David update

David is on the bike and lifting weights, he is done with the mobilizer and is working on getting his strength back. The goal is to return for the Wawasee game!!!

Game Day #14

Today we travel to Plymouth. The jV game kicks off at 5 pm, the Varsity at 6:45. Plymouth is 6-7-1, NorthWood is 4-8-2. This is possibly Plymouth's Senior Night (it is every year we travel to Plymouth so tonight is probably no exception). This might delay the start of the Varsity game by a few minutes. For your GPS, you can use 1 Big Red Drive, Plymouth but that address places you in the horseshoe drive in front of the High School. You will need to continue north on Randolph, take a right or go East on Baker and you will see the Varsity and JV fields to your left. If you do not use your GPS, just take Baker Street east off of Michigan. When you get to the intersection of Baker & Randolph, continue east and then turn right into the parking lot to the south. After you park, you just cross the road into the soccer stadium entrance. Typically the JV plays on the north field and the Varsity on the south field. The Panthers are in desperate need of a -NLC- win! This is the last away game of the season and even though it might be cooler tonight then it has been, it will still be dry so we are hoping for a lot of fans tonight. See you there! GO PANTHERS!!!! I will post a David Eshelman update as soon as we find out what the doctor said yesterday.

TWINS

The last week of the regular season starts today. Monday is a regular practice day (at the High School practice field). On Tuesday 9/30, we travel to Plymouth for a 5 pm JV and 6:45 Varsity start. Wednesday's practice is at the game field for the Varsity. Thursday is Senior Night when we face Bethany Christian (5pm JV/6:45 Varsity). The Senior Night festivities will take place before the game. Friday will be a normal 3:30 - 5ish Friday practice and will probably be at the game field. This will be for Varsity only ( for all players on the Sectional Roster). The JV season will be done after Thursday's game.

Concord-NorthWood 3-0 (2-0)

Varsity loses 3-0, JV 4-0.

2014 Sectional Draw

10/6 6 pm Game 1 Warsaw-Culver Academies. 10/8 5 pm NorthWood-Wawasee, 7 pm Plymouth - Warsaw/Culver winner. 10/11 6 pm winner of the 10/8 games.

NorthWood - John Glenn 2-2 (1-1)

Scoring Summary; 22" #17 Hockett- 0-1 Glenn, 36" 1-1 (Brayton from the middle on offensive half to Tanner. Tanner crosses in and across the box, Tony's attempt falls short but AC is in he trailer position and decidedly places the ball on frame and in the goal). 56" #17 Hockett- 1-2 Glenn. 67" 2-2; Isaac to Brayton who takes the ball thru the box for a 1v1, the shot gets touched by the keeper but slowly rolls over the line.) In the last seconds of the game, Cody prevents a Glenn goal by sacrificing his body to block another Glenn break trough to keep the score even. Brayton creates a lot of danger, AC scores a nice goal, Tanner works hard but defensively we struggle at times and so in the end, when we give up two goals, the bottom line is that we have to score. We do,but not enough to get us a win. After losing David in the central defense position, we are still trying to figure some of the marking out in the middle of the field. Hopefully we will be able to improve that part of our game and get a result tomorrow at Concord. Thanks to all the parents who put together the Senior Dinner last night, it was very good!!!

Game Day #12

7-4-1 Glenn visits the 4-7-1 Panthers in a Varsity only 5 pm contest this afternoon (Thursday). Glenn's results have been similar to ours when playing common opponents. Last year was the first time in NW program history that we lost to the Falcons. Hopefully we will be able to revenge last year's defeat. After today's game, we will have the Senior Dinner in the cafeteria of the Elementary School. All players (JV & V) are invited!! The only injury listing for today is David Eshelman (knee) although Dennyz's toe injury still bothers him but that is an injury that will probably linger for the rest of the season. Our home record is 2-3-1 and the worst home loss was by two goals (once). The weather will be absolutely perfect so we are hoping for another good sized crowd in our next to last home game of the season. Yesterday's focus at practice was on attacking/finishing and corners. If we play the way we practiced we should come away with a victory tonight. GO PANTHERS!!

Wednesday practice

Both teams will practice at the game field today (Wednesday). Varsity prepares for tomorrow's game versus Glenn. The next game for JV is the Saturday matchup with Concord (away, 10 am).Today's practice will run from 3:30 - 5 ish.

