NorthWood - Elkhart Central 1-3 (1-2)

FIRST HALF -Beautiful conditions are in place for game one of the season. Low seventies, low humidity, sunny skies and a big home crowd is the setting for the start of the 2015 season. The national anthem draws a salute from behind the south goal from Logan and the end of the hymn signals the start of the game. Micah does not get much time to get used to stand between the Varsity pipes because in the second minute of the match, the Blue Blazers get to take a corner kick which requires a tip from the NW keeper to prevent a disastrous start. The back and forth long ball type of play ensues for the next several minutes. A Central attack comes close to the NorthWood box but a long (!!!!!) and precise clear from David (he is back!!!!!!) turns into a counter attack that lands in front of Isaac's feet. From about 40 yards out, Isaac takes the ball on his foot, slips by the left defender and enters the box. The Blazer GK steps out some but Isaac slots the ball near post, into the net. NW leads 1-0 in the 7th! Unfortunately the momentum swings quickly when Central attacks right away and puts in the equalizer in the 8th. It is obvious that our midfielders struggle with the fact that Central plays very direct long ball and therefore skip the midfield all together which in turn makes our midfielders run up and down the pitch without being able to support the defense and offense efficiently. In the 16th, Micah comes up big once again after stopping a Central shot from inside the box. In minute 18, another Central attack in our box has our defense mishandling the ball and a Central midfielder takes advantage of the ball not being cleared and finishes it for a 1-2 lead. HALF TIME- Adjustments are made at the half, most pertaining to basic defending and holding on to balls and waiting for support.Another emphasis was placed on matching the physical play of Central. SECOND HALF- Right from the whistle, Central brings the ball up the middle but a somewhat clumsy or late tackle from Juan takes out the Central midfielder. All of a sudden, the referee decides that he will test his whistle........it works! But to everyone's surprise, Juan gets a yellow caution. After all the man in red allowed in the first half, he now for some odd reason decides to disallow. A poor decision, considering it is Juan's first foul and we have seen about 15 similar fouls against us in the first half without even getting a free kick. When minutes later, Central levels one of our players AFTER the ball has been played, Coach Duerksen and Dijkstra protest the foul, the coach (probably Duerksen since he typically is louder)receives a yellow card. In the 45th, Micah has to come up big once again to keep us in the game with a fantastic one handed stop even though the Central coach screams "GOAL!!" while the shot goes at Micah. In the 50', Matt gets tackled from behind. In order to make sure we finally get a free kick, he rolls and rolls and rolls. The final count on the number of rolls was, I believe, seven! Derek keeps working hard all game and pays the price by taking a shot to the jaw. Unable to close his mouth, he comes off the field. Eshelman plays out of his mind the entire game and Jaron and Dylan give us valuable minutes off the bench. Micah keeps us in the game with several other good saves but in the 60th minute of play a Central pass across the goalmouth does not get the proper attention and lands in front of a Central forward who places the ball over the line for the final score, 1-3. NOTES- Our first honorary Captain was Matt Pippinger, after the Central game, Coach Duerksen awards Derek Parker as the honorary Captain for the Saturday game versus Angola for his hard work. Coach Douwsma should have received a yellow for picking the wrong bench. We sat on the visitor's bench and starting Saturday, we will be back on the other bench. The JV lost its first game 2-8. The NW goals came from Jadon Steinmetz and Lukas AUkerman. The JV record is 1-1-0 (the win is the forfeit this Saturday vs. Angola). The Varsity contest on Saturday has been moved to 10 AM due to the fact that Angola does not have a JV. Thanks to the NorthWood student body for coming out in such large numbers!!! When the Central fans were cheering loud for their Blazers, they were soon drowned out by the NW student section!!! NEW THIS SEASON : Coach Dijkstra rates the Center Referee: Tonight's Referee receives a C+. He passed, but barely!