TWINS - Week #3 OG/AC

Back to the 7 pm - 8:30 ish time slot! See you tonight!

TWINS

Back at it!!!!!! Open Gym @ the AC (OG/AC) tonight at 7 til about 8:30. Tomorrow night is Fall Awards night at 6:30 at the High School Auditorium.

Mark your calendars for the 2013 NorthWood Fall Awards

The Awards for Fall Sports will be held on Tuesday November 5th at 6:30 PM in the High School Auditorium.

2013 NLC Awards

Congratulations to Carter Beebe for being selected NLC All Conference and Brandon Barahona for NLC Honorable Mention.

Press Box Progress

It is getting there.................

Bye Scoreboard?

Is this the last time you will see the old scoreboard? Will there be a new one on the new press box next season?

End of the season

Volunteers (from left) Dennyz Barahona, Coach Douwsma, David Eshelman, Conner Miller, Brandon Barahona (senior), Matt Pippinger, Ethan Craven and Dillon Weldy (not pictured Coach Duerksen & Dijkstra) help out taking down the nets.

Handing in uniforms/ Taking down the Nets day

All Varsity and JV players will need to attend the mandatory soccer meeting right after school on Monday 10/14/13 (Room 801). All uniforms need to be turned in (clean!). After that part has concluded, we will go to the game field and take down the nets. See you boys Monday.

NorthWood knocked out of Sectionals

Even two days after the game, I still have not figured out what the PK call was for but Plymouth took the lead in the 16th by way of a penalty. An insurance goal was added in the 62nd to give the Pilgrims a 2-0 victory over the Panthers. The loss ended our 2013 season. The final record got stuck on 4 wins, 12 losses and 2 draws. We were 0-6-1 in NLC. We want to thanks all the parents for not only supporting their sons but also for supporting the program by providing food, drinks, snacks, team dinners. We want to thank Mrs. Eschelman and Taylor for being the Captain's Club representatives and for putting together senior night (surely with the help of others). We want to thank the seniors for their 4 year contribution to the soccer program. The Fall Awards date will be posted here as soon as I find out the date and time. The coaching staff has the hope that all players will work hard in the off season to become better. We hope that most if not all will play soccer in the off season with the Flames, Jr. Irish or ECU or Invaders. If anyone needs information we will gladly provide it. Open Gym at the AC (OG/AC)will start back up on Monday November 4th! See you then!!!!

Pre Sectional Team Dinner

Thank you Mr. & Mrs. Taylor, Mrs. Eschelman and Mrs. Beebe!

TWINS

Yesterday (Monday) the practice was held at the game field where the focus shifted to the second season. An annual return of the PK shootout try outs started and will continue until the season ends. After practice the players piled into the activity buses and made their way to Jimmy Johns in Warsaw. After the chow we watched the first round matchup between Plymouth and Wawasee. Plymouth was ahead 3-1 by the time we pulled out of the parking lot. We also found out yesterday that there will be a team dinner at Brayton's house tonight (Tuesday). Not sure what time but the players probably know. Today will be a regular practice with some more focus on set pieces and PK's. Tomorrow NW faces Plymouth around 7 pm (after the conlcusion of the Warsaw-Culver Military Academy game which is not expected to go into OT). If we win, we will be back at it on Thursday, Friday and possibly a short and rare Saturday AM practice. The Sectional Finals will be at 7 pm on Saturday night. GO PANTHERS!

JV 2013-2014

The JV season is over. The last game against Bethany Christian ended in a scoreless draw. Despite some improving performances at the end of the season, the results were not reflective of that. The final record: 1-10-4. It can only get better next year. And it will. An announcement will be made when the uniforms and warm ups need turned in. It will be after next Wednesday at the earliest. Today, after school, all JV players need to stop by Coach Duerksen's room to pick up ECU information.

Bethany Christian-NorthWood 2-1 (1-1)

At "historic" Bodiker field a historic small crowd sees Bethany Christian outscore NW 2-1 in goals and about 112-4 in free kicks(you would think we are the most physical team this side of the Mississippi). 8" Brayton Taylor 0-1 (Isaac Bowser assist), 38" 1-1 (BC free kick), 47" 2-1 (Nussbaum BC). JV ties Bethany 0-0 (they did sport the best ball man ever seen on the sidelines of a soccer pitch). The Varsity ends the regular season with a 4-11-2 record (0-7-1 NLC). Next up: Wednesday at 7 pm at Warsaw (IHSAA Sectional #7) vs. Monday's winner between Wawasee-Plymouth. Last night these two played each other in the regular season (Wawasee won 3-2). Practices are over for JV, the Varsity will practice the rest of the season at the game field. Today practice will be from 3:30- 4:45ish. Monday's practice will start at 3:30 and will go to about 5 or so, at that time we will get on the activity buses and head on over to Warsaw to watch the Wawasee-Plymouth sectional game.

One game left......

Today the practice will be short. We should be done by 4:30 pm. Practice will be at the practice field. Tomorrow we travel to Bethany Christian for the last regular season game. The bus (if it shows up) will be leaving at 3:45 pm. The JV game starts at 5, Varsity kicks off at 6:45. Bethany plays its last game of the regular season at home on Saturday, so hopefully we don't have to celebrate another teams' senior night. By the way, our JV tied Plymouth last night (2-2) with goals coming from Isaac Bowser and Eli Aukerman.

THANK YOU SENIORS!

We would like to thank this year's seniors for their dedication to the NorthWood soccer program. We also want to thank their parents for supporting their sons and supporting NW soccer.

NorthWood-Plymouth 1-2 (0-1)

The seniors (and the rest of the team) play a great second half. We tie the game in the 42nd on a Jesus goal on a rebound from Beebe's shot but 20 minutes later , Plymouth went ahead 2-1. Despite two great headers in the box (Jesus and Bennett), one which is saved by the Plymouth keeper, keeps the score at 1-2. A great crowd, great weather and a great effort but unfortunately it doesn't get us the result we were hoping for.