Main characters

The two main players of the NW-Memorial game; goal scorer Eli Aukerman and ball boy Kyle Cripe.

NorthWood - Memorial 1-2 (0-1)

Nice weather, nice crowd, good effort but just fell short. Scoring summary; 27" 0-1 Memorial, 56" 0-2 Memorial, 60" Eli Aukerman (Brayton Taylor assist). The goal was the highlight of the game. It is something we have worked on in practice (take ball wide, then to endline, cross in and target between 6 & 12 and shoot. The more we do this, the more we will score. JV loses 0-3. Varsity record is now 4-7-1. Next up are the John Glenn Falcons tomorrow (5 pm VARSITY only). The senior dinner will follow the game.

Game Day #11

8-2-3 Memorial rolls into town this afternoon hoping to put away a 4-6-1 NorthWood squad. The Panthers have plans of upsetting the Chargers tonight. The JV starts off at 5 pm and the Varsity will kick its first pig bladder at 6:45 pm. This sandwich home game (Glenn visits Thursday) will once again experience temps in the 70's and good field conditions. Winless in NLC so far this season, the Panthers would like to gather their first conference points tonight. David Eshelman is the only known injury for tonight. A few players collected a couple of dings last night but should be ready for action. See you at the game field and GO PANTHERS!!!

David in Rehab, spending time in Paul's Pain Palace

David is working on coming back from his serious knee injury before the ECA game.

Four things worth noting................

THE SCOREBOARD HAS SO MANY LIGHTS OUT, THAT IS HAS BECOME HARD TO SEE HOW MUCH TIME IS LEFT ON THE CLOCK. DENNYZ HAS A NEW DO AND HE SCORES WINNING GOAL; COINCIDENCE??? THE DUGOUTS WERE REPAIRED ALREADY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE REASON THE STARTERS ARE LOOKING AT THE DUGOUT? WELL, TANNER FELL OUT OF IT!

NorthWood-Elkhart Christian Academy 2-1 (0-1)

As the picture above shows, the field is in great shape, the weather is perfect so it seems to be a good night to experience some good soccer. FIRST HALF- Well, that is what a perfect night might look like but that is not really the way the first half will play out. It starts out well when Brayton Taylor cuts through the Eagles defense like a hot knife thru butter 120 seconds into the game but his 1V1 is denied by the ECA keeper. For the next ten minutes, most of the action takes place on the ECA side of the field. But in the 13th minute, ECA clears a ball thru the middle that ends up near the NW defense. A bad clearance presents the ball right back to ECA. With a long distance shot, the ball flies over Cody and into the net, 0-1. Not much quality soccer takes place until the 39th, when Brayton gets tackled from what seems to be inside the box and judging by the center referee's reaction (pointing to the penalty kick spot). Somehow, he changes his call to a free kick outside the box (after advise from the AR?). The free kick misses its target. HALF TIME- Working harder, making runs off the ball are the main focus although a secondary focus should be "better ball touch"; our passes were off in the first half!. SECOND HALF- Right from the kick off, NW plays with a little more passion and the more up tempo type of play gives us more possession of the ball. The first dangerous moment occurs in the 53rd minute when Dylan Weldy hits a free kick and loops it on Isaac's head. The header is saved by the ECA GK. Two minutes later, Brayton shows up in the box, ball on his foot and rips a shot. After a deflection it lands in front of AC who with some finesse, puts it past the keeper but the ball is saved off the line by an ECA defender to prevent the equalizer from going in. Finally, in the 63rd, a break for the Panthers. Again it is Brayton who goes into the box to take on the ECA defense and gets nailed. This time the PK is awarded. Brayton takes the pk and despite the ECA keeper getting a glove on it, the ball ends up in the goal, 1-1. NW keeps pressing and in the 73rd, Connor Miller takes a corner that ends up in the mix, with some pinball type wizardry, Tanner gets a foot on the ball. The ball goes to Dennyz who shoots the ball on the ground thru a maze of feet but into the goal, 2-1! The last 17 minutes we see a lot of exciting action in front of both goals. The ECA coach apparently is not aware of his technical area and spends most of the half ON the field directing his players. None of this seems to bother the AR who seems oblivious to quite a few things this half although he seems to call a lot after getting advise from that same ECA coach. In the 78th, Tony Lopez enters the box and he gets tangled up with the ECA goalie. After the ball is gone, the goalie keeps hanging on to Tony's legs as if he suddenly fell in love with them. It might have been another PK call but the wrestling action is ignored by the center ref. With a couple of more chances for NW near the end and the crowd (good size crowd by the way)going crazy, the Panthers are able to hang on to the lead. When the final whistle blows, the bottom line is the 2-1 win which we desperately needed.

