hands upon. And for a jarring second, Andrew’s commanding relationship with the band had looked like the dynamic between himself and his mother, ceaseless authority meeting senseless devotion. He’s been stupid enough to mistake Andrew’s promises for Mary Hatford’s threats.

At length, Andrew tugs, and Neil lets go of him.

Long after he’s gone, and Neil’s hair is washed out and limp, wet brown, he can still feel the raised scars underneath the fabric of the armband, and beneath that, a curiously rabbiting pulse.

______

And “monster” does not begin

to cover bolts and stitches in my skin

sinew held with safety pins

but you made me

the creature not the man, right?

but this lab coat’s fitting pretty tight

and if you’re living out of spite

are you a person or a feeling,

and would it hurt to look at you directly?

gunshots speak louder than words

but the warning shots you heard

don’t work for people who’d prefer

to die than to live on their knees--

“It needs workshopping,” Kevin says, tossing the notebook onto the coffee table.

“I think it’s great, Neil,” Nicky says. “The Frankenstein stuff is cool, our fans eat that shit up.”

Neil shrugs, and he gathers his notes back up from the table, out of reach from prying eyes. They’re assembled in a loose square in the living room, with Andrew at the window, a cigarette burning delicately between two fingers.

“You call yourselves the monsters so— I don’t know.”

“It works,” Kevin sniffs. “They’ll get it. They’ll like it.” It’s a more generous response than he was expecting, and he knows it’s the most approval Kevin can bring himself to show. “How soon can you match it musically?” he asks Andrew.

“I already have a melody,” Neil interrupts. He stands, walks over to the keyboard Kevin insists they always keep on hand, and presses the ‘on’ button. “It’s not very complex,” he says, walking his right hand over a couple of keys until the power catches up and the notes start to voice.

He plays the song through once, low arpeggiated chords and a sustained, high tenor line. He sings when he can’t help it, crooning until it gets too high to sing softly.

Out of the corner of his eye, he catches Andrew’s fingers drumming against the windowsill.

“You’re right,” Aaron says when it’s finished. “It’s not very complex.”

“Downer,” Nicky accuses. “It’s just keys right now, we can amp it up.”

“Is it worth it?” Aaron complains.

“Yes,” Andrew says, leaning over to put his cigarette out in the ashtray balanced on the arm of the couch. They all look at him expectantly, and he gets up, grabs the music directly out of Neil’s hands, and disappears into his room with it.

“Well that’s a good sign,” Nicky says, bemused. “Guess we’re going to that concert, Neil.” When Kevin opens his mouth to protest, Nicky says, “Wymack signed off on it. Plus we’re making headway on the b-side tracks, and Andrew’s actually working.”

“I’m not going,” Kevin says, crossing his arms.

“Me neither,” Aaron says. “Allison will have our balls if we pull focus from her.”

“So we won’t,” Nicky says. He ropes Neil in by the shoulder and tousles his newly dark hair. “No one will even know we’re there.”

______

Later, Nicky sends Neil to ask for the car keys, and he finds himself standing in the dusk outside Andrew’s room, delaying the inevitable confrontation.

Andrew comes out before he can knock, wearing boots and a black baseball cap, keys clenched in his fist. They nearly collide, and Neil staggers back a step.

“You’re coming with us?” he asks dumbly.

“You and Nicky can’t be trusted alone,” he says. It’s an insult, but it hits Neil like warm water from a shower-head, like relief.

“Did Kevin ask you to do this?” Neil asks, but Andrew ignores him, brushing past into the living room, then the entryway. Nicky pushes off from the back of the couch where he’s been waiting, looking back and forth between the two of them nervously.

“We’re all going?”

“Apparently,” Neil replies.

“Cool. Weird. Shotgun.”

“Neil’s sitting in the front,” Andrew says, cranking the screen door open.

“Family really means, like, nothing to you when Neil’s around—“ Nicky’s saying as he follows Andrew out into the night.

Neil breathes out, lacing his shoes and listening to Nicky chatter circles around Andrew, who is steady and silent, already fixed in the driver’s seat.

He’s been picturing the Foxes concert as that same ambiguous darkness from before he joined the band, skulking in the back of bars and hoping to be caught. Now he imagines Andrew and Nicky propping him up like brackets, a drink he actually paid for, the hair-raising knowledge of what it feels like on the other side of the performance.

Wind shivers through the front door and underneath Neil’s collar. He jams his hands into his jacket pockets—the leather already stiff and unyielding from the cold—squares his shoulders, and opens the door.

______

They’re smuggled in through a door backstage, already late. Nicky clings to Neil’s sleeve so tightly that it pulls down over his hand.

Renee comes to greet them, as unnervingly pleasant as the last time he’d seen her. Neil keeps expecting her even-keeled demeanour to clash against Andrew’s like icebergs meeting, but they only seem to thaw around one another.

Andrew greets her, and she knocks her knuckles into his hand and smiles.

“I’m glad you guys came. Don’t tell her I told you, but Allison’s raring to show off.”

“I bet she is, competitive bitch,” Nicky says good-naturedly. “All you foxes are such a handful.”

Renee seems to be considering whether or not he’s joking when Dan appears at her elbow. “Walk in the park compared to your lot,” she says, smiling sharply. Her eyes flit to Neil and she softens. “Still doing okay, Neil?”

“She means, have we ruined your life,” Andrew says in German.

“Quick, tell her how saintly we are,” Nicky says.

“And lie?” Neil asks in exaggerated German, as if scandalized. “I’m fine,” he says to Dan. “Excited to see a Foxes set.”

It’s a bigger venue than he’s used to, and the energy is intimidating, people whisking past them and calling instructions to one another.

Her smile quirks, and she lets her arm drape around Renee’s neck. “We’ll try our best to impress, then. As usual.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Nicky says. “You’re a big deal, we get it. Don’t you have warm-ups to do?”

Dan snorts. “Time off is making you a little mean, Hemmick. You better watch him, monster.”

Andrew stares blankly back at her, and Nicky says, “you try living with Kevin 24 hours a day and tell me how personable you’re feeling.”

Dan winces. “Point.” Someone ducks close and whispers in her ear, and her face flickers through several shades of confusion and annoyance. “Okay, shit. One of Allison’s pegs came loose and her tuning is all over the place. Sound check’s in five, and Matt’s on the wrong side of drunk, but um. The show must go on, I guess.”

Renee ducks out from under Dan’s arm, excusing herself, and Dan squeezes Neil’s shoulder in parting. “See you out there. Try not to get into trouble.”

“Yeah right,” Nicky says, and she aims a kick at his shin. He falls back a step, laughing, as she jogs after Renee. “Hey, rock and roll, Dan,” he calls. “Or whatever it is you guys do.”

He’s still beaming when he loops his arm with Neil’s and steers them towards the door. Neil looks anxiously back at Andrew, but he’s a step behind them as usual.

They wait for a lull in passersby, and then they’re out in the thick of the crowd, pushing conspicuously from the front of the stage to the side of the room. Eyes linger on them and narrow, and his throat starts to constrict until he feels Andrew’s hand thread into the shirt under his jacket, keeping him tethered.

Nicky can’t resist dancing a little to the opener, as obvious as they already are, and he bobs through the aisles, shooting furtive looks back at Neil to see if he’s enjoying himself. The band on stage is too high energy for their low energy song, jumping and twisting to a half-time rhythm.

Andrew’s hand tightens at the small of his back, and Neil glances back to see him eyeing the thrashing drummer with distaste.

“I thought you didn’t care about technique,” Neil tells him over the music, and Andrew tears his eyes away. He’s frowning, and Neil relishes that off-guard little furrow of emotion.

“I don’t,” Andrew says, “I also don’t listen to bad music if I can help it.”

“Guess we must be pretty good, then,” Neil says.

“I didn’t say that.”

“No,” Neil agrees. “You didn’t.” He knows that it’s true, though. Somewhere past the layers and layers of bandages that Andrew wears, there must be raw flesh. It’s just that Neil can’t tell if he’s healing or rotting underneath it all.

They come to a stop close to the stairs up into the stands, and Nicky gestures at an empty patch halfway up. Most of the crowd is standing already, chaotic, but they climb up into the mess and find their seats, Nicky on the inside and Andrew in the aisle, with Neil sandwiched in-between.

