Senior night started with the presentation of the seniors and their parents. NW Soccer announcer Ryan Mattern introduced all seniors and their parents as they were congratulated by the coaching staff and Athletic Director Norm Sellers. Former 4 year starting defender and former captain of the NW soccer team, Travis Hunsberger was recognized with a moving tribute. Rhonda, Steve, Kelcy and Kyle Hunsberger were in attendance as were the grandparents and numerous friends and other relatives. Travis' number (#16) was retired. Rhonda and Steve were presented with Travis' actual game jersey and all the family members were given the black and red wristbands with the #16. It was also announced that from now on, each year a player will be selected from the NW squad as the defensive player of the year. The award will be named after Travis. So, this fall, the first Travis Hunsberger best defensive player award will be given out and the Hunsbergers have agreed to present that award.
When the teams were announced, the seniors ran thru the signs that were constructed for them and the rest of the starting lineup ran thru the sign that was made in memory of Travis.
FIRST HALF
All seniors were in the starting lineup tonight. And they were ready to play. With it being senior night and the inspiration that Travis has given the team all year, the team came out to play hard right from the first whistle. St. Germain showed off his dribbling skill in the 2nd minute. The "curly light skinned" brazilian weaved thru three Bethany defenders on the left side of the field and ended up in the middle of the box with no one but the goalie in front of him. Unfortunately, Ben and Nick got a little too close together and the shot (taken by Nick I believe) missed the Bethany goal to the right.
Six minutes later, a Maliq kick (what a punt, is this kid on steroids?)landed right in front of Ducky halfway on the Bethany side. With a couple of smooth moves, Ducky appeared on the left side of the box and took a decent shot that just went over the crossbar.
In the 14th minute, Lincoln passed a ball on the right to Ducky who took it to the endline and then cut back past a Bethany defender. He was now right in front of the Bethany keeper. Ducky had room to shoot it past the goalie's right but instead chose to kick it to the keeper's short and left side. The ball did not have a lot of pace but did not lack accuracy, 1-0!!!!!
The rest of the first half saw a lot of seniors with playing time and deservedly so. Nice, crisp passes in space and to feet, a lot of possession and just plain old hard work. When NW comes out and plays hard, it is hard to beat.....by anyone.
HALF TIME
Similar to the first half,this half time was probably the best half time of the year. Coach Duerksen told the team they had played the best half of the season and wanted to get his point acccross that if the team played hard, good things would happen. Duerksen stated the team almost played "great soccer". When it was time to get back on the field, Ducky decided that there was one more task to complete before the start of the second half. Ducky paid a visit to the fence and adjoining backyard of the house where people had run the chainsaw during the national anthem of the previous game and he must have been thinking about paying them back for that. The best way he knew how was to deposit his stomach contants in their backyard. In the "barfing during the soccer game" category we now have a tie with Seth and Cam in first place.
SECOND HALF
The first minute of the second half began with some beautiful combinations between German (pass), Nick (pass) and Seth (shot). In the following minutes, center ref Bob Gibson's performance started to deteriorate. Chupp received a yellow for asking a question (????????). My soccer rules book must miss a page because I can NOT find anything about not being able to ask a question without getting a yellow card. St. Germain received a yellow for a very soft foul. I was starting to wonder if the thing in the middle was somewhat biased. We got yellows, we did not get too many calls at all but the opponent did. In the 49th a passing sequence involving between some Bethany players ended with a shot at goal but was stopped by Maliq who again had a great night between the woodwork. In the 61st minute, the NW bench got to enjoy a Bethany "double header". A buildup out of the Bethany back resulted in a shot at the Panthers' goal but it was again Maliq who came to the rescue. St. Germain kept playing well and won,as Coach Duerksen said, almost all 50-50 balls. A little consternation with a neighbor's dog caused the 8th graders to cease their soccer game on the side for just a little while but they were able to resume play after they found out that the neighbor's threats were idle ones. A 66th minute Bethany corner came back to the right side of the field for a Bethany cross but the danger was averted again thru the means of another Maliq save. Sixty seconds later, Lincoln took a shot near the box but was stopped by Bethany's last defender.
With just minutes left to play, Seth Douwsma got plowed over by a Bethany defender. Coach Dijkstra started screaming, which was unusual to start with. The screaming continued until it caught "Mr." Gibson's attention at which point he decided to come to the NW bench. Coach Dijkstra positioned himself, ready to receive his first(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) yellow of the season. Not that the yellow was appropriate, after all, the goober in the middle "missed" a call. But now things got interesting; Coach Duerksen asked "Mr." Gibson : "What was the call?". For that question, Duerksen got shown a red! Duerksen asked why he would give him red for asking a question and 'Mr." Gibson said "Just go - with a huge smile on his face-". Coach Duerksen replied with a statement about his analysis of Gibson's character and had to repeat it at least once so "Referee" Gibson was sure not to misunderstand it.
After the game, Mr. Gibson had an explanation about his "mistaken" red card and fortunately for NW, changed it to a yellow.
The end result of the game was more important. Beating the #6 team in the District and playing this well, scoring early and hanging on to the lead, shows that NW is improving in the last 2 - 3 weeks. The seniors played extrememly well and in fact, all players contributed and had a good night (which is more then the Cubs can say).
NOTES
Bell's Boys lost 2-0 but played well. They are in need of some firepower.
Angola is the next opponent. It will be the last home game for both JV and Varsity, in fact, it will be JV's last game of the year.
Thanks to AD Norm Sellers for helping us and getting things done for Travis Hunsberger's family. I know they appreciated it as did the coaches. Thanks again.
The team dinner afterwards was great and thanks to everyone who helped with that (Douwsma's, Beckwith's and quite a few other people I am sure).
All the coaches want to thank you for the very (!) generous gift.
Tomorrow's game times have been changed to 11 am - JV / 1 pm Varsity (due to SAT's).
With a win tomorrow, the Varisty will be assured of a winning season again!
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