TWINS

The busiest week of the season is upon us. Between the JV and Varsity, we will play seven games this week. For the Varsity it will be the beginning of a three game home stand. Tonight's game (Monday) features the Varsity only matchup against Elkhart Christian Academy (6:45 PM). The Eagles have a 6-2-0 record. Tomorrow we will host Elkhart Memorial (5pm JV/6:45 V) which until last week was undefeated. John Glenn is the guest (once again; the school not the astronaut) on Thursday (Varsity 5 PM). Saturday features the second NLC contest of the week when we make our way to Dunlap to face Concord (10AM JV, 11:45 V). The JV travels to Penn tonight for a 5 pm game. Tomorrow the JV game at home against Memorial starts at 5 pm but since John Glenn does not have a JV squad, there will not be a JV game Thursday. A decision about Thursday's JV practice will be made by Coach Douwsma later on. The status of injured players: David Eshelman - out this week and next week. We are hoping for a return for Sectionals. Tanner Fervida - It sounds like Tanner is probable for tonight but we will know more later this morning. Friday morning (9/26) at 8 am is the IHSAA Sectional Draw. The results will be posted as soon as the information is available. Our Sectional will be held at Plymouth. The following schools are in our Sectional; Plymouth, Warsaw, Wawasee, Culver Military Academy and NorthWood. Kyle will be joining us for Friday's practice (there will be specific GK training) and the Concord game. Go Panthers!!!Beat Penn and ECA tonight!!!

More off field problems......

THE SATURDAY EVENING STORM TOOK ITS TOLL ON BOTH DUG OUTS. WE ARE UNSURE AT THIS TIME IF THEY WILL BE USABLE BY THE TIME WE PLAY ECA ON MONDAY.

JV Tourney results

The record book will show a loss and a tie as results from the JV NLC Invitational. The first game was lost 2-3 to Memorial. Tony Lopez scores 2 goals. In the second game NW faces Northridge. After a productive first half (another two Tony Lopez goals), Northridge comes back with a goal in the second half and deep into the game, the arbiter whistles Dylan for grabbing an opponent's jersey (foul looked to be taking place outside the box) but Mr. Deed's butler points to the 12. The penalty goes in and the 2-2 is a fact. We go to a pk shoot out and despite missing our first pk, we are still tied after the first round of 5 alternating pk's. In the second round, Northridge scores their first effort and unfortunately, Brock is not as lucky as his shot is stopped by the NR keeper. It was nice to see a (almost) full JV squad -only Antonio was MIA- and nice fan turn out as well on a absolutely gorgeous late summer day. Some nice performances were turned in by numerous players. Of course we already mentioned Tony's four (!) goals but his fourth came off a perfect free kick by Dylan. That free kick hit the cross bar and fell right in front of Tony (right time/right place). The other Weldy (Josh) had a good day on defense as did Mason. After experiencing a few first game/first half defensive jitters, the next three halves were better after some adjustments. It was nice to have three subs so players could catch their breath occasionally. All 14 players did well and it would have been nice if the results would have been a little bit better. Tomorrow (Monday), the JV travels to Penn. Josh and Tony need to check in with Coach Duerksen to find out with what team they need to play. Whoever goes with JV, still needs to join the Varsity when they return from Penn. This also goes for Micah. More on TWINS tomorrow.

Evidence covered up

#15 Goshen-NorthWood 4-0 (2-0)

