NorthWood- Wawasee 2-0 (0-0)

NORTHWOOD GETTING READY FOR WAWASEE

As sweeper/statman Jacob put it, it was "an unexpectedly warm" October night. The field was in great shape and the fan turnout was pretty good.

FIRST HALF
It starts out well. In the 4th, Eddie blasts a free kick from far out, into the box. Taylor tries to redirect but his header misses to the left of the frame. In the 16th, Josh, from the right side of the pitch, passes the ball to Connor who misses to the left of the pipes.
The rest of half turns into an ugly game of soccer where a lot of passes do not reach their intended destinations and it almost seems like we are hanging back too much and let the other team come at us, a winless team at that!

HALF TIME
It is another ugly half time talk. The players are urged to keep the game more simple by getting the ball in the Wawasee box. Their defense is suspect at best and any ball in the penalty area will create dangerous situations. The workrate in the first half is minimal and the challenge is to increase the workrate in the second half.

SECOND HALF
About six minutes into the second half the ball gets passed to Josh. Coach Duerksen encourages him to put the ball in the box. Josh gets around the ball and puts the ball in the box near Taylor, who, in turn, creates a one on one with the Warrior's keeper. Taylor stays composed and puts the ball against the ropes. 1-0. In the very next minute, Connor crosses a ball from the right side of the field into the box and it is again Taylor who takes possession of the ball, challenges the goalie and places the ball in the net for the 2-0. The rest of the game is not real pretty but Wawasee never really threatens. The final score of 2-0, puts the Panthers in their 5th Sectional Finals in the last 6 years.

NOTES
Noodle only played a partial game and will spend the rest of the week in the trainer's room for treatment so he can be ready for Saturday's game.
Eddie received a yellow card, but since the cards reset before the tournament he is eligible for Saturday. One more yellow and he will have to sit out the next game.
The record for NW is 11-6 and the 11 wins ties the school record for wins. Last night's shutout is the 6th of the season. Over the last two seasons we have now accumulated 22 wins and 15 shutouts. We have only been defeated 11 times in our last 36 games.
Warsaw defeated Culver Academies 5-0 (2 Culver goals were disallowed, the first one for sure should have counted).
The Warsaw-NorthWood matchup will take place on Saturday at Warsaw High School at 7 pm. The weather will be perfect, we are hoping for a great turnout from our fans.