Tonight : Senior Night

Plymouth will be the visitor tonight. This game will give the Panthers its last shot at a NLC victory. Plymouth is 3-9-2. Tonight is also Senior Night. This will take place after the JV contest and before the start of the Varsity game (slated for 6:45). Junior, Carter, Carter, Bennet and Brandon will take the home field for the last time in their career!!!!!!!

Elkhart Christian Academy-NorthWood 3-3 (1-1)

Three players show up without all of their equipment, the bus never shows up so the activity buses are pulled out of the garage and up to ECA we go. The announcer seems to be more prepared at least. On a wing (Talon Field) and a prayer we start the national anthem followed by the theme to MNF. The game itself goes back and forth all night with little sustained possession. NorthWood goes ahead 1-0 in the 22nd after assists from Jesus to Dennyz to Beebe (goalscorer). In the 29th, ECA ties the game 1-1. In the second half ECA scores again right after the kickoff in the 41st, 2-1. NW answers in the 48th with a free kick from Beebe that sails over the keeper, 2-2. ECA takes the lead again in the 61st, 3-2. Brayton's pass in the 63rd ends up in front of Isaac's feet who after a couple of nice touches on the ball, shoots the ball in the right corner, 3-3. In the 74th, Brandon Barahona scores a goal that is disallowed (handball) which keeps the game at a draw.

TWINS

The last regular week of the soccer season starts with a 7 pm away contest tonight (Monday)at Elkhart Christian. ECA comes off a 5-0 loss to the Lakeland Lakers this past Saturday and dropped to 4-7 on the season. Tomorrow night is Senior Night when we play NLC foe Plymouth (Plymouth lost 4-2 to Northridge on Saturday). Thursday will be our last regualr season game when we visit the Bruins of Bethany Christian. Sectionals kick off next week. SInce we drew a bye in the first round, we won't see action until next Wednesday when we will play the winner of the Wawasee-Plymouth game. So realistically, we could play Plymouth twice in 8 days, sounds like last year..............

NorthWood-Concord 0-3 (0-1)

NorthWood stays winless in NLC but will try and get its first victory in NLC on Senior Night. JV loses a close contest 0-1.

Sectional 7 Draw

Game 1 Monday October 7 at 6 pm: Wawasee-Plymouth, Game 2 Wednesday October 9 at 5 pm: Warsaw-Culver Academies, Game 3 at 7 pm: NorthWood vs Game 1 winner. Saturday October 12 at 2 pm winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3. Couldn't draw it up any better!

2013 IHSAA Sectional Draw

The Sectional Draw will be posted as soon as it has been announced by the IHSAA. Tournament play starts the week after next. Sectional #7 consists of Culver Academies, Plymouth, Wawasee, NorthWood and host Warsaw. Apprently the draws will be posted by late morning. Who said technology hasn't infiltrated the IHSAA yet; they can post an 8 am draw by late morning already?

John Glenn- NorthWood 1-0 (1-0)

The curse of the frog? John Glenn fails to score from the dot when Cody Cripe stops a PK in the 21st minute but in the 26th, Frey scores off a corner for the lone goal of the game.

John Glenn game information

John Glenn High School plays its soccer games at North Liberty Elementary School, 400 School Dr., North Liberty IN 46554. The field is behind the school and is a football field that we refer to as "Sprinklerhead Stadium". The last time we played there it was considered the worst field we would compete on by far. The field is short and narrow and could only be called a soccer field because a goal was placed on each end of the field.

JUNIOR THE SENIOR

PIZZA SLICE #2 STILL ON THE BENCH AND SLICE #1 BEING DEVOURED

Elkhart Memorial- NorthWood 2-1 (1-0)

"Boot" Dyksen picture above..................................... JV Coach Douwsma receives a yellow card at the end of the JV game (4-0 loss)courtesy of Coach Duerksen. Arbiter Rick Fischer seems to blow his top (despite him telling us he is having "a great day") but recovers in time to officiate the Varsity contest. FIRST HALF......On Memorial's senior night, NorthWood is forced to make adjustments due to Carter Dyksen's injury. What is initially a broken toe turns into a broken foot after X-rays which effectively ends Carter's season. Considering he plays a pivotal role as (senior) sweeper, Coach Duerksen is forced to revamp the defense. Connor and David become the central defenders in tonight's matchup against Memorial. The 4-3-3 sees Derek and Pipp on the flank defensive positions. NW starts 7 (!) sophomores and one freshman. It is by far the youngest NW Varsity soccer squad to ever take the field. The first 10 minutes or so go back and forth and in the 13th, Connor Miller takes his first of many good free kicks from half way down the offensive half -by this time Junior is well on his way to digesting his second large slice of pizza- into the box. The ball finds Beebe's head and the header goes over the goal. This offensive threat by NorthWood is followed by a lot of play in the middle of the third when NW has possession. When Memorial gets the ball, they quickly and directly play the ball near our defensive and for the most part, skip the entire Memorial midfield. In the 20th, a Memorial forward goes one on one with Cody. Cody does a great job by stopping the ball from going in. Unfortunately, Memorial scores their first goal in minute 33. Four minutes later, Beebe shoots at the goal from distance. The ball is on the frame and requires a save from the Memorial keeper. HALFTIME...... The break is used to tell the boys that our approach is one of simplicity, look for opportunities to get the ball in the box and create goal scoring chances.......SECOND HALF.......The first half was not a bad performance by NW but the second half starts out much better then the first. A lot of pressure, working for each other results in a lot of offensive NorthWood pressure on the Memorial defense. Numerous shots and crosses are taken and it looks for a long time that it is only a matter of time until we will score the equalizer. But a lot of midfield and offensive pressure does open one up for counter attacks and just such a quick counter attack nets the Chargers their second goal in the 69th. In the 76th, Cody Cripe makes a great save to his right with his right glove and knocks a great strike against the post and averts a 3-0 deficit. NorthWood keeps playing strong and keeps fighting. In the 80th, this tireless effort pays off when the ball keeps bouncing around in the Memorial box and after two missed opportunities the ball lands near Carter Beebe. Carter strikes the ball with decisive pace and the ball flies in the ropes right before time expires, 2-1. A great effort by a very, very young team. If this effort is put forth each time we step on the pitch, who knows what can happen. ..........NOTES....The Panthers return to action on Thursday on the road (again) against John Glenn (and probably another 10 guys)in North Liberty at 5 pm. No JV contest is scheduled. Today (Wednesday) the players have been given the day off after two tough and exhausting games. This rare day off is followed by another day off for the JV. The bus for the Varsity game tomorrow will leave the AC at 3:45 pm. Both teams return to the practice field Friday to prepare for the Concord contests.