As if it isn't hard enough to play a good (not great) Goshen team, it becomes even harder when we see that bowlegged Lou is part of the officiating crew. And, it turns out, he outdoes himself tonight. But more about that in a little bit. The Goshen announcer butchers most names (Deeeekstra and Dickerson??) so not a smooth start so far. If you are a regular reader, you know that I do not post too much when we do not leave the pitch with a "W". So I won't stray too far from my M.O.. FIRST HALF-It is obvious that JT Plavchack (#6) has more speed then anyone on our defense. This kid has some serious speed which typically means that the defense is in for a long night. Life is already tough enough for NW since Eshelman (knee) is out and Tanner joined the ranks of the walking wounded as well (football injury). It takes Goshen about 15 minutes before they dribble in the NW box, turn away from defenders and put the ball in the goal, 1-0. The number 6 signs for the second goal in the 22nd minute for the 2-0 lead which is also the half time score. Cody has a couple of incredible saves that keep us in the game. HALF TIME- Coach Duerksen (Dickerson if you live in Goshen) addresses some defensive issues and we again stress the fact that the ball needs to get close to the Goshen box. SECOND HALF- The second act does not start well when a defensive miscue leads to the third Goshen goal in the 49th. Not too much happens until the 61st when a NW defender gets called for a foul in the box. The PK is a well placed shot to Cody's right. He dives and punches the ball out, no goal.....but wait....bowlegged Lou raises his flag. He indicates that Cody did something not many humans can do. He says that Cody came off his line (if so, it is not something that gets called unless it is so blatant -like two steps before a kick-)but if Cody did come off the line AND move to his right to stretch to punch the ball he is a human miracle! Who can move forward and sideways and cover that much space. But let us not forget that Lou is as crooked as a hillbilly smile (the retake goes in, 4-0). Two years ago at Wawasee he penalized Kyle for a handball outside the box when he punted the ball (a call rarely called unless blatant - see a trend here?) and he also awarded Wawasee a PK for a "foul" outside the box (that is not something that is rarely seen, that is something you can not even do!). Goshen did not need 12 players last night but that is what they ended up with. NOTES- Today's practice will be a light one and will run from 3:30 - 4:15. No shin guards needed. The JV lost 7-0. That same JV will travel to Goshen tomorrow for the JV Tournament. The bus leaves the High School at 8 am, first game on field 2 (next to the game field we played on last night) at 9 am, the second game is at noon. We play Memorial in game 1. The Varsity has Saturday off but already returns to action Monday at home against Elkhart Christian at 6:45 (I think the girls play at home Monday as well at 5 pm). The JV travels to Penn on Monday, 5 pm game, bus leaves at 3:45 pm Monday for the JV. Both teams play four games next week and I will post the specifics Monday in next week's TWINS.

Game Day # 9

Injuries are the headline for today. Both David (knee) and Tanner(back) are out for tonight's game. We travel to #15 Goshen this afternoon. The bus leaves the AC at 3:45 pm. JV kicks off at 5 pm, the Varsity at 6:45 pm. Goshen High School is in the middle of a construction project which impacts parking. Use 401 Lincolnway East, Goshen for your GPS although it might be easier to take SR 119 into Goshen. SR 119 turns into Plymouth Ave inside the city limits. Take Plymouth Ave. to 10th St.. Turn left or North on 10th St.. 10th St. will take you right by the practice field (on your right) before you get to Purl St.. Once you have reached 10th/Purl, you are at the High School and in the parking lot.See you all tonight. Go Panthers!!!!!

NorthWood-#23 Warsaw 0-1 (0-1)

