Argos Invitational Championship - Argos-NorthWood 4-3 (1-1)

A very shaky start leads to an Argos shot in the 2nd minute that finds the post and fortunately bounces out. A free kick in the 12th requires Kyle to make a save to keep us in the game. But in the 15th, a returning theme of not clearing the ball in the box would not work out well for the Panthers. Argos' Ogle takes advantage of the melee in the pk area and scores the first game of the goal. David Eshelman turns to the right side in the 38th and passes to Taylor who crosses to Clay. Clay's shot is accurate and hits the ropes for the halftime score of 1-1. The second half would turn into a high scoring affair (not far off from Coach Duerksen's prediction in the beginning of the first half of a possible 7-5 contest). One minute into the second half, Argos' biggest threat Binkley, would score the go ahead goal capitalizing on a defensive miscue. Only two minutes later Argos scores again when we fail to clear the ball out of the box to expand their lead to 2 goals, 3-1. And now the game gets interesting. Being lead by the seniors, the team refuses to give up. NW keeps pushing and stays in the game with some nice saves from Kyle. Luck is finally on our side (hard to do when about all calls go against the Panthers with an all Argos refereeing crew)when Taylor's corner in the 62nd goes in low and hard and bounces off the post/defender and keeper into the net. In the 67th, NorthWood pressure play results in another corner (#5 of the game). The rebound from the corner lands in front of Senior Tad Chamberlain who puts the ball hard between the pipes and over the line for his second (!) goal of the year. Unfortunately a rib injury forces Tad to have to come out of the game soon after the goal. A defensive letdown ends the Panthers' dream of a PK shootout and second championship when the Dragons Binkley scores the winning goal with only 7 minutes left in the game. The Panthers continue to push for a tying goal but the effort falls short. Overall a well played tournament and the effort especially in the second game was very encouraging. NorthWood record is 4-4-1. Monday the Varsity will watch tournament game tape and get about an hour on the practice field. A tough week is ahead with three games. First up #2 Warsaw on Tuesday.