“Our fans are louder,” Nicky leans over to say smugly.

“That’s because they’re trying to keep up with you,” Neil says. “Decibel for decibel.”

“Fuck you,” Nicky laughs. His eyes are bright, and he grips the seat in front of him to get the leverage to see through the masses.

They ride the energy of the crowd to the end of the song, and then the group is hollering goodbyes and filing offstage, and people start to sit down or escape to concession. Nicky relaxes back into his seat and pinches Neil for his opinion.

“I don’t think we missed much,” Neil says.

Nicky shrugs. “Yeah, but we were like that once. You got to skip Ausreißer’s adolescence, Neil, you lucky shit. It was not pretty.”

“Kevin showed me your first album,” he tells him.

“Oh, Jesus,” Nicky groans. “Those were dark times. I used to wear leather biker gloves on stage, like a tool.” He rustles in his inner jacket pocket and produces his flask. “Drink to forget?”

Andrew reaches across to pluck it from his hand before anyone can drink. He unscrews the cap and points it at Nicky. “I know you’re already fucked, Nicky.”

He scoffs, making a messy grab for it that Andrew dodges. “Hardly.”

Andrew swallows a generous shots worth, then passes the flask to Neil. This is familiar by now, sharing space and booze and drugs as a means to an end. They get drunk like they’re grappling down a cliff-face together, connected by rope.

Neil hesitates. There are strangers on all sides and the sick smell of sweat and beer in the air, but there’s something about his back to the wall and a concert ahead that he trusts. This is how he spent the years after his mother’s death, anonymous and drunk, losing control in measured doses like taking medication.

He drinks, the mouthpiece still wet from Andrew’s mouth, and screws his face up at the tartness of the flavour—a salty, lemony vodka. Nicky tries to steal the flask halfway through his sip, so Neil pushes him away by the face.

He and Andrew share the rest of the liquor, and he puts the back of his hand to his face to feel it warming up. It’s a relief, to feel his edges shaved off. It’s like he’s less defined this way, less likely to be recognized.

Stagehands are fiddling with amps onstage and taping wires down, and the buzz of the crowd is suddenly deafening.

“What’s the deal with Renee?” he hears himself asking.

“What d’you mean?” Nicky asks.

“You like her,” Neil guesses, jabbing Andrew with the base of the flask to get his attention. “But she’s nothing like you.”

“She’s one of us,” Andrew says.

“But she’s not, though,” Neil says, half-frustrated and half gawking at his own lack of composure. He wants his curiosity back inside where it can fester and wonder in circles and die. “I thought Wymack only took in strays. Charity cases.”

“You have met her twice,” Andrew says coldly. “How well do you think you can judge a person’s character in that time?”

“Pretty well,” Neil says grimly. He thinks of the cross around her neck and the prim lace of her collar, attention-grabbing hair offset by dark, serious eyes. He saw Matt’s track marks and Allison’s rage before Dan had even whispered their stories to him, but he can’t read anything on sweet, prim Renee.

“Lucky she doesn’t care what anyone thinks,” Nicky interjects. “She’s waiting to be judged by God, I think. Everyone else’s opinions are just… noise.”

He can’t imagine anyone who was really like them believing in God like that, but he bites his tongue.

“Little orphan Neil Josten gets in some trouble and he thinks he knows what rock bottom looks like,” Andrew muses, and Neil’s stomach sinks. “You haven’t even hit it yet.” He looks unfocused, and it occurs to Neil that he might have taken something before they left.

“You’re right,” Neil says. “But you promised that you’d be there when I do,” he reminds him.

“What the fuck does that mean?” Nicky asks. “Neil?”

“Neil?” someone else says, and Neil looks over to see a woman and a couple of scruffy looking dudes frozen halfway up the stairs. His eyes drop to the shortest of the two, who’s wearing elbow-length armbands identical to Andrew’s. “Andrew! Nicky! Oh my god,” he says.

Nicky puts on a winning smile. “Hey!”

“I can’t believe you’re here—like, for real, there were rumours, but—oh my god— “

“He’s completely obsessed with you,” the woman gushes.

“Katie,” he hisses, and his friend shakes him good-naturedly by the shoulders.

“He’s afraid to say it, but—“

“Fuck off—“

“—every single album—“

“That’s very cute,” Nicky interrupts, cocking a flirtatious grin at the guy who’s holding his own cheeks, dismayed.

“We couldn’t believe you were just, like, changing your sound completely,” the taller guy says. “But Neil, man, I see why they’d take a chance for a voice like yours. It’s sick, dude.”

“Thanks,” Neil says stiffly.

“He’s not used to being recognized, yet,” Nicky says apologetically. “You’re taking his fan virginity.”

They titter, and the woman says, “we’re honoured.” She nudges her friend and widens her eyes meaningfully.

“We can’t really hang out though, sorry guys. Low profile tonight,” Nicky says. His smile is less believable by the second.

“Totally,” they chorus.

“I just quickly want to say, Andrew,” the first guy starts, breathless. “I know you get this all the time, but your lyrics saved my life. I couldn’t believe someone understood me like that, and—and you’re my--you inspire--I mean. I’m sorry, I’m so tongue-tied, I—“

“I didn’t write them for you,” Andrew says.

The fan’s face crumples. Nicky looks at Neil, panicked, and then he forces a loud, incongruous laugh.

“Wow, good one,” Nicky says. “He doesn’t mean it, obviously.”

“Don’t I?” Andrew says.

“We appreciate it,” Neil interrupts. “But we can’t talk anymore.“

“Right, sorry, I’m so—“

They urge one another up the stairs, apologizing and thanking them, the one guy looking on the verge of tears through the bars of his friends’ arms, until they disappear up to the next level of seats.

“You could’ve pretended to be human,” Nicky hisses as soon as they’re gone.

“They call us monsters,” Andrew says. “What do they expect?”

Nicky groans. “Please can we have fun, and not ruin anyone else’s night, especially our fans? People are gonna egg our car.”

Neil’s stomach squirms, and he crosses his arms over it. There could be well-meaning, invasive people like that everywhere, and now he’s tipsy and angry and stuck.

The house lights go down a few minutes later, and the whole crowd sucks in a collective breath before they plunge headfirst into cheering.

Neil’s arms loosen. Nicky stands up at his side, hooting, and everyone follows suit, craning towards the stage, wanting to be the first thing the band sees.

Dan comes out first, waving with both hands, and Matt follows, winking at the crowd and sliding his guitar over his head. Allison and Renee emerge from either side of the stage, Allison towering in high heels and glowing under the lights. Renee’s hair is wild, and her face is different, tongue caught in her teeth, almost cocky.

They fit behind their instruments like joints cracking into place, and they play their first chord in perfect unison, all of them operating different parts of the same body.

The crowd roars their approval. Neil sits upright. He’s surprised to feel Andrew standing up beside him, stepping into the aisle to watch. He follows without thinking.

The jangling, bopping drum line doesn’t wait for the strings to catch up, and Renee doesn’t need to watch to see that they’re following her. Her wrists are supple, and she’s lost to the music like she’s been playing for hours and not seconds.

The room goes up in flames when Dan starts singing, like the fans are all hungry, dry wood, and she’s a spark. She works the microphone free from its stand and starts running with it.

“Fucking excellent, right,” Nicky shouts, and Neil nods, mesmerized. The crowd moves together even separated by sections and rows of seats.

It’s nothing like an Ausreißer concert, where boiling blood turns into wine, and everyone turns their desperate faces up to the stage like they’re waiting to be healed. Foxes sing like they’re in love and they fought for it.

Neil can admit that they’re as musically proficient as the monsters, too, making up for lack of technical flair with a complete understanding of their sound.

Matt smiles dopily down at his guitar and then at Dan, like he can’t decide which deserves his attention more. When she floats towards him, he gets springy with it, teasing her with guitar licks, carving shapes into her oaky voice. Allison’s hand goes protectively to her tuning pegs whenever she has a break in the music, but her bass is rich and in tune.

They do an old-fashioned crescendo like it’s a classical piece, and Dan is almost conducting, hitting the air when Renee smashes the cymbals, gesturing for more when Allison starts a slippery solo, so fast that she laughs and tosses her hair, exhilarated.