FIRST HALF-Warsaw leaves with a win, several yellow and a red caution and should consider themselves lucky with those totals! Probably should have been more cards of both colors and they are lucky to escape Nappanee with a win. At least the national anthem went fine. In the third minute of the game it all starts to go wrong. Warsaw's #21 goes right into Cody after Cody dives on a ball. The -obvious- foul does not get called and that incident sets the tone for a good portion of the game after that. In the 10th (my stats, the paper says 21st min), a long keeper punt from the Warsaw goalie lands on the right side. A Warsaw midfielder takes two touches and crosses the ball into the box. The #21 takes the ball, turns away from Conner and shoots the ball past Cody, 0-1. In the 15th, NorthWood gets close to the equalizer when AC shoots near post but a Warsaw defender deflects the pig bladder onto the post for a corner. Near the end of the half, Cody dives for a save and again, a Warsaw forward kicks at Cody after he collects the ball. This time Warsaw gets a yellow. But it keeps getting more physical. If the center referee would have dealt with the first attack on Cody, additional attacks would probably not happen. With a minute left in the half, David tries to shield a ball to let it go over the end line but "tries" is the operative word here. Warsaw's #21 shoves David in the back in a very dirty manner. The foul earns him a red card (deservedly so; actions like this should warrant longer suspensions then just one game) but David stays on the ground injured. Trainer Paul Widner treats and checks David and it is obvious that David is not able to return to the pitch. And it might be a while before we have him back. Warsaw's coach Scott Bauer comes over to the NW bench and apologizes for the actions of his #21. Coach Bauer is a classy coach and we understand that he can not control someone from spinning out of control like that. It is unfortunate that a player has this little self control! HALF TIME- With David out, there is a need for a revamped lineup. Coach Duerksen shifts some people around and enters Tanner into the lineup as the workhorse on the right side. SECOND HALF- The Panthers come out working hard. The change from playing possession to playing more long ball and counter attack is working out well. NorthWood is more dangerous than Warsaw in the second act. Good passing in the back, good combinations in the middle but more so great passing to our attackers (midfielders and forwards) lead to opportunities. Deep into the second half, a counter pass to Tanner on the right side gets called off side even though Tanner places the ball in perfect fashion into the ropes. It is impossible to see if the AR was right from our angle but this same AR had messed up on the two previous off side calls so chances are he might have been right because who would screw up an off side call three times in a row? The equalizer does not count and the score stays 0-1. NorthWood keeps pressing however and with a little over a minute left, the Panthers are awarded a free kick just outside the box. This after Brayton had been fouled earlier in the box but no PK or foul was called. Coach Duerksen calls for the clock to be stopped (and the crew in the shed obeys their coach). The clock stops at 1:01. This upsets the Warsaw bench after they find out that the center ref never signaled for the clock to be stopped. Now we enter into a bizarro math discussion. The ref says that since he did not signal for the clock to be stopped, it should be reset to 1:07 (apparently adding and subtracting were not his strong suits in school). Warsaw and the AR make a case for subtracting time from the clock to about 51 seconds but some NorthWood coaches argue that you can not come up with a random time and point out that IHSAA does not have rules stating how to deal with a clock that was stopped in error. The case is made to just start the clock when the free kick is taken and the confused arbiters just kind of agree. The ensuing kick does not make it into the net and the remaining seconds run off the clock without anyone else getting hurt. The men in green should have been able to perform better tonight then they did. This crew is usually one of our better crews but sure had an off night tonight. The result in itself isn't bad, it is just that we deserved more. Hopefully David is able to play again soon and hopefully all other minor injuries will get better soon as well. NOTES- Next up is 7-1-1 #15 Goshen at Goshen on Thursday, JV 5 pm, V at 6:45. The JV ties Warsaw 2-2 and had opportunities to put Warsaw away (one 1v1 and two shots on the cross bar). Today's practice will start with a 3:15 meeting in Coach Duerksen's room to watch last night's game tape. We will then go outside to do some possession and a finishing drill. We should be done by or before 5 pm.

IHSAA poll

This week's poll has Goshen #15 in 2A , Elkhart Central at #19 and Warsaw at Honorable Mention. In 1A, Westview is #10, Argos #12 and Bethany Christian #20.

Sectional Draw

The Sectional Draw will take place at 8 am on September 26 and will be posted here as soon as it becomes available.

Game Day # 8

Today, Tuesday September 16, features the NLC match up against the Warsaw Tigers. The Tigers travel to NorthWood with a deceiving 2-2-5 record. Their wins are good wins (against Penn and Argos), their draws are quality ones (Fort Wayne Blackhawk, Fort Wayne Carroll, Fort Wayne Northrop, Plymouth and Westview) and their two losses are surprising (Concord & Memorial). The Junior Varsity match is slated for 5 pm, the Varsity contest will be under the lights and will begin at 6:45 pm. Dennyz, Juan and Derek are still a little "dinged up" but are all able and expected to play tonight. No injuries have been reported from the JV camp. Go Panthers!!!! See everyone tonight at the game field where the weather will be in the 60's and sunny!

Pool, Food and some FIFA

TEAM DINNER AT JOSH WELDY'S HOUSE; THANKS TO JOSH'S PARENTS FOR PROVIDING THE FOOD AND LETTING US USE YOUR HOUSE LAST NIGHT!!!!!!

From the sidelines...............................

TIE YOUR SHOES WITH BUNNY EARS!!!! AND I WANT THOSE SHORTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Best Manager ever!

Matt "Red" Pippinger

Thanks!

The coaches would like to thank the Cripe's, Taylor's and Eshelman's and all the other parents that helped out with the food and refreshments during the tournament Saturday (and for arranging the Argos High School Cafeteria between games!!!!).

Josh Weldy's parents hosting team dinner tonight!

