Cautionary tale

Leading the yellow caution table for the Panthers are (3-way tie); David Eshelman, Dennyz "Octopus" Barahona and Seth "equipment failure" Douwsma with three yellows. Three others have received one caution this season. A player has to sit out a game after accumulating 5 yellows during the regular season. The max is 3 in the tournament (everyone starts with a clean slate at the beginning of the state tournament).

Sectional starting times (from NW Athletic Office)

GAMES / DATES / TIMES: GAME 1 Oct. 5 at 6 pm Culver Academies vs. NorthWood GAME 2 Oct. 7 at 5 pm Warsaw vs. Wawasee GAME 3 Oct. 7 at 7 pm Plymouth vs. Winner Game 1 Championship Oct. 10 at 7 pm Winner Game 2 vs. Winner game 3

2015 NorthWood Men's Soccer Senior Night

THE BULLETIN AND BANNERS. AT THE BOTTOM, THE TEAM PICKS UP THE DUG OUT. (CLICK ON THE PICTURES TO SEE THE LARGE VERSION).

NorthWood-Plymouth 2-1 (2-1)

It is the last home game for our 10 Varsity seniors. A very nice bulletin is available at the gate full of pictures and information on all our seniors. Banners are hanging from the back of the bleachers and each player gets introduced with their parents before the game. The JV sets the tone for the night and battles the Rockies JV and manages to come away with a 1-0 win on a great finish by Jaron Mullet. This kid has a nose for the goal and a killer instinct. This large group of seniors has played together and spent a lot of time together thru the years. This group has a very laid back attitude and has helped all of the players who came into the program after them and made them better players. The coaches will miss this talented and fun loving group. Last year this group fought their way into the Sectional Final and then managed to come away with a win to bring home NorthWood's fifth Sectional title. This group is determined to go far into the play off again this year. And if any group of players can, it is this one. But back to the order of the night. Not a lot needs said before the game. The seniors are motivated and want to win the last game on their field. FIRST HALF- While possession goes back and forth in the first 10 minutes or so, it seems that the Panthers are taking a little bit of control of the game. The Pilgrims/Rockies (??)play mainly long ball. In the 15th, Dylan delivers a cross that finds its way to Isaac. After a couple of twists and turns, Isaac goes by two defenders and then toe balls the ball in the back of the net for a 1-0 lead. Two minutes later, Derek plays the ball over the top to Isaac. Isaac is already thinking that he is one third of the way to a hat trick and kills the shot but the effort goes over the goal. A Plymouth corner lands in the box in minute 29. The Panther defense forgets to step in front of the ball and a Plymouth midfielder shoots it hard thru the defenders and into the goal from close range, 1-1. Two minutes before the tea, Derek delivers another pass, this time to AC. After a nice move, AC shoots and the Pilgrim GK stretches and makes the save to prevent a NW lead.In the 39th, a Panther attack on the right side of the box has Isaac going at goal. What looks to be a shot that will go in, gets stopped by the keeper but the ball comes out and hits a Plymouth defender. The ricochet lands between the Plymouth pipes and over the goal line, 2-1!For the record; David gets a yellow for a high kick early on in the first half. SECOND HALF- Three actions are worth mentioning. In the 68th Derek throws the ball to Brayton in the right orner. Brayton's long cross find Juan who heads the ball but the keeper makes the save. In the 73rd, Cody has to come up big on a Plymouth cross to keep us in the game and in the 77th, a very nice NW build up develops as follows; David has the ball and switches to Juan who, in turn, serves Brayton in the box. Brayton delivers the ball to AC. AC makes a couple of nice moves and places the ball in the corner of the goal but the Pilgrim keep saves the ball with a dive to his right. Final score 2-1. Varsity record now at 8-4-3 (3-3-1 NLC). JV record 5-10. REFEREE GRADE:B. Great NW crowd tonight, lots of student support which is much appreciated. NOTES- Practice for both teams at the game field. Tomorrow (Thursday), both teams finish up the regualr season at Bethany Christian. It will be the 5th senior night we will be part of this season. Thanks to Mr. Taylor for taping the home games, to Mr. Cripe for announcing. To all the parents who helped with all the team dinners, thank you. Also thanks to all the parents who did the banners, the frames, the booklet etc. for Senior Night. All Varsity seniors started the first half. It added significantly to the total playing time on Varsity for Mario and Easton.

What happens when you are not with your phone.....

The team, the fans.....

