On a monsoonal night, the Panthers faced Mishawaka Marian for a spot in the Regional Finals.
NorthWood came out flat and Mishawaka did not. Richie Wass scored on a Garcia assist in the 2nd minute and the same Garcia scored in the 4th to put the Knights up 2-0 with less then 5 minutes into the game.
After that, it took the Panthers about another 15 minutes to settle down and start playing soccer. The rest of the first half was evenly matched without too many chances for the Panthers. As the weather got worse so did the condition of the pitch.
The second half was a much different story. NorthWood took the game to Mishawaka Marian and was able to create quite a few opportunities. In the 62nd minute a ball went across the box and landed in front of Trevor Moseman about 9 yards out. Trevor took a shot and it went over the goal. At least another three good chances missed their marks and the 2-0 score would stand. The wind picked up quite a bit and Maliq's punts ended up near the box the entire second half. Maliq did stop several Marian shots in the second half and played a great game. As a matter of fact, in the second half quite a few players got the opportunity to play in the semi-regional and all played very well.
Looking back at the season I think it's fair to say that we had a great season. A third consecutive sectional championship is proof that the program has made great strides and with a little more luck we could have been in the Regional Finals again. But making it to the last 64 this year, 9 wins, 5 draws and only 5 losses is proof that we had a very competitive team this year. We will miss the seniors, all of whom contributed even more then expected. Our senior captains were leaders and the rest of the team learned a lot from them. In my mind, senior night stands out this year because it was a night where the seniors and Travis were given special recogniztion and on top of that, the team played its best game of the year and beat Bethany in the process.
I also want to thank all the parents for their support and a "thank you" to everyone who helped out last night. The food was great once again.
Also thanks to all the fans who came out last night, including the former players (Nate & his buddies, Edgar, Ben, Arick, Ryan, to name a few) and our AD Norm Sellers as well as other members of the teaching staff.
2008 was a great season and a lot of fun for the coaches as well. The team got along and we are already looking forward and planning for 2009!
NOTES
Thanks also to Coach Bell for bringing the Bell Choir Elite out last night and for warming up the keepers.
All players, JV and Varsity need to meet at the game field on Monday at 3:30 pm to take down the nets and hand in the uniforms and warm ups. This meeting is mandatory.
We will start our indoor Open Gym on October 27. We will inform you of the time at a later date. I will post that information here and will keep doing that during the entire off season.
I also need to thank Lindy Seitz for all the pictures he has send my way. I have tried to post as many of them as possible with as many players in them as possible. Keep checking back for last nights pictures.
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