Neil makes a hurt noise that gets swallowed in the din, but Andrew looks at him anyway. Neil looks back, studying his wide black pupils and wondering why he only bothers to pay attention when he’s stoned.

He remembers the wide eyes of the kid with the armbands, the agony of his disappointment, and he forces himself to look back out at the band.

One song finishes and another climbs on its back. People move and mill out of their seats towards the stage. He feels like he’s seeing double, like he’s watching a long pilgrimage that’s somehow been condensed or played back.

The first break in the music, Dan laughs her way out of the song, takes a swig of wine, and says “how was that?” into the mic, pointing out towards the place where the monsters are standing. Nicky puts two fingers to his mouth and whistles.

Her stage presence is unparalleled. She’s funny and a little hard on her audience, begging them to sing louder, drive her offstage if they can. Neil can see why she’s in charge, unofficially. She paces circles around the stage like she’s boosting morale. She barely needs the microphone to be heard.

They topple back into their set without warning, a trust fall of a count-in where Renee bangs out a few warning shots and everyone’s hands fly to their instruments.

Somewhere in the thicket of fans, Neil hears someone call, “Andrew!” He sees an incongruous flash, turned towards the audience and not the stage.

“Nicky, Nicky Hemmick! Nicky, over here—“

“Andrew,” Neil starts.

“We love you, Neil,” someone screams.

“Don’t—“

Neil’s jostled down a stair, and Andrew yanks him back up.

“Ignore them,” Andrew says viciously.

“Yeah,” Nicky agrees, but he’s clearly rattled. “What are they gonna do?”

Neil struggles to get his bearings. A few of them are still shouting, recording them with their phones or fighting their way through the crowd towards them. Nicky motions for them to stop, but a few people get close enough to beg for autographs or snap blurry photos of themselves with the band members in the background. He wonders if it was the fans from before, upset enough to tip off the whole crowd to their seat numbers.

“Bet you didn’t think we were this famous, huh?” Nicky jokes nervously.

Andrew has no problem with shoving people away, and Nicky frantically apologizes as many times as he can before he just starts shaking his head. Neil is forced painfully into Nicky’s side, and he can hear people in their row restlessly asking what’s going on.

Most of the audience is oblivious, still focused on Foxes’ raucous energy, but the three of them are surrounded for another ten minutes before people start to get frustrated enough to give up. The rest of them are shoulder-tapped by security, and the throng dwindles to nothing.

“You okay?” Nicky asks. Neil nods, but when he blinks he can still see pinholes of light from camera flashes. He knows that the photos will end up online where anyone can see him as he is right now, and they can guess at his habits or zero in on his location if they want to.

He’s been reckless for a long time, but standing pooled in stage lights feels entirely, chokingly different from wading down into the crowd and feeling the attention slither around him like seaweed.

Andrew crushes a hand to the back of his neck, and Neil inhales all at once.

“Kinda ironic that crowds freak you out so much when you sing for one every night,” Nicky says. He’s standing half in front of Neil, eclipsing the concert still unfolding in the background.

“It’s not the crowd.” Neil shakes his head to clear it. “It’s—they all know who I am.”

‘They think they do,” Nicky corrects firmly, fingers curling into Neil’s arms. The harpy tattoo peers out from under his sheer sleeve, a monster in a veil.

“They want to,” Andrew says, gaze tossed out to the back of the venue. His face is so blank and washed out under the lights that it’s like it’s been chemically stripped of colour. “You’ve caught their attention.”

Neil pulls free from Nicky’s arms and sits heavily in his seat. “I don’t want it.”

“You might not have a choice,” Nicky says, sitting next to him, smothering the distance Neil keeps trying and failing to cultivate.

“You always have a choice,” Andrew says, and when Neil looks up at him, he’s holding out his right hand with its painted yes. Neil accepts it gingerly, and Andrew drags him to his feet.

They watch the rest of the concert from backstage.

Andrew sits propped up on an amp, and Nicky alternates between trying to get the band’s attention from the wings, and mimicking Matt’s solos with vigorous air guitar. Neil suspects he’s trying to get him to laugh.

Neil has enough distance now to feel stupid about locking up during such a minor incident and proving Kevin right. The crowd has already forgotten them, or never knew they were there. The show goes on.

They’re coming up on their encore performance when Neil feels a buzzing at his hip.

He fishes an unfamiliar cellphone out of his pocket and stares uncomprehendingly at the message lingering on screen, sent from a number he doesn’t recognize.

A neat little ’60’ and nothing else.

#neil sure is mistaken about many things #the foxhole court #andreil #tfc fanfic #aftg #rockband au #mine #abuse tw #alcohol tw #self harm tw #this chapter did not want to exit my mind and I'm sorry about that #peep the love letter to dan wilds halfway through this klhgjfhdfgsf

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bbcworldnewstoday · 2 years ago

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Girls Tennis: Rochelle finishes second in Lady Hub Invitational

ROCHELLE — The Rochelle Lady Hub varsity tennis team held its annual Lady Hub Invitational at Rochelle Township High School on Saturday. Seniors Bailey Jackson and Marisa Whaley finished first in the No. 2 doubles bracket to lead Rochelle to a second-place performance in the five-team tournament that included DeKalb, Freeport, Newman Central Catholic and Kaneland. The Lady Hubs (2-7, 0-4 Interstate 8) totaled 20 points across five top-3 finishes in the meet. Jackson and Whaley went 3-1 overall, defeating Freeport’s Caitlyn Simpson and Arazara Lassandro 6-3 before falling 3-6 against Kaneland’s Kaci Randall and Nola Noring. Jackson and Whaley closed out the tournament with an 8-1 victory over Newman’s Laurel Chavera and Kaitlyn Conderman as well as a 5-4 victory over DeKalb’s Eesha Faisal and Alissa Kocjan. Junior Elin Zheng took second in the No. 1 singles bracket with a 3-1 record. Zheng fell 7-2 against Kaneland’s Anelle Dominguez before bouncing back with a 6-3 win over DeKalb’s Amirah Shakir. Zheng won consecutive matches to close out the tournament, taking down Freeport’s Audra Luecke and Newman’s Emma Oswalt with back-to-back 5-4 scores. Senior Abby Tarvestad took second in the No. 2 singles bracket with a 3-1 record. Tarvestad edged Newman’s Maria Ardis 5-4 and fell 6-3 against Kaneland’s Lexi Maberry over her first two matches. Tarvestad finished strong to record her second-place position, cruising 8-1 over DeKalb’s Aubree Judkins and shutting out Freeport’s Ryleigh Bach with a clean 9-0 sweep. Senior Maleah Pointer and sophomore Riley Doyle took second in the No. 3 doubles bracket with a 3-1 record. Pointer and Doyle won three consecutive matches to begin the tournament, defeating Newman’s Elise Vanderbleek and Maddy Taylor-Steffens 6-3, Freeport’s Ashlyn Erickson and Hanna Rackow 8-1 as well as DeKalb’s Nina Christopherson and Reina McGee 6-3. Pointer and Doyle fell 6-3 to Kaneland’s Annika Salchert and Anna Bischoff in Round 5. Seniors Torrin Nantz and Francesca Williams finished third in the No. 1 doubles bracket with a 2-2 record. Nantz and Williams downed DeKalb’s Ilanie Castorena and Emma Kraft 6-3 before outlasting Freeport’s Nicole Ocon and Addie Lang 5-4 in their second match. Nantz and Williams lost their last two matches, conceding a 5-4 defeat against Newman’s Julia Rhodes and Emily Beattie and a 7-2 defeat to Kaneland’s Lauren Andrews and Abby Grams. Read the full article

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slapper51 · 3 years ago

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Muleriders carry nine-game win streak to Arkadelphia

Source: https://muleriderathletics.com/news/2022/3/31/softball-rv-muleriders-carry-nine-game-win-streak-to-arkadelphia.aspx

MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The league-leading (RV) Southern Arkansas University softball team (21-11, 14-3 GAC) will continue with their eight-game road trip as they are set to take on Henderson State University (9-27, 6-11 GAC) in a three-game Great American Conference series in Arkadelphia. The series will get underway on Friday evening with a single game at 5:00 p.m., followed by a double header on Saturday afternoon that is set to start at 2:00 p.m. The Muleriders come into this weekend's series riding a nine-game win streak which includes three straight GAC series sweeps over Ouachita Baptist, East Central University and Southeastern Oklahoma State. Since starting GAC play back on February 27th, the Muleriders have outscored GAC opponents 100-33 and have scored 10 or more runs in five of those 17 games. After a slow start to their season, which includes 11 straight losses to open up the year, the Reddies have shown signs of improvement as they have won six games in GAC play. HSU was able to take a series from Southern Nazarene after picking up two wins top open GAC play, and they were also able to take a series from Southwestern Oklahoma State after taking them down twice at home last weekend. HSU's other two GAC wins came against Northwestern Oklahoma State and Arkansas-Monticello. SAU has four players with 20 or more hits on the season. Jade Miller leads the squad with 45 hits, which ranks 27th in NCAA DII and 3rd overall in the GAC. Alese Casper has collected 30 hits on the year, while Jaxynn Dyson (28) and Madison Miller (20) round SAU's top hitters. Tiare Lee is not far behind as she has 19 hits through 17 games played. J. Miller carries a team leading .388 batting average, while Casper continues to see her average rise as she is batting .309. J. Miller also leads the team in runs (31), homeruns (9), and RBI (22). Casper is second on the squad with 24 runs scored, while Dyson is second on the team with 21 RBI. Dyson and Sarah Evans have both hit six homeruns, while Lee and M. Miller have both hit four. Lee is third on the team in RBI with 19, while Evans has collected 18 followed by M. Miller with 17. Casper and Taylor Murphy lead the team with 12 walks apiece. The Muleriders continue to stay hot in the circle, as the pitching staff of Sydney Ward, Kiana Pogroszewski, Baylie Thornhill, and Macie Welch carry a 1.74 ERA, which ranks 14th best in NCAA DII and 1st in the GAC. Ward leads the team with a 10-3 record through 83.2 innings pitched to go along with a team high 78 strikeouts. She as allowed 27 runs (21 earned) on 65 hits. Pogroszewski leads the team and the GAC with her 1.18 ERA and it also comes in as the 24th best ERA among NCAA DII players. She currently holds an 8-3 record through 71.1 innings in the circle to go along with 71 strikeouts. KP has only allowed 20 runs (12 earned) on 53 hits. Macie Welch leads the Muleriders and is tied for 1st in the GAC with three saves, which is also 9th best in the country. Welch has tossed 37.0 innings in the circle and has two wins to go along with her three saves. She has struck out 38 batters and has allowed 13 runs (10 earned) on 34 hits. Baylie Thornhill carries a 2.21 ERA and has one win in 25.1 innings pitched. Thornhill has struck out 27 batters and has allowed 11 runs (eight earned) on 27 hits allowed. HSU has four players with 25 or more hits. The Reddies are led by Justine Burch (34), Abbie Moore (31), Brooke Johnson (27) and Madison Treutlein (26). Treutlein leads the team with a .356 batting average, while Burch carries a .374. Moore leads HSU with 19 RBI, 17 runs and seven homeruns. The Reddies hold a .260 team batting average and they have been outscored 226-116 on the season. Erika Bittinger leads HSU with a 4-4 record through 64.0 innings pitched. She has allowed 73 hits and 45 runs (38 earned) to go along with 27 strikeouts. Johnson and Savannah Carrigan have both pitched 63.1 innings and they both have two wins.

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junker-town · 4 years ago

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The start of Western Illinois’ NCAA tournament run in Year 20, continued

We pick up with the Leathernecks facing No. 5 Minnesota in the first round of the NCAA tournament in our College Hoops 2K8 sim.

Welcome back to our simulated dynasty with the Western Illinois Leathernecks in College Hoops 2K8. You can find a full explanation of this project + spoiler-free links to previous seasons here. Check out the introduction to this series from early April for full context. As a reminder, I simulate every game in this series (even the ones we watch on Twitch) and only handle the recruiting and coaching strategies.

We pick up with Western Illinois in the first round of the 2027 NCAA tournament. Here’s a recap of everything that has happened so far this season:

Western Illinois entered the season seeking redemption after losing to Cal in the first round of the NCAA tournament last year. We began the new season rated as a 96 overall with three new starters. We went 3-6 against a difficult non-conference schedule before sweeping the Summit League and again capturing the conference tournament championship.

We enter the tournament as a No. 12 seed. Our opponent in the first round is No. 5 seed Minnesota.

We recruited for one scholarship and are in position to land five-star JUCO shooting guard Edwin Wolfe in the spring.

READ: Western Illinois, Year 20, 2026-2027

Here’s a look at our roster heading into the 2027 NCAA tournament:

Not going to lie, there’s some real pressure heading into this tournament run in my 20th season as head coach at Western Illinois. We saw our season end in the Elite Eight in Year 16, Year 17, and Year 18. We lost in the first round last season. While I already have a strong case as the greatest mid-major coach in college basketball history, we all know this is a “what have you done for me lately” culture. It will be so hard to face the fanbase if we bow out early again.

Unfortunately, our shaky non-conference slate means we got a raw deal by the selection committee. It’s going to be a tough road through the bracket for us as a No. 12 seed, and it starts against a talented Minnesota team. Both teams enter the game rated as a 98 overall.

Minnesota is real good — you can check out the Golden Gophers’ roster here. Their senior shooting guard Carlos Klatsky is rated as a 95 overall — only four players are rated higher entering the tournament — and he’s matched up against our redshirt freshman Mathew Alloway. Their front court is stacked. Their five best players are either juniors or seniors. I am expecting this to be tough as hell.

The one thing giving me confidence is how we performed in the regular season against No. 1 Louisville in a game we watched together on Twitch. We gave the Cards all they could handle in a true road game before losing in the end. I love our inside-outside combination with senior small forward Wilky Henry and junior power forward Allan Cunningham. I trust our guards more than I did last year. While we have struggled in quick sim games, the pieces on this squad fit together better when we watch full games together on Twitch, I think. We need to take care of the ball, dominate the glass, and hopefully get a stellar performance from Henry as our go-to option on the perimeter.

We streamed this game on Twitch on Sunday night. As always, I’m not controlling Western Illinois; we’re watching a simulated game played by the computer. I’m not playing any of the games in this series, I only do the recruiting and set the coaching strategies. We did do something new this year, though: for the first time, I’m allowing myself to make in-game substitutions. Why not? There’s too much pressure to let poor rotation choices cost us.

The game should begin when you press play. Let’s go!

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***

Win, 89-72! We’re onto the round of 32 where we will face No. 4 seed Ole Miss.

“SECOND HALF TEAM” has become a rallying cry for our Leathernecks during the Twitch chat, and it paid off once again. Thank the heavens, because that first half was tense. Our defense looked good, but Minnesota was still matching baskets with us the entire way. We couldn’t get anything going from three-point range early. I was wondering who was going to step up to be the hero, but instead the whole team pretty much raised its level of play in the second half.

A few shout-outs:

Wilky Henry was outstanding — he was up to 24 points on the night when we pulled the starters with about five minutes remaining. Henry didn’t do anything in our first round tournament loss to Cal last year (7 points in 33 minutes), so it was great to see him splashing threes and using his size (6’8, 240+ pounds) to bully people at the rim. That is exactly the type of performance we need out of him to keep winning.

Allan Cunningham is simply an all-time Stream Team performer. Dude is so big (6’11, 290 pounds) but still so graceful, and has three-point touch to match. For all the praise we give Ham — read our beat writer Matthew Morrow on Cunningham coming into the season — we often overlook his passing ability. Not anymore: Ham was dropping dimes like a vintage Chris Webber in this one, beating constant double-teams in the second half by kicking out to open shooters. Beautiful stuff.

Our center Pat Giddens has been generally maligned by the fanbase for being too short (6’9) and too overweight (close to 300 pounds), but he’s also the highest rated junior in the NCAA tournament. I was waiting for his production to match his ratings, and it finally happened. Giddens looks formidable offensively and held his own protecting the rim. Good stuff — we need more of that is we want to keep winning.