Gameday/ Senior Night

The final home game of the season will feature all Varsity seniors starting the game tonight. Cody will be the lone non-senior starting tonight's game. The following players are Varsity seniors and will play their last home game at and for NorthWood: Derek Parker, Brayton Taylor, Isaac Bowser, Dennyz Barahona, David Eshelman, Connor Miller, Matthew Pippinger, Aaron Chenoweth, Easton Dahlgren and Mario Rodriguez. Austin Patalis is a JV senior player. All senior players and their parents will be introduced at tonight's game. Our opponent tonight is Plymouth. Plymouth is 6-7-1 (1-5 NLC). Their only NLC win is against Warsaw. Plymouth has lost their last 4 games and are surely bent on coming away with a good result tonight. Plymouth is a hard working, scrappy team. It will take a good effort from the Panthers tonight to get a result. Tonight will be bittersweet for the coaching staff as well. We have been together with these seniors for over four years and have truly enjoyed their commitment, development and friendship. It might be the last home game but it is not the end of the season. We are hoping that these seniors will inspire us in the post season as well as we start Sectionals Monday. Next week will hopefully start with a good result as we start the run to defend our Sectional Crown from last year with this same group. These seniors deserve the support of all their friends and families so we hope to see all of you tonight!!! GO PANTHERS!

John Glenn-NorthWood 1-2 (1-0)

Weather wise it is a great night for soccer. The field looks good but is hard. NW looks to go on a little streak and tonight's game could be the start of that. FIRST HALF- The usual lineup takes the field. It looks like the better (everything is relative of course) officials tonight are on the chalk lines. In minute 2, Dennyz delivers a pass thru the box to Brayton. Brayton goes one on one with the Glenn keep but his outside of the boot shot goes directly to the Falcon backstop who prevents an early NW lead. John Glenn however, turns the table on the Panthers in the 5th when their #21 takes a long distance shot and catches Cody a little bit off his line. The laser disappears into the goal right under the crossbar for an early Glenn lead, 1-0. Neither team really threatens too much the rest of the half. NW dominates the middle third, does okay in the defensive third but is unable to do much in the offensive third. Partly because Glenn parks the bus and packs anywhere from 7 to 10 players in or near the box to prevent a Panther goal. The score at the half is Glenn 1, NorthWood 0. HALF TIME- Coach Duerksen tells the team that he seems to be repeating himself when it comes to what needs done in order to get results. The main challenge is offered to the seniors. It is their time (which is running out) and they need to step up and make something happen. SECOND HALF- Five minutes into the second half, one of many NW corners goes near post for the training ground practiced set piece. The execution on the ensuing "sitter" is not very good and misses its target. NW keeps the pressure on Glenn and only 60 seconds later, Brayton perfcectly serves Isaac. Isaac, who is in the middle of a hard straight up in the box run, keeps the ball at his foot before he shoots the ball low and hard to the keeper's right. The GK has no chance, 1-1. Only 120 (!!!!!!!) seconds later, AC shields a ball, passes it to Pipp. Pipp crosses the ball hard behind the Glenn defense. Brayton slips in front of the Glenn central defender and connects with the ball, 1-2! It needs mentioned that minutes before the 1-2, another NW attack ends with a foul on David in the box. The whistle blows and it looks like the foul is called for a NW PK. The center ref then runs towards AR1. The clock does not get stopped and it looks to us that the discussion has to be about the spot of the foul (inside or outside the box). To our amazement, Glenn is awarded a free kick(what??????). When asked for an explanation, the center ref exclaims that it was an "inadvertent" whistle. For one, inadvertent means "not resulting from or achieved through deliberate planning". As Coach Duerksen says; "you put the whistle in your mouth and you then blow on it, how is that "inadvertent". For another, why did the center #@%&&** run to the AR? What was that discussion about? Was it like this: "Heh AR, how you doing here on the line. Looks like a pretty straight touch line. Got a question for you if you have a second". AR1: "yeah, I got a second. By the way, don't stop the clock. I wanna get home, I am getting HUNGGRYY!. But what is the question". Center ref. :"Well did you see the foul". AR1 :"The foul in the box?" Center ref.:"Yeah that one". AR1: "No I did not see that foul in the box that should be a PK". Center Ref.: "Oh yeah, that foul in the box where 10 got hacked, I didn't see it either. That's why I put the whistle in my mouth and blew on it. But both putting in my mouth and then blowing in it wasn't what I intended to do. Kinda weird how those things happen. I will explain it to the NW coach. He seems like a mild guy, he will understand. He won't mock me, I'm sure. Well thanks AR1, that really cleared everything up. Enjoy the rest of the game!". Yes, that is how that must have gone. Obviously you don't have to wait til the end of the blog to see what this referee gets as a grade. He deserves a "F". He blew it by blowing it. In the 62nd, a Glenn right side attack does need the hands from Cody to keep the ball out of the ropes. A great save keeps us in the game and in the lead. the 64th, Tony goes thru the box and the ball lands in front of Eli. His shot flies off the top of the crossbar. The Glenn "fans" cry foul everytime NW touches the ball, especially when Dennyz gets involved defensively. One of the Glenn fans (maybe the only one with some soccer knowledge) calls Dennyz an Octopus in a, I think, complimentary reference to Pogba. Dennyz does seem to have four pairs of limbs and uses them to recover the ball when least expected to. With two minutes left to play, Glenn gets more physical. Connor gets fouled and goes down in partitions. The free kick is one of the last actions of the game. NW plays a good second half, wins 1-2 and has now only lost twice in the last 10 games. The varsity record is now 7-4-3.

