NorthWood - Bremen 3-1

The Panthers played a not so perfect first half on a picture perfect night. As a matter of fact, Bremen was the first team to score early on in the first half. NorthWood did come back before the end of the first 40 minutes to even the score with a Villegas equalizer(St. Germain assist). After a spirited intermission speech, the hope was for the Panthers to once again come back from behind to win. The boys in black dominated the entire second half but were unsuccesful in finding the back of the net for the first half hour of the half. In the 70th minute, Bremen commited a foul in the box, leaving the referee no choice but to point to the dot at the 12. Robbie Burns took the penalty but hit the bottom of the crossbar. The ball bounced back into play and this time Robbie executed perfectly; 2-1. In the 73rd minute Edgar Villegas scored his second goal of the game after a nice assist from Micah Shaw. The final score of 3-1 gives the Panthers a record 3-1-1 going into the Labor Day weekend. Next up: (NLC) Wawasee on Thursday September 6th at 4:30 (JV) followed by the Varsity at 6 pm.

Lakeland Christian - NorthWood 1-1

The pitch was partially muddy, the stands partially filled but at least we were able to play the first game at home in quite some time. The 10 or so inches of rain combined with large tractor tracks had left their marks on the game field. The first half of the game in front of just less then 80 spectators, was a performance below par. Lakeland Christian's brazilian striker Janie DeSouza scored the first goal. The score at tea time was 1-0. After the break, NorthWood showed more energy and played a more up tempo game, inspired by co-game MVP Dustin Eby. In the 64th minute of the contest, sub Ben St. Germain was able to score in the middle of a melee in the box. The even score would remain on the board for the rest of the game. NorthWood's record now stand at 2-1-1 with the only loss of the season coming against #16 Northiridge (2-1 loss). The JV traveled to Westview only to get beaten 4-1. Tyler Kronk scored the lone NorthWood goal on a (2nd try) PK. Next up for the varsity is Bremen on thursday August 30th at Bremen.

FC Groningen in 8th place after 0-2 loss

FC Groningen disappointed the homecrowd after a 0-2 loss against De Graaschap. The "Super Farmers" beat the Pride of the North after a 8-1 loss against Ajax last week. FC Groningen has 3 points after two games and sits in 8th place. After the 0-2 away win against NAC Breda last week, expectations were high for this week. The Euroborg was sold out once again. In the first round of the KNVB Cup, FC Groningen drew national amateur champions IJsselmeervogels from Spakenburg. The first round will take place in early september.

Lakeland Christian - next opponent

Tuesday August 28 is the new date for the varsity's contest against Lakeland Christian. Last weeks' scheduled game was postponed due to the field condition (=lake northwood). The JV will travel to Westview that same day.

Wet pitch

After the JV and varsity won their games saturday, some of us went to the game field to try and get some water off of it. Cesar, Justin, Robbie, Brandon, Micah and Mike ("Holy Schmitt" t-shirts orders can be placed by the way, this in response to his performance at N'ridge) as well as coach Duerksen and myself showed up with buckets and pool pumps. Approximately 200 or so buckets were filled with water and taken off the field. It did not look like we made a difference but the hope was that enough water was taken off the pitch that the sun would be able to take care of what was left. The forecast calls for sun and low humidity for sunday and monday. All home games last week were cancelled. The girls varisty is scheduled to play tomorrow (monday) but I would be surprised to see that contest take place.

NW at Mishawaka

NorthWood played its worst first half of the season but was able to follow that up with a better second half. The final was 1-4 with goals coming from four different players. Edgar Villegas, Rogelio Patina, Seth Douwsma and Cesar Salinas all scored while Seth "Ducky" Douwsma added 2 assists as well. The Panthers are 2-1-0 with the only loss coming at Northridge where the Panthers were defeated 2-1 by the #16 Raiders with only two minutes left in the contest. Check out etruth.com 0f 8/23/7 for pictures of the Panthers in action in Middlebury.