Reader Abby blessed us with clips from the win. My favorites: this three-pointer from Silky Wilky:

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Manual subs! Featuring a Cunningham steal and finish:

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Nice block by backup center Kevin Brazzle + a knockdown jumper from freshman guard Mathew Alloway:

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Bring on Ole Miss.

No. 12 Western Illinois vs. No. 4 Ole Miss, round of 32, 2027 NCAA tournament

Another tough matchup for our Leathernecks. Ole Miss enters the game as a 99 overall, which is one point higher than us. They have five players rated in the 90s, though most of their talent is in the backcourt and on the wing rather than in the front court. Here’s a look at the roster:

We need Cunningham and Giddens to eat inside. Waiting for us in the Sweet 16 would be a matchup with top-seeded Dayton, who are led by junior big man Matt Boswell, the player we created for the first-ever winner of our bracket contest. That would be such a fun game.

We also streamed this game on Twitch on Sunday night. Again: we’re watching a simulated game, I’m not controlling the teams. The game should start when you press play.

LET’S GO!

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***

Win, 116-85! We’re going to the Sweet 16! Here are the tempo-free team stats from @akulawolf:

@SBN_Ricky not sure it's possible to be much better than this offensively pic.twitter.com/zRvek6XJfz

— Steven (@akulawolf) August 17, 2020

We just witnessed the best NCAA tournament performance in program history. Wilky Henry, have yourself a day!

Here’s what I wrote about Henry at the start of the season: “Henry needs to be a superstar this year for this team to play up to its potential.” It happened in an epic way, and we’re going to the Sweet 16 because of it. Henry was absolutely unconscious, pouring in 46 points on 10-of-16 shooting from three-point range. He shattered the program’s previous tournament scoring record of 34 points set by Kim Kone in Year 17.

Honestly, it felt like he could have scored 60 easily. We pulled the starters with 9:35 seconds left as we were up 22 points. I tried to manually sub Henry back in to get 50, but the game took him out right away. LOL. Still an unreal performance either way.

Seriously, man: 46 points on 27 shots in 26 minutes. We might never see a performance like that again in Leathernecks history. Let’s go the clips from reader Abby, starting with a three and then a dunk from Wilky:

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More Wilky:

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Nice pass from Wilky to point guard Tron Whaley:

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Silky Wilky forever. We’re going to need him to keep going, because we’re moving onto the Sweet 16 to face No. 1 seed Dayton.

No. 12 Western Illinois vs. No. 1 Dayton, Sweet 16, 2027 NCAA tournament

Dayton enters the game as a 97 overall — we’re a 98 overall. This is how the two teams matchup:

Here’s a look at Dayton’s roster led by one-time bracket contest winner, studio host, and created baller Matt Boswell. This is going to be an all-out battle. And we’re going to watch the simulated game together on Tuesday, Aug. 18 at 8:30 p.m. ET on Twitch. Please join us.

Here’s how to watch Western Illinois vs. Dayton in the Sweet 16:

Game: No. 12 seed Western Illinois vs. No. 1 seed Dayton, Sweet 16, 2027 NCAA tournament

How to watch: My Twitch channel

Date: Tuesday, Aug. 18

Tip-off time: 8:30 p.m. ET // 7:30 p.m. CT. The stream will start a little earlier.

If we win: Elite Eight game against the winner of No. 2 Indiana vs. No. 6 Pitt will follow immediately after.

Put Lakers vs. Blazers on one screen and the Leathernecks on the other. This is going to be a blast. A few links before I get out of here:

Join the Leathernecks Reddit for continued discussion on the team. We also have a fan-started Twitter account (with spoilers of Twitch streams before the recap goes out) and Instagram page you can follow.

Reader Evan’s Leathernecks recruiting database now includes size progression over time. He wrote about it on Reddit, but it’s wild seeing some of these changes. For example: Wilky Henry has gained three inches and 43 pounds since he committed. I hope no one gives him a PED test before the Sweet 16.

We had 130 entries in the bracket contest this year. Hell yeah. Check out Sean’s Blog Team app for the current standings, which works on desktop and mobile.

Reader Thanh Nguyen wrote a fan-fiction e-book on the first eight seasons of Ricky Charisma at Western Illinois.

WESTERN ILLINOIS VS. DAYTON

SWEET 16

TUESDAY NIGHT ON TWITCH

I’LL SEE YOU THERE

GO ‘NECKS.

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0 notes

maysoper · 6 years ago

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The Rundown - Week 12

The battles for playoff spots and seedings within Canada West are already being contested, and this week's slate of games would only further the narratives being written for each of the eight Canada West teams. If you're wondering why this is a Tuesday edition of The Rundown, the Mount Royal Cougars and Calgary Dinos met tonight in the Crowchild Classic, and those results needed to be added in! As it stands, Manitoba and Alberta are locked in a battle for home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs. UBC and Saskatchewan are battling for third- and fourth-place while trying to track down Alberta and Manitoba. Mount Royal and Regina are jockeying for fifth- and sixth-place while trying to hold off Lethbridge's late surge this season. Calgary isn't mathematically out of the race, but they've embraced the spoiler role. Those stories continue this week as we check the action and results on The Rundown!

FRIDAY: The first-place Manitoba Bisons headed west to southern Alberta as they met the Lethbridge Pronghorns for a two-game set. The Bisons held a slim one-point lead over Alberta for first-place in the conference while the Pronghorns trailed Mount Royal by four points for the final playoff spot. Manitoba would send Lauren Taraschuk to the crease and the Pronghorns gave Alicia Anderson the assignment on Friday. After the dismissal of Lethbridge head coach Michelle Janus earlier in the week, there was some concern that the Pronghorns may come out flat. They put those concerns to rest right away as the Pronghorns were far more aggressive compared to how they've played in the past. This benefited them greatly as they seemed to keep Manitoba on their heels for the majority of the opening frame while getting a number of chances on Taraschuk. However, the big Manitoba goalie was equal to the task, and the two teams would head to the second period still 0-0. The second period belonged to Anderson as she stymied the Bisons power-play units early on after they had chances. A Manitoba power-play saw the Pronghorns fail to find room to get to Taraschuk as the Bisons penalty-killing units were on their games. It wasn't until late in the period that Manitoba would finally be able to put it all together. After Anderson stopped a two-on-one, Mekaela Fisher would find the back of the net when she beat Anderson at 17:28 to Manitoba up 1-0. Before the ink had dried on the scoresheet, the Bisons doubled their lead just ten seconds later when the Bisons won the face-off, fired a puck in on Anderson, and Karissa Kirkup poked home the puck in the scramble as Anderson couldn't cover the puck for the 2-0 lead! Manitoba would take that two-goal lead on the strength of a 24-12 advantage in shots into the third period. Whatever was said in the room during the intermission seemed to light a fire under the Pronghorns as they weren't content to simply fold their tents. The aggressiveness of the Horns would pay off midway through the period on the power-play.

W🏒| 🚨HORNS SCORE!🚨 Kyra Grieg scores to cut the deficit in half! #gohorns pic.twitter.com/Ge8wuUekvF