Looking ahead..............

In sports you never want to look to far ahead but tomorrow night is Senior Night. We have 11 seniors in the program who will play their last home game Tuesday. We are hoping for a large crowd to thank the seniors for their years of commitment to the NorthWood soccer program.

Directions to Newton Park

From Nappanee; (address for the park is 801 N. Michigan Street, Lakeville IN). Take US 6 west to OLD US 31. Go north (take a right) on OLD US 31. After about 6 miles or so, Newton Park is on your left (west side).

Gameday #13

Today we travel to Newton Park for the match up with the Falcons of John Glenn. In the past we played the away games in New Liberty but the new home field for John Glenn is Newton Park. This is the 14th game of the season. It is also a Varsity only game with a 5:30 pm start. The bus leaves the school at 4:15, players need to be at the school by 4 pm. The JV will practice from 3:30- 5 pm today at the the practice ground. John Glenn's record is 7-7. We have 3 common opponents; Elkhart Central (Glenn 5-0 L/NW 1-3 L), Argos (Glenn 1-5 L, NW 2-1 W)and Lakewood Park Christian (Glenn 4-6 L, NW 4-0 W). Glenn's #11 (West, a senior) has scored 16 of the 36 total goals for the Falcons.

Ft Wayne Concordia - NorthWood 0-0 (0-0)

Several opportunities are not executed (Brayton 1v1 on GK after slip thru pass from Dennyz, Isaac shot on post, Dennyz hits crossbar) in the first half. The half time adjustment focus is on finishing. In the 61st it seems Brayton is succesful but the Concordia keeper saves the effort from Brayton like a turtle on his back. It stays 0-0. NW plays a good game but is unable to place the ball over the line. A game without real stats, game clock or a decent AR on the bench side. The removal of the fans on the team side of the field is the most exciting occurrence off the field. The Varsity record is 6-4-3, the JV lost (despite a nice goal by Jaron) which puts their record at 4-10. Next up; John Glenn (Varsity only on Monday 9/28). Game information will be posted (note the game start time!) REFEREE GRADE: Center Ref does a nice job, B+.

Additional Sectional information

NorthWood will play Culver Academies on Monday October 5 at 6 pm at Warsaw.

Sectional Draw

Sectional 7: Game 1 Culver Academies - NorthWood, Game 2 Warsaw-Wawasee, Game 3 Plymouth - winner Game 1, Championship winner game 2 - winner game 3. Game 1 Monday October 5, game 2 & 3 Wednesday October 7, Final Saturday October 10.

Gameday #12

The 13th game of the season takes us to Ft Wayne where we will face off against Concordia Lutheran. The Cadets are 6-7-1 and play mainly Fort Wayne teams. Their last 7 record is W-L-W-W-L-W-W (5-2).We do not have any common opponents. The Cadets have scored 28 goals ( 9 by #9 Miller and 6 by #6 Sassmanshausen) and have allowed 28 goals for "0" goal differential. So on average they score 2.00 goals per game and give up 2.00 goals per game. In comparison, NW has scored 22 goals (1.83 per game) and has allowed 19 (1.58 per game). Our goal differential is +3. Concordia has 3 shut outs for the season, NW has 4.

Friday Practice

Both teams will practice at the game field today. Practice will run from 3:30 - 5 pm.

2015 Sectional Draw

The defending NorthWood Panthers are anxiously awaiting the results of this morning's IHSAA sectional draw. This year's Sectional will be played at Warsaw. Competing teams are Warsaw, Plymouth, Wawasee, NorthWood and Culver Academies. The draw starts at 8 am and the results will be posted as soon as they are made available by the IHSAA. Stay tuned and check back often.

Saturday Departure

At this time we think that the players need to be at the school around 8 am Saturday. The bus will leave between 8-8:15 am for the 10 am JV and 11:45 am Varsity matches in Fort Wayne.

Practice venue change

The Thursday 9/24 practice has been moved to the game field. Directly after the conclusion of practice, a team dinner will be served in the cafeteria of the Nappanee Elementary school.

Directions to Kreager Park, Ft. Wayne

Saturday's game versus Ft. Wayne Concordia will be played at Kreager Park on North River Road in Fort Wayne. From checking google maps, take US 6 east to SR 15. Go south on SR 15 to US 30. Go east on US 30 and once in Ft. Wayne turn left or east on W. Coliseum Blvd ( IN 930). Coliseum will curve south. Take a left (or go east) on Lake Ave.. Lake Ave. will turn into North River Road. Take a left into Kreager Park off of North River Road. The length of the trip is just a little less than 70 miles. For GPS/Navigation use "North River Rd, Ft. Wayne". There is no address for the park available.