NorthWood-Goshen 0-4 (0-2)

A poorly officiated game has a negative result for NorthWood. Goals come in the 10th, 18th (PK), 55th and 80th. The JV fails to score as well and loses 0-5. Next up tonight Memorial (away) and with a good effort and high pressure, the Panthers will try and get their first NLC win of the season. As Coack Duerksen said, 7 games in 11 days makes for a busy soccer schedule and tonight would be a good night to turn the corner.

JV Game vs Penn cancelled

Tonight's scheduled JV game against Penn has been cancelled and will not be made up. Instead, the JV will play Goshen tonight (at home, 5 pm start).

New Date Elkhart Christian Game

NorthWood will play Elkhart Christian at Elkhart Christian (Varsity only) at 7 pm on Monday 9/30/13.

TWINS

A busy week ahead in NorthWood Boys Soccer. Today Goshen will be the opponent (make up game from the cancelled game last Thursday). The JV game kicks off at 5 pm, followed by the Varsity around 6:45 pm. Elkhart Memorial is on the schedule for tomorrow (Tuesday 9/24)as an away game. Wednesday will feature a practice at the High School and will probably run from 3:30 - 5ish. Thursday the Varsity travels to Glenn for a 5 pm match (no JV game). I will post the location of the game when we find out (in the past they played at the Elementary School in New Liberty and as of late they seem to play at Newton Park). Friday will feature a normal 3:30-5ish practice and Saturday Concord pays the Panthers a visit. JV start is slated for 10 am, to be followed by the Varsity (11:45-noon start). On Friday we will also find out who our opponent will be in this year's Sectionals. The IHSAA Sectional draw will be at 8 am and will be posted here as soon as we find out. As soon as the Athletic office informs us of a make up date with Elkhart Christian (originally on the schedule for tonight), it will be posted here as well.

UPDATE!!!!!!! Goshen Game

The game against Goshen will now be played on Monday September 23. The game against Elkhart Christian is therefore cancelled for now and hopefully we can get that game rescheduled.

New date for Game vs Goshen

According to Atheltic Director Norm Sellers, our games versus Goshen will now be played on Monday 9/30/13.

Goshen Game canceled

The game versus Goshen has been canceled due to standing water on the pitch. The game will be rescheduled at a later date. No practice today, practice will resume Friday at 3:30 -5ish at the practice field.

459 photos

Visit pantherpawprints.com for 459 pictures of the NW-Wawasee game.

IHSAA Sectional Draw information

The IHSAA Sectional Draw will be held on Friday September 27 at 8 am. NorthWood plays in Sectional #7 @ Warsaw. Games will be played on October7, 9, 11 and 12. The other schools in our sectional are host Warsaw, Plymouth, Wawasee and Culver Academies.

#6 Warsaw- NorthWood 9-0 (3-0)

Goals fall in the 17th, 30th, 36th, 41st, 42nd, 44th, 47th,70th and 79th minute. Next up, # 18 Goshen at home tomorrow. Practice today at the gamefield from 3:30 - 5 pm.

TWINS

Today NorthWood travels to #6 Warsaw. It won't be the only ranked team we play this week. Goshen is ranked 18th and visits NW Thursday. The bus leaves at 3:45 this afternoon from the AC.Warsaw plays their soccer games at their High School (1 Tiger Lane, Warsaw, IN). The JV has a very busy week ahead. Besides the Tuesday & Thursday games, they will also play another two games in the Goshen Invitational Saturday. These games are slated for 9 am and noon at Goshen High School.

