# 17 Warsaw @ NorthWood 4-0 (2-0)

FIRST HALF
A rested NorthWood eleven started a match against a ranked opponent with lots of promise. The first 20 minutes of the match did not result in too much danger from the 17th ranked team in the state. It was a defensive letdown however, that resulted in the first drive to the goal and ultimately, the first goal. It was Warsaw MF Price who took a few steps towards goal without being challenged and the shot, from about 21 yards out, disappeared in the right upper corner. The first Warsaw corner was not recorded until the 27th minute of play. In the 30th minute, Maliq stopped a free kick that went low on the frame and only 4 minutes later, it was again Maliq who stopped another shot on the line after a defensive miscue. In the 35th minute, Warsaw's Lopez took the ball from the left midfield side and dribbled it towards the middle of the field without being challenged. The shot went in the goal, 2-0.

HALF TIME
Some marking and defending mistakes were discussed. Communication between players were addressed as well.

SECOND HALF
From the bench it was easier to see the second half now that the the sun had disappeared behind the trees. The hope was that NW would not give up a quick second half goal against a very good Warsaw team. But that is all it was, hope. In the 48th, Jesse Sharp got by Cesar and struck the ball hard inside the box. The hard shot went by Maliq who really did not have a chance on a shot that close to the goal. A defensive marking miscue led to the last goal of the night (75")when a nice cross from the right found the head of Warsaw midfielder T. Lopez. The header went into the goal making the final score 4-0. A 2-0 or 3-0 loss would have looked a little better against a ranked opponent but in the end the coaching staff was fairly pleased with the effort and the defense in general. Villa and Josh came off the bench and did well. Grendys seems to get more comfortable in his position, Cam had a good 2nd half, Lincoln worked hard and threatened a couple of times with some pressure on the Tigers' defense. Maliq had some really great stops that kept the Panthers in the game and overall, the effort was there.

NOTES
The Bell Choir lost 6-0 and has some work to do on marking and defense in general. Balogh and Shields split time between the woodwork.

Normally you would see a light sarcastic remark about the refereeing here but the officiating crew did a nice job (despite the AR on the west endline missing 2 Lincoln offsides calls).

The stands were filled last night (one spectator told me when I got home, that he could not even find enough room in the stands and had to resort to standing elsewhere to take in the game).

Improvements were also noted on the mowing crew; the field looked good with the exception of "Panthers Swamp". In the middle of the north side of the field was a lake big enough to get some waterskiing in. The field had been mowed before the game but the wet "spot" had not been, a wise decision. The field came away in pretty good shape, considering two games were played on it only a few days after heavy rains.

Next up is #15 Goshen on Thursday 9/18/8. A 5 pm start is listed for the JV, the Varsity will follow around 6:45.