Memorial - NorthWood 4-0 (1-0)

Varsity record is 6-4-2 (2-3-1 NLC). Next up Fort Wayne Concordia on Saturday September 26 at 11:45 (following JV match which starts at 10 am). The Junior Varsity lost 3-0. Their record is now 4-9.

Gameday #11

Our 12th contest of he year will be played at Elkhart Memorial. We will try to spoil their senior night tonight. Memorial boasts a 9-4 record (5-1 NLC) and is unbeaten in September having won 7 in a row. The Panthers have won 5 of the last 6 so tonight will be an interesting match up. Last year Memorial beat us at home 1-2 so we would like to return the favor tonight. Once again the weather will be gorgeous. 5 pm JV start, 6:45 Varsity kick off. Use 2608 California Rd, Elkhart for your GPS/Navigation. Take the first stop light onto the campus. The fields are in the back of the campus between the football stadium and the baseball/softball diamonds. GO PANTHERS!

Elkhart Christian - NorthWood 0-6 (0-1)

If you will build it, they will come is what the Eagles must have thought. What a majestic and original garden shed/press box combo. The likes of which most or all of us have never seen before. With dual (!!!) speakers and single pane glass, it mesmerizes one to no end. I for one, could not keep my eyes off of it. In all honesty, Elkhart Christian might not have invested much in the press box or the bleachers, the lights are truly magnificent. FIRST HALF- Only three moments in the first half deserve mention. In the 13th, AC passes the ball to the left flank, Juan dribbles and shoots. His low and bouncing shot goes into the right lower of the goal for a 0-1 lead. We need Cody to come up big in the 17th to stop a shot from ECA's #5 Hartman (their 2nd leading scorer). In the 24th, Brayton slices thru the middle of the field and ends up eye to eye (1v1) with the ECA keeper but his effort goes at the Eagles keep. HALF TIME- Emphasis at the Tea is the same as it was before the game; high pressure, good physical presence and good organization. All of this was lacking in the first half. SECOND HALF- We play much better this half. We combine a bit easier and actually string some passes together. We still look a bit rusty. Coach Duerksen mentioned to the two (?) center refs that ECA #15 commits fouls after the ball has been played. In the first half an AC foul after #15 did nothing but camp on his backside and tackle cleats up, but it is AC who is the recipient of a yellow caution. It does not take the Panthers long to capitalize on the poor ECA defensive skills in the second half. David earns an assist by passing a nice ball to Isaac who, inside the box, cuts to his left and places the ball with his left boot in the upper left 90, 0-2 (51"). When Juan passes to Brayton in the 54th, Brayton remembers what Duerksen said at the half ("#15 is always on the ground, go over him"). Brayton waits for #15 to go down and passes him and with the outside of his foot, puts the ball on the inside of the right post, 0-3. This effectively deflates the Eagles for the night. Six minutes later, Brayton goes over #15 again and delivers the ball to Tony who puts the ball over the line, 0-4. Another scrum ensues in the 62nd when Tony twists and turns in the box and a rebound lands in front of Eli. He calmly places the ball in the ropes, 0-5. The entire bench sees action tonight, including Micah who gets time as a midfielder near the end of the game. With two minutes left to play, Josh gets his first Varsity assist. His pass finds David's feet. David makes no mistake and finds the net for the final 0-6 score. A poor performance in the first is followed by a good performance in the second half. The Varsity's record improves to 6-3-2. NOTES- Tonight we travel to Elkhart once again. We go a little further up 19 and visit Memorial (5 JV/6:45 Varsity start). We think that it is Memorial's senior night. The JV struggled last night and lost to Penn 1-3. Kaden had a beautiful goal (nice cut and turn and a great strike to place it in the side net). The JV's record falls to 4-8. REFEREES GRADE- I have to cut the m a little slack since they had to do it with just two of them. The first half was not very consistent on their part. In all they issued two cards; one yellow for each team. I think their performance warrants a B.Seen better , seen worse. Speaking of yellow cards......... Coach Douwsma has the dubious honor of being a co-leader in yellow cards with Dennyz. They both have three in their collection. Where Dennyz is just a hard nosed player who is expected to pick up a card or two (or three), Coach Douwsma gets his cards in the strangest fashion. Last night it was for not staying in the technical area. The others were for equipment issues (jewelry & two same numbers on jerseys on the field). It makes you wonder what he will do next to try and add another yellow to his already very extensive 2015 collection. For the record, here is the Yellow Card leaderboard in the coaches division: Douwsma - 3, Duerksen - 1, Dijkstra- 0 (!!).

Gameday # 10

Tonight we play our 11th game of the season. Six games are left on our regular season schedule. These six games will be played over the next 11 days. The last game of the regular season is next Thursday (Oct. 1). Toning we travel about 14 miles north to Elkhart Christian Academy. The only common opponent (to our knowledge) is Argos. Elkhart Christian tied Argos 5-5 (!) on August 25th. The game tonight is a Varsity contest only and kicks off at 7 pm. The JV plays Penn at home tonight and starts at 5 pm. Directions to ECA, for your GPS: 25943 County Road 22. The school is located at the corner of County Road 9 and County Road 22. ECA has by far the best lights we will play under all season long and by far the worst stands. Hope to see everyone there, it will be a beautiful night once again. GO PANTHERS!