Argos Invitational Herron-NorthWood 2-7, Argos-NorthWood 2-0

NorthWood plays in its third Argos Invitational, the first year the tournament was won and last year Argos beat us 4-3 with a late goal. In the first game of the tournament, Argos easily beats Glenn 5-1.In the second game NorthWood is listed as the away team, Herron (Indianapolis) as the home team. It takes mere seconds (39 to be precise)for Brayton Taylor to find Bennet Parker near the Achaeans woodwork. Bennett doesn't hesitate and quickly puts the first goal on the scoreboard. Beebe plays a ball over the top of the defense in the 5th to Brandon Barahona (or Barone if you want to belive the tournament announcer) who places the ball in the left corner, 2-0. NorthWood plays up tempo pressure which in turn gives them possession of the ball the majority of the time. In the 16th, a very nice Isaac Bowser pass again finds Brandon Barahona who goes one on one at the keeper and with a lot of composure, puts the ball in the net for a very comfortable 3-0 lead. Only one minute later, Brayton shoots at the Herron goal and the keeper misjudges the velocity of the shot and dives over the ball, 4-0. Herron scores its first goal off a free kick (bad weak side marking)in the 29th, 4-1. This score does not change until the second half. NorthWood plays well in the high pressure 4-3-3 and continues to do so in the second act. The coaches get a nice compliment from the very polite Argos ballboy :"nice uniforms coach", exactly the type of comment we have been waiting for. In the 56th, Brandon crosses to Bennett Parker who heads the ball over the Herron GK to put us ahead 5-1. While Herron #23 absorbs a soccer ball in a delicate location, the continuation of play from Beebe goes to Brayton. Brayton's shot hits the ropes for a nice 6-1 lead. All 19 players play in this game. Herron threatens sporadically but in the 65th, a breakthrough turns into their second goal. Coach Duerksen puts Beebe in a forward slot and after a couple of tries, his first and NorthWood's 7th goal determine the final score at 7-2 for a spot in the 8 pm finals versus host Argos. ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................In the 6pm game, Glenn defeats Herron 3-0. ................................................................................................................................................................................Before the start of the night cap, we notice we have the same officiating crew as last year. The entire crew is from Argos, two of them -the Overmeyer brothers- played for Argos. They had a poor performance last year and should have paid their way in since they seemed to be more like supporters of the club as opposed to being independent and fair officials. The hope is that this year would be different. But it becomes evident very, very early on that this is merely a repeat performance from last year. For a full 80 minutes, hardly any Argos foul gets called (deep into the second half we only had 5 calls going our way) and almost anytime an Argos Dragon comes in contact with a NW player, a free kick is awarded. From the start, NW plays a nice high pressure which results in some opportunities. In the 8th, a nice build up and cross to Dennyz gives us our first opportunity but his shot misses the frame. In the 19th, an Argos cross lands in front of #10 Binkley who quickly takes a hard shot on goal from a small right angle. The shot flies by Cody and hits the far side net, 1-0. Josh Overmeyer, the center ref, is calling home to make sure they make room for another trophy on the mantel. In the 35th Dennyz receives a pass in the box but his ensuing shot rolls left of the goal over the endline. In the 39th, Argos scores the second goal of the half. NW keeps playing hard and never stops working hard and still creates plenty of opportunities (3 great ones in the first half alone). Much of the same in half number two. A lot of pressure, never stopping and still able to create several chances. The passing is crisp, decision making is superb most of the time, goalkeeping is timely. All in all, the best overall performance of the year. Argos is a good team (semi state finalist last year)and the match itself is entertaining. The only negative is the pathetic officiating. Right before the second goal, Argos #7 commits a very obvious pushing foul on Bennett but it is not called and the conclusion of the play results in the afforementioned 2-0. Decisions like that are very unfortunate to say the least. All in all, NorthWood has two good performances in two full games in one day. 160 minutes of pressure takes a lot out of a player. Coaches are happy with the way we play both games and if the workrate stay at this level, the results will come.

NorthWood-Wawasee 0-0 (0-0)

0-0

Argos Boys Soccer Invitational 2013

Game 1 features Argos vs. Glenn at 1 pm. Game 2 has Indianpolis Herron hosting NorthWood. Loser of game 1 will play the loser of game 2 at 6pm. The winners of the first two games will play each other at 8pm. Admission is 5 dollars for adults (4 dollars for students) and these are all day passes. The consession stand will have a variety of items and Port-a-Pit chicken is available for supporters as well.

2013 JV Goshen Invitational Saturday Sept 21 draw

NorthWood will play Plymouth at 9am at Goshen H.S. on Saturday Sept 21st. If we win, we will play the winner of Memorial-Goshen at 1:30 pm; if we lose the first game, we will play the loser of Memorial -Goshen at noon.

TWINS

Monday and Tuesday's practices have been adjusted. Today will be a regular practice starting at 3:30 at the practice field and the game film will be watched in Duerksen's room (801) on Tuesday. Since on Tuesday the temperatures will soar into the 90's with a heat index going into the 100's, it makes more sense to study the film tape. Wednesday, the Varsity will practice at the game field. Thursday's game against NLC opponent Wawasee is at home (5 pm JV, followed by Varsity at 6:45pm). Friday will be a normal 3:30 -5ish practice (or shorter). We will conclude the week with the Argos Invitational. Our first game will be against Herron. We will have additional tournament information later this week.

Mishawaka - NorthWood 0-2 (0-1)

