The game was delayed about 89 hours and moved about 7 miles. But for the first time in about 9 days, the sun came out and started drying the field, although it will be a while before it is done. The original game was to have taken place last Tuesday at the game field, moved to the practice field only to end up in the next town over. Game time was originally scheduled at 4 and 4:30 but finalized at 2 pm until Plymouth called to get some directions and that is when we found out, Plymouth was scheduled to arrive around 3:30 pm. So the starting time again was changed, this time we would start between 4 and 4:30. It ended up starting at 4:15 under sunny skies. The drama was over and the actual "Senior Night" Game could start.
FIRST HALF
It only took the Panthers 4 minutes to figure out a way to slice thru the Pilgrims defense. A thru ball on the ground to Taylor from Noodle took only a couple of touches to find its way into the net, 1-0. Five minutes later, Connor had another chance finding his way thru the defense and coming eye to eye with the Plymouth keeper but his shot missed accuracy. A defensive miscue and a little bit of a slow reaction gave Plymouth's Smith an opportunity to take the ball from the middle of the field right to Kyle. His effort hit the target to tie the score. In the 22nd, the Pilgrims battled their way to the goal from about 2 yards out but a great save by Kyle kept us in the game. Clay probably felt that he could run quicker today because he was wearing a much lighter shirt then anyone else; his back numbers had fallen off the shirt. Nothing that some electrical tape won't take care of for the next game. The narrow and somewhat bumpy field made good soccer nearly impossible.
In the 34th minute, Taylor played a nice ball to Vitor (inside the box combination) who scored his first -but not last- goal of the afternoon. The 2-1 lead would be extended to a 3-1 lead when Carter Beebe passed the ball to Vitor who turned and shot at goal. The ball hit the ropes for a 3-1 lead. The two goal lead would take us to the half. The only negative occurence was that Eddie received a yellow caution for using foul language.
HALF TIME
Senior Night introductions with parents would dominate the half. Josh Ailes, Connor Beckwith, Roman Ortiz-Prather, Eddie Salinas, Brandon Shields, Jacob Smith, Jordan Thompson and Collin Tucker were all recognized with their parents.
SECOND HALF
Plymouth's Micah Harner would receive a yellow card one minute into the half and a mere 6 minutes later it looked like the Panthers would extend their lead with a Taylor to Connor combo but Connor's good shot was saved by the Plymouth keeper.
In the 50th minute, Kyle would get his first assist of the season. His long punt landed in front of Vitor "Pele" Rosario who took the ball at his feet and shot at the goal outside the box to sign for his third (hattrick!)goal of the game to give NW a 4-1 lead. A fairly physical (read "like to foul for no reason")but not very talented Plymouth -only 5 wins for the year- would give up a free kick but failed to set up a quick wall. From about 26 out, Eddie decided to take a free kick quickly when the Plymouth defense was still in disarray. The quick restart shook the wet, very wet dust off the ropes for a 5-1 NW lead. All seniors were taken out with about 5 mintes left in the game to give them recognition for their years of service. All seniors would play significant minutes this game. In the 64th minute of play, another bad defensive play gave Plymouth's Smith the chance for his second goal. His effort went in for the final score, 5-2.
So, after all the drama in the run up to the game, the game itself was fairly uneventful. The win secured a top 4 spot in NLC and a winning record in NLC (4-3), something that has not been done in a lot of years! Congratulations to the seniors who have had a good regular season. Jacob and Collin had to watch the game from the "bench" unfortunately. Jacob surely was the most improved player over the off season and it was a loss to the team to have to play without two important corner stones of our defense. It is good to see both are recuperating well from their injuries.
NOTES
The win elevates the team's record to 10-6-0 (4-3 NLC). The next game is at the Warsaw Sectional in the first semi final this coming Wednesday at 5 pm against Wawasee. We defeated Wawasee 1-0 during the regular season.
Thanks to Norm to make yesterday's game happen! Thanks to Todd Wegmiller to get us water/ice etc for yesterday's game. Thanks to the City of Nappanee for loaning us their sound system. Thanks to all the parents of our seniors for making senior night and the last 4 years possible.
Yesterday's game had about 80 + spectators,none of which had to pay.
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