— Pronghorn Athletics (@UofLPronghorns) January 26, 2019

Kyra Greig's power-play tally - one that I'd assume Taraschuk wants back - made it a 2-1 game at 8:03 of the third period, and this game suddenly took on a new feeling as the momentum began to swell behind the Pronghorns. Manitoba looked to pop that balloon of momentum, and they would strike back just two minutes later when Fisher did all of the work coming off the half-boards and wiring a shot that Anderson stopped, but Courtlyn Oswald would deposit the rebound behind Anderson at 10:19 to make it a 3-1 contest! Again, the Pronghorns just refused to die this weekend when it came to their play, and they would pull Anderson late for the extra attacker. After calling a time-out, the Pronghorns came out of the pause with some fire in their skates again, and Alli Borrow would make this a one-goal game when her shot found twine behind Taraschuk at 18:23 to make it 3-2! However, 35 seconds later saw Nastasha Kostenko hit the empty net with a goal, and that would do it for the scoring on this night as the Bisons skated to the 4-2 victory! Lauren Taraschuk earned her 14th win of the season with a 15-save performance while Alicia Anderson suffered loss despite making 30 stops. SATURDAY: There was a new bench boss behind the Lethbridge Pronghorns on Saturday as they introduced Parry Shockey as the man who will guide the team through the remainder of the season. Lethbridge needed points against Manitoba of any type to try and close the gap between them and both Cougars teams, so they went back to Alicia Anderson as their netminder. Manitoba loooked to add more points to their total this season, so they came back with Lauren Taraschuk in her 21st appearance this season. While Manitoba looked to control the pace of this game, it would be the Pronghorns who took control on the shot counter as they looked to pepper Taraschuk with shots from everywhere on the ice. While the Pronghorns would end the period with a 16-8 edge in shots, the two netminders were content to keep this game tied at 0-0 through the first 20 minutes. The two teams would trade power-play chances early in the second period with no successes seen, but a power-play midway through the period would warrant our first goal. Alexandra Anderson's blast got through traffic and past Alicia Anderson at the 10:00 mark, and the Bisons went up 1-0 with the power-play marker. That seemed to give the Bisons life for the second half of the period as they took control away from the Pronghorns. However, no other goals would be seen as Manitoba went into the third period up 1-0 but trailing 26-24 in shots. Manitoba looked to close out the one-goal game by starting the period playing uptempo hockey. Anderson was equal to the task, though, as she turned away a number of chances. The Pronghorns would see a few chances in the Manitoba zone, but it seemed that they simply couldn't match Manitoba's firepower. Once again, Lethbridge pulled Anderson for the extra attacker late in the game, and this move would prove fortuitous!

W🏒| 🚨HORNS GOOOOOAL🚨 Alli Borrow with her SECOND key marker in two nights TIES THE GAME! We're off to OOOOOOOVERTIIIIME! #gohorns SCORE: Bisons 1 - 1 Horns SOG: Bisons 39 - 34 Horns pic.twitter.com/3HV3oN28LK

— Pronghorn Athletics (@UofLPronghorns) January 26, 2019

Alli Borrow would find room through Taraschuk for the second game in a row, and this goal with 24 seconds remaining helped push the game into overtime tied 1-1! Free hockey for all! The four-on-four overtime period was played as wide-open as any I've seen in my time watching this game. Chances and shots were had at both ends of the ice, but neither Taraschuk nor Anderson would allow a puck to pass them. The three-on-three overtime period was just as crazy as Manitoba was awarded a power-play, but Anderson was once again stellar in keeping the Bisons from victory. After ten minutes of overtime in which Manitoba outshot Lethbridge 18-7, we'd need a shootout to determine a winner! Alli Borrow would shoot first after being the late-game heroine, but she was stopped by Taraschuk. Jordy Zacharias stepped up for Manitoba with their first shot, and she was automatic as she beat Anderson to put Manitoba ahead. Both Mikaela Reay and Alanna Sharman were stopped in Round Two which left Kyra Greig one chance to keep this game going.

LT, clutch yet again. Taraschuk is perfect in the shootout, as the Bisons win 2-1! #gobisons pic.twitter.com/1wsOqM8s1c

— UM Bison Women's Hockey (@umbisonsWHKY) January 26, 2019

Taraschuk outwaits Greig to force her to miss the net, and the Manitoba Bisons claim victory in the shootout by a 2-1 score! Lauren Taraschuk stopped 40 shots for her conference-leading 15th win of the season while Alicia Anderson deserved a better fate on this night after stopping 55 shots in the loss.

FRIDAY: Alberta began the weekend one point back of Manitoba in the race for first-place, and seven points up on UBC. Regina was one point up on Mount Royal and five points up on Lethbridge, so they needed points to maintain their hold on fifth-place despite going into a place where the visiting club rarely wins in Clare Drake Arena. Alberta started Kirsten Chamberlin while Regina started Morgan Baker. This recap doesn't need a lot of words because there wasn't a lot happening for one of the two teams. Alberta saw Kelsey Tangjerd redirect a shot past Baker at 9:30, and Abby benning teed up a shot low blocker-side on Baker at 14:36 to make it 2-0 for Alberta through one period of play. The second period was more of the same as Autumn MacDougall ripped a backhander over Baker's shoulder at 10:36, Kennedy Ganser lasered a wrist shot past Baker on the power-play at 13:31, and Ganser added another at 16:18 to end Baker's night as Jane Kish came in to stop the bleeding. The good news? Kish didn't allow any additional goals. The bad news? Regina couldn't solve Chamberlin on a night where Alberta dominated from puck-drop to the final horn. Alberta wins easily in a 5-0 victory. Kirsten Chamberlin made 17 stops for her eighth win and fifth shutout of the season while Morgan Baker suffered the loss, making 19 saves in 36:18 of work. For the record, Kish stopped all 12 shots she faced in the 23:42 she played. Highlights are below!

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SATURDAY: After a rather listless Friday night, there was hope the Regina Cougars were saving themselves for a big Saturday. Alberta was looking for a sweep as they continued their hunt for a top-two finish and a first-round bye. Halle Oswald got the call for the Pandas while Jane Kish was given the start for the Cougars after closing out Friday's game strong. The only problem for Kish? She didn't get much help. The Pandas came out and dominated the game in the opening frame once again, but Regina did their best to skate with the Pandas. However, penalties would haunt the Cougars in the first period, and the Pandas would eventually strike with the extra player on the ice. Alex Poznikoff opened the scoring at 12:54 on the power-play after Autumn MacDougall's shot was redirected to her, but that would be the only goal of the frame as the Pandas took a 1-0 lead and a 7-5 advantage in shots to the dressing rooms. The second period saw the two teams clean up their physical play, but that gave Alberta the edge with their speed and skill. Kish was outstanding in turning away the Pandas time and again, but an offensive zone draw that saw MacDougall win the draw directly to Poznikoff who wired a shot past Kish made it 2-0 for the Pandas at 6:43! It would be the only goal of the middle stanza, but Alberta controlled the play as they outshot the Cougars 12-3 in the period and 19-8 overall. Regina's penalty-killing units would be called upon twice in the third period, but they'd escaped unscathed only once as the Pandas struck on the first opportunity. Regan Wright would convert on the power-play at 6:24 to make it 3-0 for the Pandas. Regina would use a power-play of their own to finally break the shutout streak that Alberta held over them - a total of 234:39 this season - when Nikki Watters-Mathes' blast got past Oswald at 14:39 to make it 3-1. However, Alex Poznikoff would cash in the hat trick goal when she hit the empty net at 19:18 as Alberta swept the season series with the 4-1 win on Saturday. Halle Oswald made 13 saves for her seventh win of the season while Jane Kish was on the losing end of a 26-save effort. Highlights are below!

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FRIDAY: In what might be the most compelling match-up of the weekend, the third-place UBC Thunderbirds played host to the fourth-place Saskatchewan Huskies with one point separating the two teams. Both teams were looking to claim a stranglehold on that third-place standing while trying to track down one or both of Manitoba and Alberta. Tory Micklash was sent out to the crease for UBC while Jessica Vance got the nod for the Huskies. To say this game was physical would be an understatement. There were penalties called all over the place by the officials as they appeared to want zero contact between players on this night. Nevertheless, a game was to be played as the skirmishes between the teams only served to highlight the importance of the points between these two teams. Neither team would find the back of the net in the first despite the power-play opportunities, so we'd head to the second period with UBC leading 7-3 on the shot counter and Saskatchewan down head coach Steve Kook as he was ejected at 15:24 of the first period! Saskatchewan didn't put up much of a fight in the second period as UBC came out buzzing, peppering Vance with shots throughout the period. Vance was sharp, though, as she turned aside all shots in the period to keep this game knotted up at 0-0 despite both teams having chances on the power-play yet again. With UBC up 20-9 in shots, we'd move to the third period still tied with goose eggs. It would be on a power-play against UBC early in the third period that saw the game's first goal recorded, but it would be the penalized team who capitalized!