FIRST HALF......After an encouraging JV game (1-1 draw), the Varsity contest kicks off right on time. A high energy NorthWood wastes little time to attack the Mishawaka defense. In the second minute, Brayton Taylor sneaks in near the left side of the goal and finishes a bouncer that rolls Brayton's way after Dennyz Barahona's initial shot gets semi blocked. After the 0-1 lead, NW displays a lot of possession soccer with early pressure on the Cavemen's defense and midfield. Play gets choppy at times, mainly due to a barrage of bad calls from the center ref who is obviously having a bad, bad, bad day. At least let's hope he had a bad day becasue if this is a normal performance, he should show the red card to himself. After Coach Duerksen screams at the ref because he wants the ref to allow a substitute, the ref explains it is a free kick, not a throw in and thus a sub is not allowed, Duerksen responds with :my bad".......at least he admits when he makes one which is more then we can say for this official who was assisted by a weak duo of bellybuster twins. In the 17th, a nice Brandon Barahona cross lands in the box with the ensuing scramble resulting in the ball rolling in front of Isaac Bowser who, of course, does not hesitate to take a shot. His volley like take needs a good GK save to prevent a goal. A Mishawaka free kick in minute 37 requires Cody Cripe to make a save. The 39th minute sees more action then any minute in any game should. First, Bennett Parker gets tripped in the circle but when down, Mishawaka's #4 (Stillson, who got a red last year) deems it neccesary to kick Bennett in the face (intentionally). After protests from the NorthWood bench, play goes on and when Mishawaka goes in to our box, Cody has to dive for a save. During his dive he also gets kicked in the face. Cody is bleeding from a cut above the eyebrows and has to leave the game (Tito plays the 52 seconds to take us to the half). After a lot of discussion, screaming, conversations etc., the best the ref can come up with is to give a yellow to the first face kick to #4 (and he got it becasue none of the refs knew which player did it and gave it to their "captain" who also happened to be the perpetrator). It is a good thing it is half time so everyone can calm down. This is an obvious example of referees letting a game get out of hand when all of this could have been prevented. HALF TIME......Some adjustments are made with a focus on checking to teammates and staying wide while Cody is getting medical treatment on the bench from the Mishawaka trainer. He is also checked for a concussion and consequently cleared to play the second half. SECOND HALF...... Right away, Cody is tested by Mishawaka on a shot in the 41st but Cody makes a nice save.In the 44th, a Caveman shot in the upper right, calls for a tip over the bar from Cody. In the 46th, Jesus slices thru three defenders and delivers a nice pass to Brayton. His shot gets saved by Koslowski, the Mishawaka keeper. In the 47th NorthWood gets awarded a corner. The kick bounces near the goal and Dennyz Barahona shoots and misses. Dennyz plays an excellent game, displays high energy and a workrate that seems to inspire everyone around him. In the middle of the second half, Mishawaka earns several corners. Each time their forwards and midfielders go in a huddle before they disperse after the kick is taken. Coach Duerksen tells the team to get in on the huddle when Mishawaka gets corner number three ("they will let you in" he says). None of these corners preceded by huddles have any kind of success and the strategy is lost on me. From about the 55th minute on, Mishawaka looks someone spent and the NW pressure stays high. In the 60th, a free kick for Mishawaka displays some mathematical magic from our superb center ref. From 15 yards away, he can tell that our wall is only 9 1/2 yard off the ball instead of the required 10. Pretty impressive and probably his best moment in the game, or is it. In the 75th, the center ref sees no foul when two NW defenders "squeeze" Mishawaka striker Gallegos into half his size. While tumbling down on the tall grass, the referee decides there is no PK in it for the Cavemen (lucky for us but what a bad call). Seconds later, Jesus gets the ball on our offensive third and takes it to the end line. He then finds Brayton near the 6 who, smoothly places the ball in the net for the final score; 0-2. With a jittery last 5 minutes, NorthWood is able to hold on to the lead (and shutout #3 of the season)to improve to 3-3-0. The result has a lot to do with today's workrate from everyone. Derrick Parker did a nice job shutting down the right side, Pipp the left and Dyksen and David were solid in the center part of the defense. Bennett worked hard and made some nice direct passes. Beebe did a very solid job in the middle and did a lot of work defensively (disturbing the opponent's attacks) and offensively while serving the midfielders and forwards when needed. Isaac, Ethan, Brayton, Jesus, Brandon, Brayton and Jesus interchanged a lot which is an integral part of the total football like 4-3-3 system. Jesus tracked back deep to help defensively. Dennyz worked tirelessly and it was infectuous. A good game with a good result!.........NOTES........ Monday's practice will start in Duerksen's room (801) when we will watch some film tape from todays game for about an hour. We will then go outside for the last hour. JV is now 2-2-2, Varisty 3-3-0. Next up is NLC opponent Wawasee (at home)next Thursday September 12th.

Bremen - NorthWood 3-0 (1-0)

After two very good practices hopes were high but a disappointing performance results in a disappointing loss. Bremen goals come in the 6th, 43rd (OG) and 54th minute. Next on the schedule a Mishawaka team with 9 seniors in the starting lineup. This Saturday fixture now becomes a very important one. The bus leaves tomorrow (Saturday) at 8:45 am. JV kick off at 10 am, Varsity start at noon. Games are played at Ward Baker Park in Mishawaka.

This Week in NorthWood Soccer (TWINS)

Thursday/Saturday games are on the menu this week. Thursday we will travel to Bremen to play the Bremen Lions and on Saturday we visit the Mishawaka Cavemen. Both teams are undefeated so far this season. Bremen is 5-0-0 and Mishawaka is 6-0-0. Thursday's games are at 5 (JV & V), Saturday's games are 10 am (JV) and noon (Varsity). Mishawaka is a team loaded with seniors (9). Neither team plays at their respective High Schools; Bremen plays at Jane's Park while Mishawaka will entertain us at Ward Baker Park. Today's practice will be from 3:30 - 5ish. We will try to be done early since we have a game tomorrow. The bus for Bremen will leave at 3:45 pm Thursday.

Bremen Game @ Jane's park

The games at Bremen will be played at Jane's Park on Woodies Lane in Bremen.

NorthWood JV-Westview JV 1-4

Isaac Bowser scores the lone NW goal late into the second half. The JV's record is 1-3.Next up is the away game versus Bremen. Both the JV and Varsity will play Bremen tomorrow, Thursday September 5, at 5 pm.

Northridge-NorthWood 5-0 (4-0)

Lopsided wins and losses seem to be the theme so far this season. With a decent half hour to start out the game, things turn south quickly when Northridge scores 1-0 in the 30th, 2-0 in the 33rd, 3-0 in the 37th and 4-0 in the 38th. A combination of poor defending, not clearing the ball after the keeper makes intial saves (twice), a loss of concentration and an ill advised delay in clearing a ball inside the box are to blame for a four goal deficit before the half. It is obvious at the half that we can not give up goals quick in succession after allowing the first one. It is also clear that Northridge outscores us in physicality. The second half sees a different NorthWood. This second half team shows heart, physical play and determination. Not until the 80th do we see a loss of concentration in the back (which results in the NR fifth goal) but overall, the second half shows a positive response to Coach Duerksen's challenge and if we keep playing this way next week, we should be able to add two "W's" to our record. NOTES...........The JV loses 5-0 as well; next game for JV (JV only) is Westview at home, Tuesday at 5 pm. The JV's record is 0-2-0. The Varsity plays Bremen next Thursday at Bremen (5 pm start for Varsity AND JV). The Varsity's record is 2-2-0. Today's practice is from 3:30 - 4:30 and will be a light one -after all the hard work from last night-.The next Varsity practice is Tuesday at the High School.