The team dinner tonight will be at Josh's house. The address is 29405 CR 42 in Waky. This is west off of SR 19 on CR 42 between CR 3 and CR 1 on the north side. There is a big soccer ball with number "20" in the yard, the house is all brick and has a pond in the front and back of the house. It should also have all your teammates cars in the drive. If you have trouble finding it, call 862-2033. Food will be ready at 6 pm but you can go anytime after practice. Practice will be done by 5 pm so everyone will have time to go home and change (PLEASE!!!). Pulled pork sandwiches, cheesy potatoes and a variety of sheet cakes are on the menu!!!!!!!!

TWINS / Team Dinner TONIGHT (Mon 9/15 6 pm)

Another busy week for NorthWood Soccer. Actually the next two weeks are very busy. Six Varsity games in the next 13 days, seven games for the JV in the next 13 days. So it will be important to stay away from injuries. Today's practice will be at the High School for both teams and will be done by 5 pm (games tomorrow and team dinner at 6 pm tonight- see post above). Tomorrow we host NLC opponent Warsaw (5 pm JV, 6:45 V start). Wednesday practice will be at the High School and will probably be done by 5 (game next day). Thursday we travel to Goshen (5 pm JV start, 6:45 for Varsity). Friday's practice will be at the High School and it will conclude by 5 pm. Saturday the JV travels to Goshen (again; should've just stayed overnight) to play Memorial at 9 am and depending on the outcome of our game and the other game in Flight A, either Northridge or Goshen at noon. Next week both JV and Varsity play 4 (!) games with games on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday but more about on the next TWINS.

Argos Invitational

GAME #1-NorthWood beats Herron 5-0 with goals from Juan (knee), Brayton, Isaac (PK), Tanner (from ground to clouds to upper 90) and Aaron (nicely tucked in left corner on the ground). The Panthers do not play their best soccer against the Achaens but it has to be said that the Herron keeper prevents numerous good shots from going in. NorthWood plays Argos in the 8 pm Finals. Argos beats Glenn 5-1. Half time score is 0-1 Glenn but Argos has no problems rallying behind Binkley to send the Falcons to the 3rd/4th place game. GAME #2- Argos beats NorthWood 4-1 with the lone Panther goal coming from Brayton Taylor. Argos out shoots and out hustles NorthWood. Argos is Binkley but the rest of the team obviously feeds off him. For the season, Brayton leads the team with 8 goals, four players have two a piece. NorthWood's record is 3-4-1. Next up; Warsaw at home Tuesday 9/16, 5 pm JV start, 6:45 kick off for the Varsity match up.

Argos Tournament tomorrow

The bus will leave the High School at 1 pm tomorrow. Our first game will be against Indianapolis Herron at 3 pm. We will be able to watch the second half of Argos-Glenn. Once again the temperatures will be cool and downright cold at night so be sure to bring warm ups and hoodies etc. (NW soccer apparel only). Food will be provided between the first and second game. Fans can use 500 Yearick Street, Argos for their GPS (address for Argos High School). Today's practice will be done by 5 pm. Dennyz is questionable and probably will not be able to play 2 full 80's. Some changes in the lineup are possible. Our record is 2-3-1 (JV 2-2-1). The JV has the weekend off. If you want to watch more soccer then just the two NW games, catch the EPL on NBCSN Saturday (7:45 Arsenal - Manchester City and 10 am Chelsea-Swansea).

Wawasee-NorthWood 1-0 (1-0)

70% Possession, 0 % Win.

JV NLC Tourney INFO

On 9/20, the JV will play in the NLC Boys Soccer tournament. We drew Memorial in the first game (9 am) and the winner of that game, will play the winner of Northridge-Goshen at noon, the losers of both games will also meet at noon. The games will be played at Goshen High School, all tickets are 5 dollars, good for all day admission. We will hand out the schedules at Friday's practice.

Game Day # 6

Today's game is at Wawasee. The Varsity game starts at 5 pm (JV to follow at conclusion of first game). Wawasee High School's address is 1 Warrior Path, Syracuse. Game time temperature is supposed to be 60 degrees and by the time the JV game hears the final whistle, the mercury will have dropped into the 50's............brrrr. To think that we all dove in the lake between the football and soccer practice fields less then 24 hours ago. Bundle up and GO PANTHERS!

Argos Invitational - 2014 draw

NorthWood drew Indianapolis Herron for the 3 pm game. Argos drew John Glenn for the 1 pm semi-final. The losers of the first two games will face each other at 6 pm, the winners will play in the finals at 8 pm.

