NorthWood - Warsaw 1-1

The calls for "Holy Schmitt!" shirts are growing louder.

FIRST HALF
The Panthers took the field on a gusty and cool night. The men in black knew that getting a good result against Warsaw would not be an easy task. From the kickoff until the 20th minute or so, the Panthers had trouble controlling the ball and making accurate passes. NorthWood chased the ball more then they possessed it but seemed to settle down about halfway through the first half. A couple of break aways showed that the Panthers are able to transition very quickly from the back to the front without skipping midfield. As a matter of fact, the midfielders did a terrific job supporting the offense as well as the defense. Ducky distributed the ball well, gave the opponents little room to maneuver and Micah seemed to get a foot on most pass attempts by the Tigers.

In the 26th minute a NW counter started in the back on the left side, switched to the right corner on the Warsaw half where Edgar Villegas took the ball close to the endline at the 18. He crossed the ball thru the box where Rogelio took a swing at the ball but was unable to catch up to the cross with his right foot. The bal kept on traveling to the left of the box where Smalls tried to get his left foot on the ball. Smalls was able to get just enough on the ball to get it towards the inside of the left post, out of reach for the diving Warsaw keeper, 1-0.

NorthWood tried to get control of the game but in the 30th minute, Warsaw started an attack on the left side of the NW defense. From about 25 out a Warsaw forward pushed the ball back to MF Matt Franco who took a sunday shot at the goal. The hard shot hit the inside of the side net, 1-1.

HALF TIME
At the half, coach Duerksen made some marking adjustments and explained that NW needed to be patient in the attack.

SECOND HALF
The second half saw a diferent lineup on the Panthers side due to a Salinas leg injury. Robby (!) Burns played the part of sweeper and did a commendable job. Cesar was able to get back inside the lines later in the half and played well as a stopper. He was able to make some offensive runs, which are better suited for a stopper then a sweeper anyhow. NW played a solid second half and did not have to deal with a lot of Warsaw offensive power. Most of the play occured in the middle third of the field.

THE LAST FEW MINUTES
With the clock winding down it seemed inevitable that the game would end up in a tie. NW threatened with about three minutes left on the clock, Warsaw took possession of the ball and took it upfield.With just over a minute left to play, a scrimmage ensued near the penalty box with several players from both teams trying to kick and clear the ball. Near the end of the box, Dustin Eby defended a Warsaw player who was facing the goal with his back. Dustin made contact with the ball but according to the man with the whistle, it was a foul and pointed to the dot on the 12 (in Warsaw, the spot is marked by a 7 1/2 foot crooked line). Robby (!) Burns netted a yellow card due to a lively conversation with the referee.

Despite a lackluster performance by the men in yellow, THE MAN in yellow saved the game for the Panthers. Mike "Holy" Schmitt stopped the PK with a great dive to his right, once again proving religiously that he deserves the nickname. The PK rebound was kicked over the goal and the ensuing goal kick gave the Panthers enough breathing room to finish out the game, earning an NLC 1-1 draw. The Panthers record stands at 5-2-2 (1-1-1 NLC).

Despite the fact that the afternoon started with two of its players involved in crashes, it was the fact that the Panthers crashed the Warsaw dreams of winning the NLC outright, that made the headline. Before the game Warsaw's head coach Bauer made it clear he was looking past the Panthers matchup, a big mistake, it turned out.

COMMENTS
Why is it that grown men are allowed to dress up in yellow shirts, seven sizes too small (or abdominal areas 7 sizes too big), black tight shorts and scoot across a soccer pitch, never getting close enough to the action and make bad calls, A L L N I G H T L O N G?

JV
Despite being "Kronked Up" on defense, the Panthers' JV was unable to hold off the Warsaw JV offense. The first half was a courageous battle with field marshall Balogh (Thumper's brother)playing the main character. A 0-0 half time score gave a glimmer of hope but hope turned to despair after several goals in the second half. The final score was 4-0 but the team is showing improvements despite missing some key players.

COMMENTS part 2
Obersturmbahnfuhrer German crashed his Focus right after school. No fahrvergnugen for you for a while.