Maxpreps.com

The reporting site maxpreps.com updated their rankings this morning. They rank Goshen as #1 in Indiana (and 3rd nationally). NorthWood moved from 96th to 53rd since last Friday after three wins and a loss that does not make you slide in the rankings (nationally we went from 1022 to 687).

Important Game Time information

Monday 9/21, the JV plays at home against Penn at 5 PM. The Varsity travels to Elkhart Christian Academy; start of that game is 7 PM. The Varsity's record is 5-3-2, JV's record going into the tournament tomorrow is 4-5.

Thank You Norm!

A big Thank You to our Athletic Director Norm Sellers for getting the sign and having it put up on the bleachers! We wouldn't mind adding a Sectional Title to that this season!

NorthWood- # 6 Goshen 0-2 (0-2)

Sixth ranked (and defending State Champion)Goshen scored goals in the 25th and 35th minute of play to defeat the Panthers 0-2 in a NLC clash at NW last night. Both Goshen goals came on identical defensive miscues. After intermission, the Panthers did not relinquish any more goals and created some minor opportunities in the last 10 minutes of the game. NW had spells of good combination play throughout the game. A play in the Goshen box by AC got Goshen a free kick and a yellow caution in the second half. A little more physical play by NorthWood in the second half produced less chances for Goshen even though Cody had to come up big on several occassions. The loss, that surely does not feel like a setback, puts the NW record at 5-3-2 (2-2-1 NLC). Our defense played well all night. Conner played error free and received the honorary captain's armband for the next game. Next up for the Varsity is the match up with and at Elkhart Christian on Monday. Next week features a Monday/Tuesday/Saturday game lineup.The next four games will be on the road. We return home against Plymouth for senior night before we round out the regular season on the road at Bethany Christian. Today's practice will be at the High School. It will be short and light. The JV lost to Goshen 1-2 with the NW goal scored by Kaden Gongwer. The JV plays in the NLC Tournament at Goshen tomorrow. The first game is at 10:30 versus Memorial. The second game will be at 1:30 and the opponent depends on the result of the first two games in the bracket. REFEREE GRADE- The center ref did an excellent job. He gave advantage when he should have, had a good feel for the game and in my mind made very few errors. GRADE: A. Coaches Grade- The Goshen coach managed to annoy our bench all night long with his "uuuhhhs", "grrrrrs" and "aaahhhhss"; Grade: F.

Gameday # 9 (10th game of the season)

Goshen will be our toughest opponent in 2015. The team is the current State Champion and ranked 6th in the IHSAA poll, # 3 in Indiana by Maxpreps and # 11 nationally by Maxpreps. Goshen is 7-0-1 (3-0-1 in NLC). Goshen had an easy time with Bethany Christian Tuesday night, beating them handily 8-0 (6 goals in the second half). A win by the Panthers tonight would tie us in conference with the State Champions. The weather will be perfect tonight so hopefully a large crowd will pack the stands. NW has no injuries although some of the guys have some knocks from the Warsaw clash. AC is not a hundred percent yet conditioning wise but is getting better each day.

Rankings

Soccer is a 2 class sport. The largest 150 or so schools are in 2A, the smallest 150 or so are in 1A. NorthWood is a 2A team. So far we have played four ranked opponents. We have defeated two 1A schools and our two losses were at the hand of two 2A ranked teams. In 2A, Goshen is currently 6th, Central 16th (L) and Concord 20th (L). In 1A Argos (W) dropped to 11th (from 10) and Lakewood Park Christian (W) went up to 16 (from 18 and even after being defeated by us).

Warsaw-NorthWood 1-3 (0-0)

