Panthers out of State Tournament
After beating Clay on Wednesday, the Panthers were anxious to see how they would measure up against the 2006 State Runner Up and currently ranked 12th Central Blue Blazers.
In a noon contest at Lakeville's Newton Park the two Elkhart County teams kicked off under much better conditions then Wednesday. A good crowd, especially on the NW side was ready for a competetive match.
FIRST HALF
From the kick off it looked as if the Panthers were somewhat intimidated by the Blue Blazers. Elkhart Central was able to play the ball wide fairly easy resulting in a Lucchese shot in the 6th minute. Schmitt made the save as usual. In the 13th minute and Elkhart Central player took a shot from about 22 yards out. The ball was deflected to the left by a NorthWood player and the ball disappeared in the net, out of reach for the NW keeper, 1-0.
In the 24th minute, the Panthers, unable to clear the ball out of the box, gave the ball up to a Central player (#14) who took it at Schmitt and put it to Schmitts left into the net, 2-0.
A minute later, NorthWood had its first shot at the goal. A shot from Edgar was on the frame but stopped by Division 1 New Mexico bound keeper Justin Holmes.
The center referee called a handball in the box in the 37th against the Panthers in their box, resulting in a PK. Despite the fact that it did not look like an intentional handbal and no advantage was gained by the Panthers, the ref called a PK which was "questioned" by the NW coaches. Central, however, did not miss; 3-0. Only minutes later a right wing forward pass from Central looked off side but no flag went up. Central took the ball in the box and executed well, 4-0. Like they say: players win games, coaches loose games and (here is my point) referees ruin games!
HALF TIME
During the tea time, Coach Duerksen was the only speaker. His speech came down to challenging this great group of players to 40 minutes of hard soccer.
SECOND HALF
NorthWood came out and played soccer the second half. It did become obvious that the Cupfighters from Wakarusa and Nappanee had run into a better opponent. Despite good saves by Holy Schmitt, a great run and dribble by Ducky (47th minute) that resulted in a great shot on the frame and a great thrown in by Burns for a Villegas header, it was clear that this game was going Central's way. The final of 5-0 meant that the Panthers' season was over. But let's be clear about one thing, the Panthers had a very succesful season. Eleven (11) wins, a sectional championship and regional runner up is proof of that. 287 schools start the state tournament and we made it to the final 32, quite an accomplishment. This group of players/friends never had their focus on anything but soccer. Our eight seniors, Mike Schmitt, Robbie Balogh, Micah Shaw, Josh Stump, Dustin Eby, Robbie Burns, Edgar Villegas and Rogelio Patino will be sorely missed. They were a great, great group to work with.
2007 NORTHWOOD BOYS SOCCER
11-8-2
LaVille Sectional Champions
LaVille Regional Runner-Up (Final 32 teams)
Sometime Monday morning I will hopefully post some additional pictures. I will also post a "2007 season report" and later in the week a blog with all the record of the 2007 season. Any additional information about NorthWood Boys soccer during the post season will be posted as well, this includes AC Open Gym times and changes, Fall Sports Award Banquet -without food- etc..
ANNOUNCEMENT:
Tuesday October 16 all Varsity players need to meet at the game field to hand in their uniforms and warmups. We will take down the nets and play a pick up game, weather permitting. JV players need to hand in their uniforms and warm ups to coach Bell (go to his classroom) on or before Tuesday.
Open Gym starts Monday October 22 at 7 pm. It will last until about 9 - 9:15.
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