Encouraged would be the key word after last night's game. The varsity showed quite a few signs of life. In a week where we had to face two ranked teams it seemed that the only way to go was down but instead it sure looks like we're on the way up.
FIRST HALF
Both teams were feeling each other out for the first 15 minutes. Neither team controlled the game and neither team was too dangerous. The first danger came from the Goshen side about 15 minutes into the game when they launched their first shot after a corner rebound. NorthWood's first dangerous counter came in the 27th minute when Lincoln and Douwsma combined on a nice quick one touch give-n-go that ended in a near to the right miss shot from Ducky. Just a minute later, a nice hard shot from Goshen was stopped by Maliq. This would become a recurring theme by NorthWood's last man.
HALF TIME
Quite a few adjustments were drawn out on the white board. Special attention was given on how to mark and how to pass.
SECOND HALF
It did not take long for the excitment to start. A minute into the second half, Lincoln took the ball for a throw in on the left side of the field. He threw the ball to Ducky who took it with him at speed and at the goal. Despite having a Goshen defender on his back, Ducky was able to get a marvelous shot off that sailed into the right upper 90!! The 1-0 lead did not last too long unfortunately. Some clumsy defending lead to a Goshen opportunity inside the box. The close range shot went in to tie the contest. For a 10 to 12 minute period, NorthWood struggled to get any kind of control back, largely due to not marking weak side runs. In the 58th minute Goshen kicked a hard shot to the left side of the goal. This very hard, low shot was stopped by Maliq. This barrage of shots would continue in the 60th and 62nd minute. Each time the ball was kept out of the net by Maliq Taylor. His performance made him the man of the match without a doubt. In the 64th minute a midfield high ball resulted in a head to head collission between Cesar and a Redskin player. Cesar went down and it looked like he was out for the count. The Goshen trainer ran out on the field as did the NW coaches. Cesar's only visible injury was a bloody nose. After some on the field treatment and clean up the coaching staff asked Cesar the important questions. Question one: "Who are we playing?- Answer "Goshen" -correct. Question Two: "What is the score?"- Answer "1-1" -correct at the time. Question Three: "How many mistakes have you made?" - Answer "Not any" -close enough. Cesar came out with what might be a broken nose or maybe he just has a crooked, ugly nose. Probably the latter. After some more off the field treatment and cleanup, Cesar was able to continue the game. In the 67th minute a fairly weak Goshen shot from about 21 yards out was deflected near the box. Maliq was already going to his right when the shot changed direction to his left. This unfortunate deflection lead to Goshen's second goal, 1-2. In the 73rd minute, Ducky crashed to goal to rebound a save from the Goshen goalie after a nicely struck ball from Tyler Kronk. Seth put the ball against the ropes but "Gimpy the bow legged AR -yes that one, the one who cost us the game against Wawasee- called it off side. The final score stayed 1-2. Overall, the performance by the Panthers was good. Especially the second half showed some offensive power with Ducky and Ryan up front. Ryan had a nice opportunity near the end of the game going to goal with the ball on his left. The shot just didn't have enough pace to make it disappear in the goal but the threat was there. Defensively we are starting to figure it out as well. NorthWood has not given up a lot of goals. So far this has been a tough week for as far as opponents go. Warsaw is ranked 14th now and Goshen is Honorable Mention (#23). We can take a lot from this game into the next three games (Riley, Memorial and John Glenn) and come away from those games with some good results.
NOTES
Bell's Boys did not fare so well, they fell to the Goshen JV (coached by Little Joe Sabo) 1-11. Bell's highlight of the night was the Brandon Shields goal. Coach Bell was able to come away from this one with some positives as the team gets ready for a (I believe) 9 am Saturday morning contest against Northridge at the same Goshen complex.
This was by far the nicest field we have played on this year. This is what a soccer field should look like.
I forget who told me to watch where I was walking behind the bench after the game but I want to say "Thank You". I almost stepped in Cam's lunch (black beans). They look remarkably the same coming up as they do going down. Was there ground beef and red peppers in there as well?
Saturday morning the Varsity will play at 10 am at South Bend Riley. The bus will leave the AC at 8:45 am. Don't be late (Christian!).
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