NorthWood-Lakeland Christian 7-0 (4-0)

............................PRE GAME RITUALS........................................NorthWood is busy with the pre game warm up while the big blue Lakeland Christian Academy bus circles the gamefield. The driver finally figures out where to enter the parking lot. The delay adds up to about a 15 minute late start with only two officials (#3 arrives at the half).FIRST HALF--With a small crowd of just over 60 looking on, Carter Beebe doesn't waste any time trying to keep the fans entertained when he places a nice cross in front of Brayton Taylor who misses the golden opportunity about 118 seconds into the game. But in minute 3, Beebe takes the ball on his feet into the 18 and decidedly places the ball into the net for the early lead, 1-0. In the 6th minute we start "the game within the game"; goals versus balls on the woodwork.A Beebe shot touches the crossbar and in the 7th, Beebe passes the ball to Bennet Parker who in turn shoots the ball against the left post (1-2 if you are keeping track). Five minutes later Dennyz Barahona decides to enter the competition as well with a crossbar shot (1-3). Brayton possesses the ball near the left side of the penalty box and gets the ball to Beebe who shoots the ball low over the line and in the goal for the 2-0 lead (18"). The same play takes place on the opposite side of the box with the same result (Brayton to Beebe)in the very same minute: 3-0 (18"). NorthWood dominates the game and Cody Cripe only gets to touch the ball a few times. Nothing spectacular takes place until the 39th, when Beebe passes the Wilson to Bennet Parker who, with a nice controlled and placed shot, increases the score to 4. HALF TIME--More emphasis is placed on the workrate and passing to feet. At the half, we have been able to put the ball in the goal four times and on the woodwork 5 (!!) times. SECOND HALF-- Brayton wastes no time running over a LCA midfielder (ploughed over might be the correct term). Ten minutes into the second act, Beebe steals the ball from a LCA defender and goes one on one with the keeper but without any result. Disaster strikes again for the Cougars in the same minute when Brayton crosses the ball near the six, the keeper punches the ball but it lands near Dennyz who decidedly volleys the ball on the frame and in the goal, 5-0. Four minutes later, Brayton serves a ball on a platter to Beebe, who makes no mistake and scores his fourth and the team's 6th (6-0). Bennet Parker wants his name on the scoresheet again by deciding to go in the assist column when he connects with Brayton. Brayton smoothly places the ball past the GK for the final 7-0 score. The game is played and despite a couple of more chances, the final score will turn out to be 7-0. Delio, Craven, Skyler, Eli, Dillon, Tito and Isaac and Toni all get playing time off the bench for the second time in three games. Our regular defense with Dyksen, Conner, David and Matt performed well (Matt almost scored with a nice bender to the left in the second half), the midfielders (Bennet, Derrick, Dennys and Brandon and Brayton) worked hard and pressured well and Beebe was very effective (4 goals and 1 assist)as the lone forward. NOTES-- Next game is @ Northridge tomorrow. The JV game starts at 5 pm followed by the Varsity (appr. 6:45 start). We will face a physical and hard working Northridge and in order to compete we will have to play the same way. The bus will leave the AC at 3:30 pm on Thursday. The Varisty record improves to 2-1-0. Today's practice is from 3:30 pm - 5 pm at the High School (both squads).

NorthWood-Elkhart Central Pics

Average crowd at home; captains and coaches before the game.

NorthWood-Elkhart Central 0-5 (0-3)

A medium sized crowd witnessed about 12-15 minutes of decent NW soccer and then the wheels fell off. A Blue Blazers cross into the box was finished off with a Ramirez header. It should not have had an impact on how we played but the goal led to the obvious kickoff that was immediately lost and within 21 seconds, the same Ramirez scores the 0-2. NorthWood then starts playing on its heels and never really recovers in the first half and actually gives up another goal in the 32nd minute of play. And were it not for some Cody Cripe heroics, the score could have been higher then that. Half time is a discussion about playing harder, high pressure and taking shots on an uncontested keeper. Despite that the second half shows some promise and play overall is somewhat more acceptable then the first, the Panthers still give up two late goals (70" & 78")for a 0-5 loss. NorthWood drops to 1-1-0, Central improves to 2-0-0. JV The JV (0-1-0) lost 0-7 to the Central JV (2-0-0). NOTES Today's practice will be short, focus now shifts to the Tuesday home game (note the 5 pm early start for Varsity, NO JV GAME)against Lakeland Christian.

2013 Soccer schedule changes/update

TUESDAY AUG 27- vs Lakeland Christian - No JV match, Varsity starts at 5PM. THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 5- @ Bremen - both Varsity & JV play at 5pm. They have two fields but no lights MONDAY SEPTEMBER 23- @ Elkhart Christian -Varsity will play at 7pm

Update Lakeland Christian game time for Varsity, JV game canceled

The game versus Lakeland Christian on Tuesday August 17, 2013 will most likely start at 5 pm. A final announcement will be made closer to the day of the game but Lakeland Christian does not field a JV this year and therefore has requested an early Varsity contest start.

Whitko-NorthWood pics

PRE GAME TALK AND EMPTY MAIN STAND Without Lindy's pictures, this is about the best I can do.........