TWINS

The Panthers are getting ready for a busy and important week. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday feature regular practices. NorthWood will travel to Syracuse on Thursday to play NLC opponent Wawasee. The Varsity will play first (5 pm start), the JV game will follow after the Varsity game has concluded. If I am not mistaken, the reason they do this is because they do not have lights (at least they never had lights) and a JV game could be called if it were to get too dark. The Warriors are 2-2-2 with their best result coming against Concord (2-2 draw, it looks like deuces are wild at Wawasee). On Friday we will have a short practice (as usual) and on Saturday we will travel to Argos for the Argos Invitational. We have not received the draw as of yet. It will be posted as soon as we get word from Argos. The first game is at 1 pm, the start time of the second game depends on the result of the first game.

NorthWood-Mishawaka pic (JV)

TONY LOOKING FOR ANOTHER GOAL (JV WINS 3-0; TONY LOPEZ HAT TRICK).

NorthWood-Mishawaka pic (Varsity)

LISTENING TO THE NATIONAL ANTHEM (AND A HALF). LITTLE CRIPE ON THE RIGHT. NEXT TO HIM IS MICAH PIPPINGER WHO GETS HIS FIRST VARSITY MINUTES WHEN HE HAS TO COME IN FOR CODY CRIPE (WHO HAS TO COME OUT FOR A YELLOW CARD).

NorthWood-Mishawaka 1-1 (0-1)

A game with little fluidity and composure sees few chances for NW in the first act. One of the few dangerous attacks from the Cavemen plays itself out in the 25th when the Mishawaka #10 takes an uncontested long distance shot from 25 out. The shot lands int he right upper 90 for the 0-1 lead. NorthWood comes back to tie the game one minute after the break (Dennyz Barahona pass to Brayton Taylor who weaves thru the box and scores with a nice finish). A below par performance (albeit that the second half was better then the first) for NW as well as the arbiter trio. Bowser and Cripe receive yellow cautions, a little unlucky for Bowser and a little lucky for Cripe (could have been red). The JV has a solid game and wins 3-0 (Tony Lopez hat trick).

NorthWood-Bremen pic part #1

The new bags are in!

NorthWood-Bremen pic part #2

The bench, after HT.

NorthWood JV-Bremen JV 0-1 (0-1)

The JV lost a close game to Bremen. The only score of the game was a long distance shot from Bremen that went into the upper left 90, deep into the first half. The JV record is 1-3-0, Mishawaka is the next opponent on Saturday (9/6) at 10 am at home. JV practice is at the practice field and will be done by 5 pm.

NorthWood-Bremen 2-1 (2-1)