FIRST HALF- Not a lot of energy seems to be hanging over the Warsaw pitch tonight despite the fact that it is their Senior Night (seems early) and music is played right up to the kick off. That same low energy seeps onto the field as both teams seem somewhat lethargic. The Panthers take the first shot of the game in the 3rd (Brayton). The shot misses its target. The best opportunity presents itself when a thru pass gets to Isaac who seems to be going 1V1 on the sophomore Warsaw keeper but before he can, a Tiger defender fouls Isaac. The first corner of the game goes to Warsaw in the 21st. A nice cross from Eli in the 23rd finds its way to Brayton who attempts to volley the ball. The shot misses the target. Jaron gets a chance in the 30th, seems to break through but gets taken down. The Warsaw defender only sees yellow and can consider himself a luck young fellow. A foul by David on our end results in a yellow card for him (his verbal communications was apparently not appreciated by the official). HALF TIME- The adjustment speech is fairly simple. Besides some technical and tactical adjustments it is obvious that we just concluded an awful played first half. It is only that we play a team that has matched that effort why we are still in the game. If our work rate improves -by a lot-, we should come off the field winners. SECOND HALF- It doesn't take long before we see some action with pace and effort. In the 41st, Cody punts a ball up the field. Brayton slips the ball to Isaac. Isaac goes to the upper right side of the box and delivers one of his signature laser shots. The tremendous shot finds the upper 90 and hits the inside of the post and the net, 0-1! Only 4 minutes later do we survive a scary moment in our 6. A Warsaw corner rumbles and fumbles thru the box. A Tiger foot hits the ball and it seems to be headed for the ropes but might Pipp saves the day and heads the ball off the goal line and back in the box where it is cleared. In the 50th the center referee decides he has finally heard enough of the complaining form the Warsaw Head Coach and rewards the whining with a yellow caution. In the 53rd, a Warsaw attack in the box does not get properly defended by Juan. Instead of going to the outside, he cuts back in, somewhat trips up and has the ball taken away about 7 yards from Cody. The Warsaw forward does not hesitate and fires the ball into the net. Cody does not have a chance, 1-1. But only three minutes pass until David's free kick targets Brayton who with a touch gets by a defender and the keeper. Brayton then patiently and with a lot of composure slots the ball in the goal for a 1-2 lead. The pace of the game is high and it gets a little choppy. In the 56th, Brayton gets a yellow for a slide tackle where he goes in with his cleats up and gets most of the Warsaw defender. Warsaw's #22, Brandon Reinholt is a big kid who plays the part of an intimidator. All he does is throw his weight (and he has a lot of that) around and tries to get into our defenders heads. Mostly Dylan, but he survives the night without reacting to it (for the most part). The hat ref on the bleacher side does a decent game although it seems that he does screw up when he calls AC for a foul (with his hands) in the 72" despite the fact that the Tiger defender was basically camping on AC's back. In the 75th, Dennyz swings the ball around to Juan. Juan dribbles and shoots and scores. His shots have been really good as of late in practice and it is nice to see that continue in a game as well. It makes up for his mistake. His effort after his defensive miscue and scoring a goal, earn him the Honorary Captain's armband against Goshen tomorrow night. The final score 1-3, is our first against Warsaw in many years and we think only the 3rd in program history. The Varsity record is 5-2-2 (2-1-1 NLC). The JV lost 1-0on u dubious call (PK). REFEREE GRADE: Despite the clearance sale of yellows, the referee did a decent job overall. As chippy as it the game was at times, he was able to keep it under control. GRADE: B. NOTES- Varsity practice will be light and short and will be at 3:30 at the game field. It should be over by 4:30. The JV will practice at the High School. The next game is tomorrow night at home. We are hoping for a big crowd. We will need it. The JV game starts at 5 pm. The Varsity at 7. The Varsity will play the current State Champions Goshen. Goshen is ranked 5th at this time and are undefeated.

Gameday # 8

The Panthers travel to Warsaw to face the 2-8 (0-3) Tigers. NorthWood is on a 3 game winning streak while the Tigers have lost their last three games. Warsaw is however a strong team and despite the losses has shown some improvement as of late. Their last three losses were against strong opponents (Memorial 3-1, Northridge 2-1 and Homestead 2-0). Warsaw plays a tough schedule each season. Their conference losses have come against Concord (5-1), Plymouth (2-0) and as mentioned before Memorial and Northridge. So far this season we have faced two common opponents with similar results; Concord (5-1 L Warsaw, 6-0 L NW) and Northridge (2-1 L Warsaw, 1-1 D NW). Warsaw's wins came against Grand Ledge and Fort Wayne Blackhawk. NW has a 4-2-2 record thus far (1-1-1 in NLC, 5th place). Warsaw is in 7th place in NLC currently. With a win, the Panthers could move up a spot in conference. The bus leaves from behind the Pit at 3:45 pm, players should be there no later then 3:30. The JV game starts at 5 pm, Varsity follows on the main field at 6:45 pm. Plunk in 1 Tiger Lane, Warsaw in your GPS. 1 Tiger Lane is the address for the High School and campus of Warsaw Community Schools and is located on State Road 15 on the south side of Warsaw. It is gonna be a beautiful night for soccer tonight so we are hoping for another large fan contingent to support us! It is Senior Night for the Warsaw Varsity so we need as many fans as possible.

First time...................

This past weekend, NorthWood played two ranked opponents on the same day. That is a first. It is also a first of course that we ever beat two ranked opponents in a season (let alone in a span of 7 hours). So far...... We will have another shot at a ranked team on Thursday when we face Goshen. But first things first; tomorrow we travel to Warsaw to play the Tigers, 5 pm JV start and a 6:45 pm Varsity kick off. GO PANTHERS!

Images of a Championship September Day in Argos

Game reports below.