Whitko - NorthWood 0-10 (0-6)

FIRST HALF Both full squads occupy the middle of the field for a lineup announcement to be followed by a national anthem and a half.It is time for the season to start; Whitko's Blue Crew fails to show up, the ballman and ball lady are ready and the Whitko captains have carefully placed the ARMbands on their LEGS. The 2013 Stat Booster Bowl starts out with a bang when 20 (!!!!) seconds into the game, the leather already hits the ropes for the first time off the foot of Carter Beebe after a Bennett Parker assist.Unfortunately only a small crowd is witness to the quick start of the 2013 season. The game, being played on the Whitko football field which is nestled between the town's cemetery and the High School, actually is in pretty good shape for a soccer match. The main adjustment for the players is that they have to play the yellow side and end lines. Despite the fact that NW plays mostly on the Wildcats' half of the field, no more goals fall until the 18th minute when a goal kick doesn't get too far out of the box and Carter Beebe is able to steal the ball away from the Whitko central defender. He easily puts the ball away for a 0-2 lead. It is clear then that Whitko does not really have any weapons to outscore us at that point.A minute later, Brandon Barahona starts his barrage on the woodwork. First it splatters off the crossbar and a few moments later it hits the post. In the 23rd, Beebe takes a shot at goal, the GK makes a save but the ball comes loose. Brayton Taylor is in the right spot to finish the attack with a goal, 0-3. Ten minutes later, Bennett Parker pushes a ball smoothly into the box to Dennyz Barahona who has no trouble connecting for a 0-4 lead. In the 36th, Brandon Barahona shoots a ball at the Whitko "00/Superman" keeper. The ball comes off his chest in front of Bennett who puts the ball into the net, 0-5. Two minutes before the half, Dennyz crosses a ball into the mix that eventually lands near Toni Lopez who places the ball over the line for the last goal of the first half. Cody Cripe was not extremely busy in the goal but had to make a save and did a fine job in goal. HALF TIME Minor adjustments are made that mainly focus on passing the ball to feet, speeding up the thinking and decision making process and keeping our shape offensively. SECOND HALF Tito Lynn takes the spot between the pipes for half number 2. His first challenge comes 4 minutes into the half when only Whitko's second shot of the game sails towards the Panthers' goal. With no pressure on him from the 40 yard line, Brandon Barahona decides to dribble to near the 28 yard line and takes a shot that flies past Superman -who is a little too far off his line-; the ball goes into the upper right 90 for the 0-7 lead. Brayton Taylor adds an assist to his goal when he places a nice pass into Toni Lopez' feet who places the ball behind the Whitko keeper, 0-8. The game now starts to turn into the Brayton Taylor show. A 72nd minute corner turns into a half inswinger that gets mishandled by the Whitko keeper, who slaps it in the goal for a Taylor goal (his 2nd), 0-9. In the 74th both Bennett and Brayton hit the crossbar, Beebe Carter almost puts in his third near post but it goes over and the last action of the day comes from Brayton, who slices thru the Wilcat defense like a hot knife thru butter and finds himself one on one with the goalie and decides to put it in with seconds to spare in the game for the final score 0-10. NOTES Easy win Tuesday but the story will be much different for the first home game Thursday when Elkhart Central pays us a visit. JV start at 5 pm, to be followed by the Varsity at 6:45 pm. Today's practice will commence early (2:45 ) and we should be done by 4:45.

Gameday 1

The Varsity will leave the AC around 3:30 pm to travel to South Whitley to play the Whitko Wildcats. It will be first game of the season for both teams. NorthWood will be able to field a healthy squad today.

Argos Tourtnament draw

The Argos Invitational will take place on Saturday 9/14/13. At 1 pm Argos will face John Glenn. At 3 pm we will play versus the Indianapolis Herron Achaeans (Ancient Greek lovers will enjoy this game). The losers of the first two games will meet in a 6 pm contest and the Championship game will commence at 8 pm.

Gameday 1 information

Tuesday August 20th, 2013 the Varsity will travel to South Whitley to play the Whitko Men's soccer team. This game will be played at a different location then the inaugural game versus the Wildcats in 2011. This year's game will be played at Whitko High School at 1 Big Blue Avenue, South Whitley IN. You can scan the QR code to your smartphone for directions. South Whitley is about 42 miles from NorthWood and should take less then an hour. The game starts at 5 pm. See you there!

2013 NorthWood Men's Soccer Alumni Game

27 former players and the current coaching staff "played" a game that excluded a lot of midfield transition and included a lot of long ball attacking. It was great to see a lot of the players -even some who showed up and watched the game- from just about every year we have been coaching (17 years!).

2013 Car Wash

The 2013 Car Wash was a success. Nearly 100 cars were giving a bath and some even looked better after the boys got done with it.

Reminders for week 2

The deadline for ordering team wear on the bsnsports.com website(go to my team shop and enter the code)is today, Monday August 12. Please order today if you haven't done so. The site will close after today. Deliveries will be made to the High School in 4-6 weeks. Coach Duerksen will let the players know when the items are in.Also, this coming Thursday, August 15, the alumni game will take place at the game field at 6 pm. This game will be followed by the red-black intra squad scrimmage. You can come and watch the players in the scrimmage and if you want, take pictures with them after the game. The red-black game will start around 7 pm. This game gives a lot of players their first opportunity to play on our own home field. For the coaching staff it is an opportunity to evaluate the players and try out the lights and scoreboard at the home pitch. The first Varsity game of the season is Tuesday August 20th vs. Whitko. This is an away game and is slated to kick off at 5 pm. The first home game of the season is against Elkhart Central on August 22nd. The JV game will start at 5 pm, the Varsity at 6:45 pm.