FIRST HALF-With the flag not making it all the way up the pole, the national anthem being played twice (almost thrice), it didn't seem like anything would go smooth tonight. But things aren't always the way they appear. NorthWood is able to field an almost healthy squad. Derek is on the mend and able to play some minutes here and there. And when he is on the pitch, it is obvious he contributes in the midfield. NW starts a little shaky and in the third minute the first ball rumbles thru the box and no one gets good contact on the ball, the result is the first of many Bremen corners. All Bremen corners spell trouble. They target big players with heading capabilities near post. In the 6th minute Bremen gets awarded a throw in. It looks like they graduated from the NorthWood school of throw ins......they succesfully place the ball at the feet of a man in all whites. In the 7th, a Bremen breakaway requires an emergency stop from Cody Cripe. Double C makes the stop and keeps us in the game. Not the first time this year and not the last time tonight! Bremen targets their forwards with long passes around or over the NW defense. Their #23 is fast, very fast. At times, Pipp's legs have to go twice as fast as the legs of #23. Pipp plays a very strong game and attacks the ball each time a Bremen player presents the ball while trying to position for a shot or pass. For the next 15 minutes, NW takes more control of the game then Bremen. In the 23rd, NW pressures the ball high, resulting in a bad Bremen pass. Brayton Taylor takes possession of the ball and goes toward the Bremen box. A decisive shot slips by the keeper and into the goal for the unassisted 1-0! Both teams attack the goals with succes when they play the balls over the top. The Bremen defense has some weakness in the speed department. In the 31st minute, David Eshelman drops a ball from the back over the top to Denny Barahona. Dennyz takes the ball directly into the box and challenges the Bremen keeper. The keeper gets a hand on the shot but it is not enough to prevent the ball from hitting the net, 2-0! Bremen responds quickly, very quickly. The next attack from the kick off goes wide. The ensuing cross targets #23 who places the ball with a forceful header past Double C, 2-1 (32"). Despite Bremen pressure, the score stays at 2-1 until it is time for the Tea.HALF TIME- Playing the ball over the top needs to become a focus in the second half but the most important message from Coach Duerksen is that the team needs to get this win, period! SECOND HALF- The 42nd minute of play sports Dennyz with a nice shot at the goal that gets deflected for a corner (Bremen would win the corner battle in decisive fashion tonight but that is not the score that counts). The second half is scrappy most of the time. The long ball is played by Bremen almost exclusively. All this long balling requires physical efforts from our defense (Dylan, Pipp, Conner, David, Juan, Tanner, AC) and midfield (Eli, Derek, Dennyz, Ethan). Even the forwards (Brayton and Isaac) come back and help tackle the ball. NW does not play the ball over the top as much as they probably should have but are able to threaten offensively here and there. The referee calls just about everything. It is somewhat odd to see the Bremen coach complain about bad calls, considering that NW gets called on about 80% of the fouls. Every hand in the back (whether a foul or not) gets a free kick awarded. Coach Duerksen instruction to his boys is to keep their hands down and "put them in your pants if you have to!!!". In the 49th, our ball boy on the team side, Kyle Cripe, spills right in front of the Panthers dug out but he is called "safe" by coach Duerksen. Kyle works as hard as the rest of the team tonight. The hard work, sacrificing for each other keeps the Panthers in the game. Cody has to prevent some shots and crosses and does that in miraculous fashion. In the 61st, Isaac takes a long distance shot (35-40 yards out) but the keeper makes the save. With minutes left in the game, Conner Miller takes a goal kick but goes down right away. An apparent cramp attack in both legs is proof of a hard fought defensive battle. For Conner the proof isn't in the pudding but in his legs. Bananas for breakfast!!!! Coach Douwsma and Dijkstra assist Conner behind the goal after he has been "dumped" there by his compassionate team mates. NW manages to defend the last view desperate Bremen attacks but the half time score also ends up being the final score; 2-1. Good job boys! Pictures to follow later.

Game Day #4

A 5 pm start for the Junior Varsity and a 6:45 kick off for the Varsity squad. The only injury is Derek who is available albeit not for the full 80 and will hopefully come off the bench to get some valuable minutes. Bremen comes off a 3-2 win against Plymouth (Tue. night)and has a 4-2-0 record. The only common opponent so far is Elkhart Central. A gme the Lions lost 2-0. See everyone at the game field!!! Go Panthers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Westview JV - NorthWood 0-1

NorthWood's JV records its first win of the season with a 0-1 win over Westview's JV. The first half belongs to NorthWood and the second to Westview but Tony's goal is the difference. With Juan as an attacking midfielder, Eli on the outside and Tony up top, NorthWood is able to launch some attacks. Dylan and Josh play solid in the back and Micah has a good game as well (first career shut out). The JV moves to 1-2-0 and will practice from 3:30 - 5 today at the High School in preparation for the Thursday matchup at home versus Bremen (5 pm). With temps in the high 80's predicted for tomorrow, it is a good day to bring the lawn chair or sit in the strands and take in an afternoon/evening offering of some good soccer between the Panthers and Lions.

TWINS

The week starts with a JV match against (and at) Westview while the Varsity will have a regular practice at the High School. Friday's practice was a pretty tough one especially considering the team played a NLC game the night before but conditioning is going to be a crucial part of this year's succes. Kyle worked with the keepers during the agility training part of the practice session. Hopefully all this hard work will translate into a couple of wins this week (or three wins for the JV). Wednesday's practice will be a split one; the Varsity will be at the game field, JV at the practice field. Thursday's schedule features the JV home game against Btremen at 5 pm followed by the Varsity contest at 6:45 pm. The weather for that day looks great. On Friday, the squads will split once again with the Varsity practicing on the game field and the JV practicing at the practice field. The practice on Friday will be done by 5 pm. On Saturday, Mishawaka will travel to NorthWood (JV at 10 am, Varsity at Noon).

JV Game Day

The Junior Varsity travels to Westview today for a JV only contest. The bus will leave the High School at 3:45 pm. The JV is 0-2-0 but has a chance to improve the record this week. Three games are on the JV schedule, Westview today, Bremen on Thursday (at home) and Mishawaka on Saturday (at home as well).