🏒 WHKY | 🚨🚨 GOAL!! 🚨🚨 Ashley McFadden breaks the deadlock getting @UBCWHKY on the board with a shorthanded beauty! 'Birds lead @HuskieAthletics 1-0 #GoBirdsGo pic.twitter.com/SQmONNs7J4

— UBC Thunderbirds / @UBCTBirds (@ubctbirds) January 26, 2019

Ashley McFadden takes the pass from Shay-Lee McConnell as she attracts all the defenders, and McFadden goes high on the glove side past Vance on the shorthanded breakaway to put UBC up 1-0 at 5:18! Penalties throughout the remainder of the period really stifled any comeback that the Huskies tried to mount, and a check-to-the-head penalty late after Vance had gone to the bench for the extra attacker killed any hope of the Huskies tying the game. The UBC Thunderbirds earned the 1-0 victory! Tory Micklash set a new UBC record with her tenth win of the season while posting her fifth shutout of the campaign after stopping all 16 shots she faced while Vance made 26 shots but fell one goal short on this night. SATURDAY: If Friday was a spirited game between the T-Birds and Huskies, the rematch on Saturday looked like it was going to be another game with all the makings of playoff hockey between these two rivals. Micklash and Vance would stare one another down from 200-feet away as these two teams geared up for another battle! These two teams started the game by trading chances on each other's netminder before the physicality ramped up. Saskatchewan was whistled for three penalties in the period to UBC's single infraction, but neither team would capitalize on the advantages. At the end of one period, UBC led 11-8 in shots, but the game was deadlocked at 0-0. The second period was more of the same as the two teams again traded chances with the goaltenders standing tall. Despite trading power-plays in the period, neither team would find a lead by the time the second intermission began. The game was still 0-0 despite UBC holding a 23-13 margin in shots on goal. The first goal of the game would come off the stick of Ireland Perrott as she picked up the loose puck along the boards, skated to the high slot area, and fired a shot high through traffic and past a screened Vance at 7:37 to put the Thunderbirds up 1-0! One minute later, Danielle Nogier would be whistled for a double-minor for throwing a check to the head, and the Huskies had to kill an extended power-play. The Thunderbirds, however, would find a goal on this opportunity when Hannah Koroll danced around a Saskatchewna defender to find a passing lane into the slot where she went tape to tape with Kenzie Robinson who one-timed the feed past Vance at 10:40 to put the T-Birds up 2-0! From there, the UBC Thunderbirds protected the lead as they swept the series on the strength of a 2-0 win! Tory Micklash made 15 saves for her 11th win and sixth shutout of the season while Jessica Vance made 27 saves in the loss.

FRIDAY: The Mount Royal Cougars could legitimately control their own fate with a couple of wins against the Calgary Dinos this weekend as the six points would vault them ahead of Regina and put some distance between themselves and Lethbridge. Calgary, meanwhile, wasn't mathematically out of the race yet, but they could spoil the Cougars' plans in moving up the standings. Zoe De Beauville was sent to the nets for the Cougars while the Dinos opted for Kelsey Roberts to defend their net as the Crowchild Classic series was set to go. Both teams came out cautiously as neither side seemed to want to give up scoring chances, but things began to open up as the two teams pressed for offence. Despite exchanging power-plays late in the period, neither team would dent twine as Mount Royal led in shots through one period at 11-7, but the teams were still tied at 0-0. Mount Royal was the more aggressive team in the second, pressuring the Dinos early on to go along with a power-play chance on which they failed to convert. That being said, defence builds momentum, and the Dinos turned the weathering of the storm into a positive midway through the period.

DINOS GOALS!!! Priya Sidhu puts it home on the one-timer! Dinos lead 1-0! #GoDinos #CrowchildClassic pic.twitter.com/iupY7ZeEIH

— UCalgary Dinos Women's Hockey 🏒 (@DinosWHKY) January 26, 2019

Holly Reuther fed Priya Sidhu with a pass as she turned out of the corner, and the wide-open Sidhu one-timed the feed past De Beauville to put the Dinos up 1-0 at 11:30! Despite the Cougars turning up the pressure once again, Kelsey Roberts was in the zone as she denied all chances through 40 minutes. Through two periods, Calgary led 1-0 despite being down 24-9 in shots! The Cougars just kept coming in the third period, but Roberts was incredible as she kept the one-goal lead intact. However, the waves of Cougars attacks finally paid off late when Mackenzie Butz loaded up a clap-bomb that got through traffic and past Roberts with 56 seconds to play to send this game to overtime! In the four-on-four overtime, we'd get out game-winner.

DELANEY DELANEY DELANEY!!! @DelaneyFrey wins the game in overtime! 2-1 the final score!#GoDinos#CrowchildClassic pic.twitter.com/5hwPmMxHk8

— UCalgary Dinos Women's Hockey 🏒 (@DinosWHKY) January 26, 2019

Delaney Frey uses the defenders and Chelsea Court as screens as she cuts to the middle and let a wrist shot go that eludes the glove of De Beauville as the Clagary Dinos take this game in overtime by a 2-1 score! Kelsey Roberts made 35 stops for her fourth win of the season while Zoe De Beauville took the loss on an eleven-save night.

TUESDAY: This game is the reason for The Rundown being delayed as the second game in the series as part of the Crowchild Classic went tonight at Flames Community Arena. With points of any kind tonight, Mount Royal could move into fifth-place in Canada West. Calgary, who virtually needs to win every one of their remaining five games, was looking to make things interesting once again as they looked to spoil Mount Royal's party. Zoe De Beauville and Kelsey Roberts would square off once again in the nets. Just as they did on Friday, Mount Royal came out and looked like the more aggressive team. Roberts made an outstanding save in the first minute off Tianna Ko, and that may have foreshadowed the remainder of the game because Roberts was on fire again this night. Neither team would find twine in the opening period, though, and we'd move to the second period tied 0-0 and with MRU leading 10-5 in shots. The Dinos decided to shift momentum in the second period by taking the game to the Cougars, and it seemed like they would take the lead when Rachel Paul was hauled down on a breakaway, sending her to center ice for a penalty shot! Paul broke and went high on De Beauville, but it also went over the bar and off the glass, leaving this game tied 0-0. Paul, however, would have her revenge minutes later.

DINOS GOAL!!! Rachel Paul opens the scoring in the second! 1-0 Dinos. #GoDinos #CrowchildClassic pic.twitter.com/QtdXmh0CUd

— UCalgary Dinos Women's Hockey 🏒 (@DinosWHKY) January 30, 2019

Paul ripped a wrist shot high on De Beauville, and this one would dent twine as the Dinos jumped ahead 1-0 at 15:37! The period would come to a close with that one-goal lead holding for Calgary despite trailing in shots by a 17-10 margin. Mount Royal would tie the game before the water had frozen on the ice for the third period. Off an offensive face-off zone win by Nicolette Seper, Anna Purschke wired a shot through traffic and past Kelsey Roberts just 28 seconds into the third period to tie the game at 1-1! Calgary wouldn't waste any time in restoring that lead, though, as they came roaring back two minutes later.

DINOS GOAL!! Taylor Beck gets credit for her first as a Dino! Calgary back up 2-1! #GoDinos #CrowchildClassic pic.twitter.com/5fbsL1NyLF

— UCalgary Dinos Women's Hockey 🏒 (@DinosWHKY) January 30, 2019

Rachel Paul's initial shot off the face-off draw back went wide, but the bounce off the end boards allowed Taylor Beck to chip the puck up and over the pad of De Beauville to put the Dinos back out in front 2-1 at 2:22! From there, Kelsey Roberts went back to work in denying all chances by the Cougars including a couple of odd-man rushes and some excellent chances from in front. When the final horn sounded at the Saddledome, the Dinos had wrestled three points away from the Cougars with the 2-1 win! Kelsey Roberts was exceptional again tonight as she made 26 stops for her fifth win of the season while Zoe De Beauville made 13 stops in the loss.

CWUAA WOMEN'S HOCKEY School Record Points GF GA Streak Next Alberta

15-5-4-0

53 61 21

@ LET Manitoba

15-4-3-2

53 73 36

vs UBC British Columbia

12-5-3-4

46 49 29

@ MAN Saskatchewan

9-8-5-2

39 38 31

@ MRU Mount Royal

8-13-1-2

28 34 56

vs SAS Regina

7-12-2-3

28 40 65

vs CAL Lethbridge

6-13-1-4

24 29 54

vs ALB Calgary

4-16-1-3

17 29 61

@ REG

NOTE: Teams in yellow and italicized have clinched a playoff spot.