Week 2

Week 1 of the 2013-2014 was busy to say the least. Starting two a days, splitting teams, getting team pictures done, distributing warm ups and uniforms were just a few of the activities that took place. And then there were of course the actual practices. Thirty players will make up the Varsity and JV rosters. Most of the players and a parent attended the mandatory athletic meeting last Wednesday. On Saturday the annual car wash took place at LJ Wagner's. Nearly one hundred vehicles got liquid attention from the players and coaches. Speaking of coaches, Seth Douwsma (former NW and Indiana Wesleyan player) is the newly hired JV head coach and Kyle Dijkstra helped out as Goalkeeper coach. Welcome aboard to both of them. Kyle will be goimng to IU Bloomington so he will help out this week but after that we will probably only see him sporadically. Today marks day 1 of week #2 and all practices are now from 3:30-5:30 pm Monday thru Friday. Typically, the practices will be at the High School. The only exception is the day before a home game; on those days, the Varsity will reluctantly practice at the game field. The coaching staff wants to thank LJ Wagner's for allowing us to use their parking lot and water for the car wash. We would also like to think all the parentsw who donated soap, sponges, towels etc. for the car wash. We also appreciate Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Eschelman and Mrs. Taylor for volunteering to be our Captain's Club representatives this season. We also want to thank the returning letterman for helping us out Friday to get the game field ready. The dugouts are clean and back in place. With only 6 days of practices remaining, the first game will be here before you know it.

TWINS

This Week in NorthWood Soccer............voluntary conditioning with the seniors (Mon/Tue/Thu 9-10 at the track). Get the physicals taking care of. Those need to be in at the athletic office before the first practice. Practices (two-a-days) start Monday August 5th; 9a-11a & 1p-3p. All practices will take place at the practice field on the north side of the High School.

2013 Mandatory Athletic Meeting

The mandatory meeting for all athletes is Wednesday August 7th at 7 pm in the Auditorium.

2013 Soccer Showcase McCordsville

On the menu for the tournament for this year's rendition of the Soccer Showcase were Fishers, Blackford and Northwestern. NORTHWOOD - FISHERS The first game of the tournament has a nervous and apprehensive start. It is obvious a lot of the guys have not played together. Some players are trying to get used to new positions.Cody makes two incredible saves in the beginning stages of the game. Fifteen players are on the tourney team; Cody Cripe (GK), David Eschelman, Brayton Taylor, Brandon Barahona, Bennet Parker, Dennyz Barahona, Derrick Parker, Carter Beebe, Carter Dyksen, Connor Miller, Dillon Weldy, Matt Pippinger, Ethan Craven, Antonio Lopez and Isaac Bowers. Fishers scores in the 23rd for a 1-0 lead that would hold until the half. Our second half is better defensively despite giving up another two goals (45' and 53')for the final 0-3 loss. The tournament serves its purpose because it gives the coaches an insight on what we need to work on, what we need to change and we get a chance to see what the players are capable off. NORTHWOOD-BLACKFORD Again, it takes us a while to get started but once we do, we decisively take control of the match. Beebe scores number one in the 20th (1-0), Brandon in the 26th (2-0) and freshman Antonio in the 28th (3-0). The games at the Showcase are 35 minute halves. Two minutes into the second half it is again Beebe who finishes and puts NorthWood ahead 4-0. In the 50th minute, Ethan Craven gets the ball in the middle of the Blackford half, and takes a long distance shot that ends up high in the goal for the final score, 5-0. It would end up being the NorthWood goal of the Soccer Showcase. NORTHWOOD-NORTHWESTERN A sluggish and non-inspired NorthWood gives up a goal in the 15th (0-1). In the 32nd, Dyksen defends a ball well inside the box but a Northwestern midfielder trips over Carter's feet after the ball was cleared. The referee (well, he wore a shirt that made him look like one)pointed to the white dot on the 12. The PK goes in the left corner (no chance for Cody). Coach Duerksen tells the team that if they execute the adjustments suggested by him, the team will walk off the field with a 3-2 win. Almost prophetic......... Only 5 minutes into the second half it is Beebe who revenges a couple of first time misses with a nice goal to cut the lead in half (1-2). And he duplicates his performance with a very pretty goal three minutes later (great first touch and cut and solid finish). With the game level at 2, NorthWood presses to try and take over the lead. They do so in the 67th when the Northwestern GK kicks a ball just outside the box to Brayton who instantly kicks the ball back at the goal. The keeper, who is too far out and not prepared to stop a shot that quickly, lets it roll into the goal for the first NorthWood lead of the game (3-2). An unfortunate trip from behind in the box by NorthWood gives Northwestern its second PK of the day. This one goes in the right corner for the final score; 3-3. All in all a succesful weekend of soccer. Defensively we showed improvement but did give up 6 goals in 3 matches. Indeed enough to work on but also enough to work with. We saw improvement from game to game and for the ten years that NortWood has participated in the showcase, we never have left the tourney with a losing record.

2013 Summer Soccer information

The 2013 Youth Soccer Camp will be held June 24th-June 27th (Mon-Thu) at the game field at the Nappanee Elementary School. The camp runs from 9:30-11 am each day and is for K-7 Boys & Girls. All NW High School boys soccer players are expected to help out. The High School Soccer Showcase will be held July 26- July 28. This year, the tournament will not be held in Anderson, IN but in McCordsville at McCordsville Sports Park (home of Sporting Indiana). All information can be found on their new website "thehsshowcase.com) Tonight's open gym at the AC will be from 7-8:30ish

Open Gym at the NorthWood Athletic Center

Or OG@AC is tonight at 7:30. We will wrap it up around 9 or so. Hope to see everyone there!

Open Gym @ AC time change

Baseball work outs will start tonight which means we will push back our starting time to 7:30. Tonight we will go from 7:30 - 8:30 due to the ND-ALABAMA football game, starting next week we will go from 7:30 -9 pm.