Family, friends, the girls soccer team, teachers and other coaches and former players, all had found their way to Newton Park on what felt like a summer night in October. The stands were full and many more fans had brought their own chairs to watch the game from the sideline. An estimated 500 plus crowd would witness a physical soccer battle.
The controversial referee from the semi final was on the sideline which we hoped would mean he could not influence the game too much. I guess we were wrong since Dirk with the smirk would rear his ugly head late in the game....it is all about you, isn't it Dirk?
FIRST HALF
Larry Doan was the center ref, which pleased the coaches. Too many times in the past have we had to deal with incompetent performances from that position and a Sectional Championship is not the time to have to deal with that. The unfortunate thing is that the IHSAA changed the set up for refereeing years ago from a center ref with linesmen to a center ref with two AR's (assistant referees) who have more say about fouls on and off the field.
NorthWood got to defend the west side of the field by choice and LaVille got to kick off. The first few minutes went back and forth as both teams tried to establish their game. The Panthers were well aware that LaVille likes to go thru #10 and #23and had prepared the defense accordingly.
In the 8th minute a Ryan Lincoln shot was initially saved by #00 (??) keeper Vest but he was unable to hold on to the pig bladder. The ball rolled to the right of the goal where Eddie Salinas had come over to crash the goal. Eddie controlled the ball, took a couple of touches at the goal and put the ball away for the 1-0 early lead!
NorthWood played well on defense even though an early Lancer attack saw a duel between a LaVille striker and Jason. Jason's elbow made contact with the LaVille striker's nose resulting in a bloody schnazola.
In the 15th, LaVille was awarded a direct free kick from about 29 out almost straight on the goal. LaVille's #23 Highland (one of their leading scorers)took a hard and high upper right shot that was punched over by Kyle for his first -but not last- good save of the day.
In the 21st and 25th, Taylor used his speed to go at goal, in the first effort he was caught from behind resulting in a corner, in the second effort the LV keeper made a save. In the 28th minute, LV #23 went into the box which seemed to be the biggest threat in the first half but an amazing timely Clay Seitz sliding cleared the ball off the forward's feet. The 1-0 half time score was a pretty good reflection of the game.
HALF TIME
The one way discussion at the half centered on a couple of strategic adjustments and trying to put one or more goals in to deflate the opponent. Much emphasis was put on coming out with energy because the expectation was that LaVille would come out with much pressure in the first 10 minutes of the second half. If the lead would stand, the players were told to keep their composure because our experience was that LaVille would "loose it" when frustration would set in.
SECOND HALF
Only 2 minutes in, the second half would present LaVille with their first opportunity. Jake, who played a really solid game, slipped and a LaVille midfielder took the ball at goal but Kyle came up with a big save to preserve the lead. Three minutes later it was the Panther's turn to try their luck at the other side of the field. Eddie's corner landed in the perfect spot in the box. Lincoln headed the ball but it went just over the crossbar. In the 57th minute Eddie came up on the right side of the field and crossed a ball in the box to Ryan Lincoln. Ryan headed the low cross but the LaVille goalie got to the ball. A beautiful Noodle pass from the circle right thru the LaVille defense gave Taylor a chance to run on to the ball. Once inside the 18, Taylor took a perfect shot at goal. The keeper made an unbelievable save to keep LaVille in the game. LaVille tried to create opportunities in the remaining minutes of the game. Kyle made another 4 fabulous saves to keep the lead for the Panthers. Our defense did an outstanding job all night long. Clay and Kronk controlled the outside flanks. Clay's clearing passes were dead on all night. Kronk did what he has been doing for four years, being the biggest pest to the opponent to the point that it drives you nuts because you can't get around him. This night it would result in some scuffles in front of the grand stand and every time the coaches thought Kronk was hurt, he would wave them off and stay in the game. Jason was his own composed self and played a fantastic game. Jake cleared the ball all night long and kept his depth. No changes were made to the defense at all. Connor and Josh defended the central part of the midfield well with great performances by Collin and Trent as well. The midfielders Ryan, Noodle and Eddie worked hard all night on both sides of the ball. Taylor was aggressive and got unlucky on a few occassions but not not only played well but was very dangerous keeping the LV defense playing on their heels. In the 67th, LaVille keeper Vest had to make another save to prevent the Panthers from scoring on a perfect around the wall free kick from Connor Beckwith.
GAME ALMOST OVER......
With less then 30 ticks left on the clock, Trent went for a pass up top and could not completely get to it. In the tussle, he brought down a LaVille defender. In my mind one of the smartest moves all night. A foul on that side of the field with 19 seconds left, would all but guarantee us a Sectional Championship. A double LaVille overreaction on Trent's foul turned into a situation where some guys in white and blue were trying to confront Trent resulting in a LaVille red card. Two years ago, the Panthers beat the Lancers in the Sectional as well and LaVille lost their cool then as well resulting in red cards so we were used to this...we had read this book before. Eddie was standing in the substituion area clapping when all this was going on. But now Dirk with the Smurk, who apparently got another pass to leave the nursing home for a day, thought it was time for his moment in the sun. Dirk advised the center ref that he had witnessed Eddie clapping and that he deserved a red, as a matter of fact he insisted on a red! The strange thing was that he had missed so many calls (LV sliding into Kyle with cleats up and other fouls)that I was thinking he was in need of an optometrist as quickly as possible. I was worried he would be unable to find the nursing home bus after the game, I mean, I was sure he was blind but a miracle of biblical proportions made him see again just in time to witness Eddie's "violation". With 19 seconds left in the game, a championship game at that, it shows a true lack of understanding of the game.
After the dust had settled (some exchanges between the coaches and refs) we were able to restart the game and play out the remaining seconds for another Panther Sectional Championship!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NOTES
This is the 4th Sectional Championship in 5 seasons (2006, 2007, 2008, 2010)for the Panthers.
The team celebrated with a bon fire at the Beckwith estate. The three coaches met after the game to get ready for wednesday's game.
Eddie's red card will be appealed by Athletic Director Sellers on Monday morning. A similar situation happened last year to Warsaw and the red for their player was changed to a yellow caution. We have high hopes that we will get the same result.
There will be more posts today, including the re-enactment picture of Coo trying to control Coach Mattern.
The 11th win of the season ties a school record. Our record improved to 11-4-2!
Next up is Elkhart Central on Wednesday at Newton Park for the Regional Semi Finals. Central beat Elkhart Memorial 1-0 in a PK shootout (we beat Memorial 4-1 during the regular season).
Hope to see all the fans back again on Wednesday, what a turnout!
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