The Last Word

Four playoff spots have been claimed as UBC used two big wins over Saskatchewan to solidify their hold on third-place while Saskatchewan backed into a playoff spot thanks to Manitoba defeating Lethbridge. With 12 points remaining this season over the next two weeks of games, let's take a look at the scenarios that present themselves this weekend. First off, both Manitoba and Alberta can claim the top-two spots in the conference if Manitoba wins one of the two games in regulation against UBC or both Alberta and Manitoba claim a total of three of six points in their respective series this weekend. Regardless of the tie-breakers, UBC would not be able to catch either team in the standings. Calgary, to make the playoffs, has to win out. The only team they hold the tie-breaker over is Mount Royal after this past weekend's games where they claimed five of six points against the Cougars. The series against Regina would make things very interesting if the Dinos sweep this series, but the fact still remains: the Dinos have to win out and get a little help if they hope to make the playoffs this season. If Mount Royal and/or Regina can collect three of six points this weekend AND Lethbridge loses both games in regulation, both teams will clinch playoff spots while Lethbridge's playoff push would end. This week is literally do or die for teams looking to make a final push as we near the playoffs. Will we see a shake-up in the standings? We'll find out on Sunday when the dust settles! Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice! from Sports News http://hockey-blog-in-canada.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-rundown-week-12.html

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hottytoddynews · 7 years ago

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A double bogey on the 17th hole threw Julia Johnson off her game at the Magnolia Invitational – but not for long. Photo by Petre Thomas/Ole Miss Athletics

It was on a golf cart ride heading back to the 18th tee box to start a playoff when Julia Johnson first felt it.

Moments earlier, she was a nervous wreck, but suddenly, a feeling of calm came over the freshman from St. Gabriel, Louisiana.

One hour earlier, the Ole Miss Rebel drained a birdie putt on the 15th hole to take a three-stroke lead with three holes left to play in the inaugural Magnolia Invitational. It looked like Johnson was home free, ready to wrap up a two-championship sweep for her team at its co-hosted tournament. But paired with her closest competitor–Memphis sophomore Abby Herrmann–Johnson was in for a wild finish.

On the 16th green, Herrmann sank a tough birdie putt to make it just a two-stroke lead with two to go. Then, the nerves came.

The final two holes at Old Waverly Golf Club are picturesque as they are perilous, wrapping around Lake Waverly into the shadow of the clubhouse. The 17th is a 170-yard par-3 with a small green that juts out into the lake, which lines the left side of the hole. Johnson landed her tee shot on the beach, leading to a double-bogey. Lead: gone.

“I’m one for the dramatics, aren’t I?” Johnson said after the match. “The 17th hole was bad. That’s when you look at the scorecard and go, `That’s a freshman, she’s nervous. She has two holes to play and is too far up.'”

Johnson approached the 18th tee box still kicking herself over her only double-bogey of the entire tournament. With just her ninth over-par hole of the tournament still in the back of her mind, Johnson’s tee shot took a hard left and splashed into Lake Waverly.

“The tee shot on 18, I let 17 get in my head,” she said. “That is on me. That was mental.”

But seconds later, the Memphis Tiger who recorded only seven bogeys all tournament found the very same water. As if cleansed by trips to the water hazard, the two calmly took their drops and hit their third strokes to within five feet of one another at the back of the green. There, they faced one of the toughest putts on the course–a sharp drop off of the shelf that cuts down the middle of the 18th green. Johnson and Herrmann both rose to the challenge, dropping it within a five feet of the cup before confidently finishing with matching bogeys.

Julia Johnson with Ole Miss Women’s Golf Team head coach Kory Henkes at the Magnolia Invitational at Old Waverley Golf Club in West Point, MS. Photo by Petre Thomas/Ole Miss Athletics

Then came the hard part–waiting for what felt like an eternity for the field to finish and the playoff to begin. Fortunately, Johnson had everything she needed to make it through.

Exactly one year prior to the Rebels’ trip to Old Waverly for the Magnolia, Johnson was on her official visit to Ole Miss. Johnson, Conner Beth Ball and Macy Holliday toured the Rebel facilities together as recruits, envisioning their future and the future of Rebel Golf. The three eventually signed and officially became Rebels.

“I knew 100 percent that I was going to be a better golfer after I stepped foot on the Ole Miss campus,” Johnson said. “I know the quality of coaching I have. Our facilities are great. We have everything available to us to make us better golfers.”

They’ve been on campus less than three months, but those three months have brought countless intensive practices, not to mention early morning kickboxing and weightlifting sessions. It’s been tough work, but already the Rebels are seeing the fruits of their labors.

“I’ve worked harder than I ever thought I could,” Johnson said. “Coach Kory and Coach Drew have pushed us this year harder than I’ve ever been pushed, and I can tell the caliber of our game and the quality of our team has improved so much.”

The hard work led to Johnson being in contention for the first individual title by a freshman in a 54-hole event in school history. But when she got there, she needed some assistance.

About six holes through the second round, Johnson used a lifeline and called up a professional caddie: her head coach, Kory Henkes. Henkes has caddied professionally on the LPGA Tour for her college teammate at South Carolina, Kristy McPherson, and on the Web.com Tour for her brother, Kyle Thompson. And she’s now walked the course with two individual champions at the collegiate level.

“I need Coach Kory. She’s caddied on tour, so essentially she’s a professional caddie. She’s just so good at what she does,” Johnson said. “She keeps me calm. She keeps me in the moment. To have a coach you feel that comfortable around and to have a coach who is that strong is amazing.”

With Henkes’ guidance, Johnson filled the final 12 holes of her second round with two birdies, 10 pars and zero bogeys to take the lead heading into Round 3. The morning of the final 18 holes, Johnson came to her coach, wanting her to be with her every step of the way as she fought for her first collegiate championship. Henkes simply said, “I’m here.”

“Julia is such a fighter,” Henkes said. “It’s fun to walk with her. When she gets it in her mind that she’s going to do something, she does it. She’s extremely confident out there. That’s the key to playing good golf, and it’s a great quality that she has.”

Henkes helped Johnson fight her way into the tournament lead, but after pulling back-to-back tee shots to the left, and looking at another trip up the water-lined 18th hole, Johnson wasn’t feeling so confident.

Everyone let the freshman have some alone time in the tense moments between the end of her round and the beginning of the playoff.

Assistant coach Drew Belt found Johnson sitting next to her golf cart, waiting for the signal to head back to the 18th tee. He didn’t give a famous rousing Coach Drew Speech. That wouldn’t work with this freshman–she needed some strategy. Belt explained mechanically why Johnson’s tee shots were going left, which helped clear the young golfer’s head.

“When I get off the course and I’m feeling something mechanically wrong with my swing, I pull Coach Drew over and within five minutes, I have it fixed,” Johnson said. “Coach Kory and Drew both have such huge strengths, and honestly that’s why I’m here today. I wouldn’t have won this tournament without the two of them. They’re both awesome, and I appreciate them both so much.”

After the talk with Belt, and with Henkes still at her side, Johnson headed back down the cart path to the 18th tee for the first playoff hole. At that moment, Johnson knew that she would win the Magnolia.

“When the playoff started and we were driving back to the 18th tee, I felt this weird sense of calm come over me,” Johnson recalled. “I just knew that the outcome was going to be what I wanted it to be.”

Johnson and Herrmann played to gutsy pars in the first playoff hole and headed back down the cart path again–and before long, Johnson’s feelings became reality. The Louisianan planted her second shot safely on the green, while Herrmann left hers in the rough short and to the left of the putting surface. The Memphis sophomore struggled to make it out of the rough, and with a win just two putts away, the Rebel stepped onto the green with a familiar pep in her step, ponytail bobbing, and no nervousness in sight. Johnson closed the door with a definitive par putt to secure the 21st individual title in program history and its eighth sweep of both the individual and team honors.

It was a crazy ride to arrive at that conclusion, but with a foundation laid, Johnson was up for the challenge.

“I knew where my game was. I knew that I’d be in good shape if I could roll a few putts in this week,” Johnson said. “I love Old Waverly. To be on a course that I’m familiar with, to be with great coaches, to feel good about my swing–it was all a perfect storm this week. It was awesome.”

Story courtesy of OleMissSports.com.

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