Plymouth-NorthWood 3-0

Ever seen a sack of pototoes officiate? Well, you had the opportunity on Tuesday night. The sack even fell once in the cirkle. In the 39th minute the person who played referee wanted to make sure he got all the attention tonight by giving playmaker Douwsma the "hard" red. When a Plymouth player bulldozed Seth and Seth in turn tried to shake the player off of him by using his feet, the referee decided the retaliation was worthy of a red card. It was not the first time that night he missed a call. Let's hope we do not see this referee again, not this season, not any season.

FIRST HALF
The first fifteen minutes of the game went the Panthers' way. A lot of combinations meant that the men in white and red possessed the ball a lot. In the 14th minute an opportunity on the right side of the Plymouth goal had Douwsma toeball in the right lower corner. Only 5 minutes later Ducky had a great move to get by one of the Rockies in the middle third and kicked a nice pass to Rogelio, who took a hard shot at the goal. The shot went right in the upper left corner but the Plymouth GK was able to get his hands on it. In the 32nd minute Robby Burns had a great idea by making a great cross from the left to Edgar who shot and....missed. If only the MacGregors would have been on his feet, it might have done the trick. As a matter of fact, the thirty year old soccer boots should maybe be elevated to actual game action, it might be worth a try!It was pretty much downhill from the 39th minute on; Ducky gets a red, coach D & D both get (very undeserved) yellows and just 4 minutes before that, Plymouth had a breakaway with a pass to an unmarked (?) man. The unmarked #2 dribbled at Holy Schmitt and put the ball away in the right corner, 1-0.

SECOND HALF
Despite an energetic start of the 2nd half, NW was unable to get too dangerous. In the first half the score was 1-0, NW had 4 shots and Plymouth 1! In the second half, the Panthers were not able to create too many chances and after a while it seemed that playing 10 v 11 was starting to take its toll. In the 59th & 78th minute, Plymouth added goals to make the final score 3-0.
The evening started with the introduction of the seniors and their parents. After the game the captain club parents and other parents had organized a very good supper for the players and their families. This blog wants to thank all of those who contributed to senior night. I also want to thank Ryan for running the scoreboard for the varsity game as well as being the "Voice of NorthWood Soccer"for the second year running.

The Panthers are back in action (without Ducky) on Thursday @ Bethany Christian. At this point it looks like all other players are healthy (enough) to take to the (battle)field.

JV
The JV was in the lucky position of being coached by D& D. Despite the good coaching, the JV was unale to translate that into a winning score. The final was 3-0 but the team showed some moments of good soccer and good ideas. Hopefully the JV will be able to finish the season strong with two wins. The JV will have to put up with triathlon guru Bell once again

COMMENTS
The coaches (all of them) want to thank the players for the nice gifts (one of them tickets to a Chicago Fire game).
DYK DYK DYK Did You Know Did You Know Did You Know
Justin Lincoln is the new GK (hockey) for IU Bloomington. The last exhibition game is this coming weekend with the regular season to commence just a few days later. The spot between the woodwork is "his to lose", according to a source close to the Goalie. GOOD LUCK JUSTIN!