NorthWood Panthers win 2015 Argos Invitational

2015 ARGOS INVITATIONAL CHAMPIONS. Game reports:see below.

NorthWood Wins 2015 Argos Invitational by beating Lakewood Park 4-0 (2-0) & Argos 2-1 (1-0)

NORTHWOOD-LAKEWOOD PARK-The true story of the day is the great work rate by an entire (!) team for two consecutive games on one day. So far this season we more often then not, look like the more skilled, the faster and the more physical team. Great assets for success, potentially! Today's first match up is with Lakewood Park. The wind is a factor. We start with the knowledge that winning the game will place us in the Final against Argos who earlier had beaten Glenn (5-1). Cody has to save a free kick in the 4th from Lakewood Park's Grenke (third leading scorer in the state with 21 goals). Two minutes later Eli's shot explodes off the LP crossbar. In the 15th we welcome AC back on the pitch. In the 19th, Dennyz's header turns into an assist as AC shoots the ball to the right of the frame for a 1-0 lead. The officiating is, as it usually is at the Argos Tournament, plain atrocious. In the 30th, Isaac crosses the ball from the right into the box, Brayton crushes it into the net from close range, 2-0. In minute 44, Brayton slips the ball to Derek who will not be denied a spot on the scoresheet, 3-0. Cody needs to tip the ball over on a long distance shot to keep the clean sheet intact. Mario makes a name for himself in the 78th by making the arguably best unintended goal of the tournament. His cross shot from right outside of the box and in front of the home stand, goes in the far upper 90!!!! Final score 4-0. It secures the spot in the 8 pm Final. Third place goes to Lakewood Park after they defeat John Glenn 6-4, an entertaining shoot out with lots of offense and very if any, defense. NORTHWOOD-ARGOS- The first ten minutes of the game are by far the best and most energetic of the 2015 campaign, thus far. We overwhelm Argos and dominate play on their half without the Dragons touching the ball hardly at all. In the 2nd, Brayton crosses the ball near the woodwork, AC creates the first dangerous moment with a good shot. In the 11th, an Argos corner and subsequent shot requires the Panther keeper to make an incredulous save to keep us in the game. In the 34th, Brayton distributes a ball to his right to Isaac. With a great clothesline shot, Isaac puts the ball in the Argos ropes for the 1-0 lead. This is also the HT score. The second half's script can only be played out in this tournament. The referees work harder at scoring for Argos then Argos does. The first action of the second half is an attempt by the center ref to enter the scoresheet with an assist. He awards the Dragons a penalty kick for what? No one knows. Immune to protests (his soccer IQ seems to start equaling the number of hairs on his head), he points at the dot. Argos' PK is a good one but Cody's save is even better. He stops it and play continues until AR2 raises his flag in another attempt to give Argos a goal. He is of the opinion that Cody came off his line BEFORE the kick was taken. You rarely see this called unless it is so obvious and the keeper comes so far off the line that you have no choice but to consider it cheating but that surely is not the case here. But karma comes into play for the second time in seconds as the second PK bounces off the left post. The score remains 1-0 NorthWood, despite "heroic" efforts by the officiating crew to help the home team. At least three obvious throw ins get awarded to Argos despite the fact that the Dragons kick the balls out. In the 45th, Brayton slices thru some Argos defenders and serves the ball into AC's feet. AC goes at goal and pushes the ball in the right corner to defeat the beefy Argos last man. 2-0! In the 54th, Argos #14 fakes out David 4 times before he turns the trick on himself and fakes himself out so the Panthers can take the ball up field. Juan shows the crowd what he has shown the team on the training grounds for weeks now, a great hard shot. This one nearly misses. It becomes obvious that the Panthers are not going to get many calls from this clearly incompetent officials trio. In the 58th, Jaron turns in the box and takes a laser shot. Through out the tournament, the coaches have a hard time determining who should come off the field for the subs. Everyone is playing hard and playing well. We show enormous speed, skill determination in both games. Once subs come in, the level of play stays the same. Having a deep bench is an advantage we have not had in years. In the 75th, Argos scores a goal, 2-1. This fact, the game being close, where it had only seemed moments earlier that it was out of reach for Argos, combined with the fact that Argos now is playing with 14 players, makes for an interesting last few minutes (plus some!). When a ball goes over the line and an argument ensues over whose throw it is, there are only 40 plus seconds left on the clock. By the time the argument is settled (?), 20 ticks are left. The Argos head coach screams at the center that too much time went off the clock during the argument and that time should be added (WHAT????). The fact that the ref screwed up (surprise!) by not stopping the clock, is now made up by this bald wonder on two legs, by stopping the clock and having the timekeeper add 10 seconds. It now shows "30" seconds left in the game. The game restarts, but the clock does not. Despite the coaches and players screaming at the best official Argos has ever seen, the game does not get stopped until about 25 seconds later when the ball goes over the end line. When the center communicates with the time keeper, who obviously is in on this debacle, the clock does not start to tick down but instead goes......out!!!! We keep playing and the center ref says he "has the time". Oh I bet you do; are we gonna add an additional 12 minutes or what???? After what seems an eternity, the ref has no choice but to call the game. A great effort by the Panthers gets rewarded by another win and a tourney trophy. Congratulations to the NorthWood soccer team for winning its second overall Argos Invitational. A great effort all day by all players gets a great result. Argos was undefeated going into the final, Lakewood Park's Gerke was held scoreless. David shut both Argos and LPC threats down all day long. Our tough defense has only given up 2 goals in the last 4 games. In those 4 games we tied the first and won the last three. A nice streak that we want to continue Tuesday when we travel to Warsaw. It is time for a little pay back after that team kicked David out of our squad for the season last year. Derek was the recipient of the honorary captain's armband in the Argos game for his hard work in the LPC game. Cody received the same honor for his effort in the Argos game.

