Four years ago when NW played Riley in South Bend, referees did not show up until noon so when we stepped on the field Saturday, it did not really come as a surprise that we once again experienced a shortage of referees. The last time this happened, Riley coaches and announcers threw their AD under the bus and this time they placed the Athletic Director on a four lane highway and threw him under a convoy of buses. Bottom line however was that the warm up had to be interrupted. And as coaches and fans we just hope that all this does not distract the team from the task at hand. It does not.
FIRST HALF.
The Panthers take the ball from the kick off straight to the Riley goal where Clay does not waste any time and takes a hard shot that does not miss by much. Only three minutes later, NW gets its first corner. Taylor takes the corner from the left and never pulls the ball out more then 3 yards. Despite the keeper and defender attempting to clear the ball out of the 6, it ends up hugging the ropes on the right side inside the woodwork for the early 0-1 lead. The focus of the game is however defense. It was time, the coaches thought, to play a tight defense and keep the "0" on the home side of the scoreboard. It has been a while since we have recorded a shutout despite the fact that we have been playing pretty good "D". The problem has been that we have had a letdown or two in just about every game in our defensive third of the field. So time to improve that statistic. The first fifteen minutes NW is able to play a lot of possession and a lot of that plays out on the Riley side of the field. The first Wildcat opportunity presents itself in the 17th but Kyle makes his first of many stops by diving on the ball. In the 18th, Carter Dyksen sets up a free kick from about 40 out from the right side of the pitch. His attempt reaches Taylor who is positioned deep in the box. His re-direct lands in front of Clay who, without hesitation, insteps the ball on the frame. The keeper has no chance and the scoreboard is changed to reflect the 0-2 NW lead! The rest of the half the game goes back and forth but does see Riley come into the game more and more. Their #10 takes control of the game for a while until our defensive midfielders start marking him better. Brayton, Conner and David complete a midfield rotation with starters Eusebio, B. Barahona, Tim Escoto, Bennett Parker and Clay Seitz. Any time there is a decrease in workrate in the middle or someone needs a blow, these guys come in without a drop in the level of play.
HALF TIME.
The team is reminded that a 0-2 lead is good, the workrate has been good but could use some improvement and that we want to keep the shutout so defensively we need to keep strong.
SECOND HALF. The second act starts like the first; with a hard Clayton Seitz shot that requires a Riley GK save.in the 48th, Bennett Parker takes a throw in on the left side of the field. The throw goes to Taylor Wegmiller who takes the ball on his foot at the Wildcat defense. From outside the left top of the box, Taylor strikes the ball. The laser beam crosses the goal line and hits the right side net for Taylor's second and NorthWood's third goal of the morning. The 0-3 lead does not mean that Riley quits attacking the Panthers' goal. In the 62nd, Kyle has to go up for a long ball in the box but gets hit by a couple of Riley attackers. In the 64th, Kyle has to dive to his right and while going down, gets kicked in the head for the second time. In the 77th, Kyle makes his final (8th) save of the day off a Riley free kick. Tad and Dyksen keep the back clean centrally and Dennyz and Beebe contain the outside very well in the second half. Tim has to come off in the second half with a leg injury. Eusebio (this must be the hardest name to pronounce since it has only been announced properly at home games; so you get Dijkstra right but screw up on Eusebio???)plays a good second half and Parker seems to be back at the level he was at the end of last season. Brandon did a nice job controlling the middle and Clay puts the fear in every defense we face. Taylor was a threat most of the day and our three musketeers on the bench did a nice job filling in all day long. The last chance of the day comes off a Taylor cross to Brandon near the six but what looks to be a sure goal ends up being a weak effort with his left that misses pace. The final score of 0-3 makes for a succesful conclusion of a tough week that showed us a lot about our team. It seems like the senior leadership has helped take the team to a new level with an almost tie against the state's #3 team (Warsaw), a tie against #20 (Goshen) and a win over Riley.
NOTES. Monday's practice will be one (1) hour only due to the Parent Teacher Conference. There should only be 11 players at practice since the JV will play Penn Monday. Tuesday we will play NLC opponent Elkhart Memorial at home (5 pm JV, 6:45 Varsity start)
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