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.
No comments:
Post a Comment