NAPPANEE -- It took Roman Ortiz-Prather almost 10 games to score his first goal of the season.
It took the NorthWood High School junior less than another two minutes to score his second.
Ortiz-Prather's initial two goals of the fall staked the host Panthers to an early 2-0 lead, and Memorial couldn't conquer that kind of Roman empire while falling 4-1 in Northern Lakes Conference boys soccer Tuesday night.
"The guys have been giving him a hard time all year, so it's good to see it finally happen," NorthWood coach Brad Duerksen said of the goal-column goose egg Ortiz-Prather owned going in.
Truth Photo By Larry Tebo NorthWood goalkeeper Kyle Dijkstra clears the ball out from in front of the Panther's goal.
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That hard time he was getting came only because Ortiz-Prather is capable.
"He creates a lot in the midfield for us," Duerksen said. "He's a very unselfish player. He's an ideal mid, works both ends of the field. He's just as happy to block a shot as score a goal. You love that from a soccer player."
Ortiz-Prather tallied in the 17th minute and again in the 18th.
Both scores came on aesthetic assists. On the first, Ryan Lincoln from the left flank hit Ortiz-Prather on the right side with a semi-blind pass for a 12-yard score. On the second, Eddie Salinas lofted a long skip from the left wing that Ortiz-Prather headed in from about 8 yards.
"We had defensive miscommunication on both shots, but they were nice shots," Crimson Charger coach Dan Sullivan said. "You don't want to take anything away from NorthWood on those."
Taylor Wegmiller added the Panthers' third goal just 3:32 into the second half, before Salinas, on a long lead up the middle from Lincoln, boosted NorthWood's cushion to 4-0 with 14:10 to play.
The Panthers improved to 7-3 overall, matching last season's win total when they finished 7-7-3, and advanced to 2-3 in the NLC.
Memorial, which had gone 2-0-1 in its last three games, dropped to 2-7-2 overall, 1-4-1 in the league.
The Chargers actually had more shots on goal than the hosts, eight to seven, but never got off a legitimately threatening one until inside of 25 minutes remaining.
"The thing we did well, especially when we had our starters in, was force the other team to keep their stuff long range, and then Kyle (Dijkstra in goal) did a nice job cleaning up in those first 60 minutes," Duerksen said. "So I was pleased with the defense. On the other hand, we lost some our intensity, but it's easy to do with a three-goal lead."
"We have a tendency to want to possess the ball a little too long and find that perfect shot instead of taking what the other team is willing to give you," Sullivan said. "NorthWood's guys did a good job putting pressure on us in the midfield, but when we do get it to our forwards, we've gotta take a shot. It doesn't always have to be pretty."
Youthful Memorial -- which started seven sophomores, two juniors and two freshmen -- broke through in the 70th minute when Noah Strati scored off a Jose Garcia pass.
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