Argos Invitational Preview and Directions

The Argos Invitational at Argos High School features four teams; Argos, John Glenn, Lakewood Park Christian and NorthWood. Argos plays Glenn at 1 pm, we play Lakewood Park Christian at 3 pm. The losers play at 6 pm, the winners face each other at 8 pm. The GPS address for the location is 500 Yearick Street, Argos IN 46501. Directions: Take US 6 west to US 31. Go south on US 31 to State Road 10. Go left or east on SR 10. Once in Argos, go left or north on Yearick Street. The team will have a team brunch hosted by the Bowser's at 10:30 am. After the brunch we will go to Coach Duerksen's basement to watch some BPL soccer and leave around 1 from the AC for the tournament. A report of last night's game vs. Wawasee is listed below. Tournament preview: Lakewood Park Christian is 3-4-1 so far. The player to watch is #3 Gerke who has scored 21 goals so far this season.

NorthWood - Wawasee 1-0 (1-0)

The JV sets the tone after the very well coached team scores often to beat the Warriors 5-2 with goals from Jaron (2), Kaden (2) and Landon (1). The seats behind the south goal remain empty tonight despite the nice weather. For the first time in NW history, only two referees officiate the Varsity game after the scheduled center ref calls off due to "car trouble". In general, these two refs do a good job despite the fact that off side is tougher to call and in general they are a little further from the action than is desirable. The Wawasee keep might think he looks pretty in pink, it is indisputable that our goalie looks much better in the black and red stripes. FIRST HALF- The first ten minutes sees two teams trying to feel each other out. Neither is able to establish a definite advantage over the other. In the 14th, NW finally strings a few passes together and a Dennyz-Eli combo has Eli taking the last touch for a shot that requires the pink warrior to make a save. Only a minute later, Dennys again distributes the ball, this time to Isaac who circumvents the Wawasee keeper and with composure slots the ball against the ropes, 1-0! From the 14th thru the 40th minute of play, the Panthers control the game. We have more of the possession and create a variety of chances. In the 18th, Derek (Dirrrrkk!) slices thru the Wawasee back line like a hot knife thru butter. In the next possession, Brayton nutmegs a defender to Derek who returns the ball. Brayton's shot is stopped by the Warrior's last defender. In the 20th a strange sequence of events takes place. After a scramble in the box, a ball that ends up in the Wawasee keeper's hands, is determined to be an intentional back pass (beg to differ!). If anyone on that defense passed a ball back on purpose in the midst of that mess then I am giving none of those defenders enough credit for their skill. Either way, the call stands and an indirect kick is awarded. The free kick is taken but disallowed because (I think), the GK came out and off the line too quick (encroachment maybe?). He is awarded for his action with a yellow caution and has to come off. The back up/JV keep comes on and all 11 players in green are on the goal line or near it. Eli touches the ball and Isaac places the ball in beautiful fashion in the right upper 90!! It seems like the goal is awarded but after an on field conference between the men in blue, it is decided that the ball did not move after Eli touched it (huh?) and because Isaac struck the ball after that, it is therefore not considered a indirect kick. So the "direct" kick taken by Isaac is now a disallowed goal and Wawasee gets to take a free kick from the spot of the offense. I guess you can argue all kinds of points. Not the least the point that once a goal is awarded it should not be taken away. Either way, the pass back in my eyes was not intentional and we probably didn't even deserve the oddly awarded free kick. In the 23rd, Brayton gets another opportunity in the box but this shot is saved as well. HALF TIME- Our shape has been pretty good in the first half. The team is told that if we work hard, good things will happen and if we keep working like we did in the first half, we should come away with a victory. We do need to take care of the ball by either possessing it or by pressuring the ball on their half if possible. SECOND HALF- In the 48th minute, Isaac tries to get a long bal over the keeper. The shot goes over but the awareness from Isaac is good and the rest of the half, the GK stays closer to his line. Partly due, by the way, because the Panthers do as they were asked at the half; they pressure high. Rarely is the NW defense in trouble. Wawasee tries to counter attack but gets pinned on their own half most of the half. NW has most of the possession and threatens occassionaly. In the 60th, Eli crosses from the right side. The pass travels with pace to Juan who shoots. His effort goes over. Our defense plays strong when it needs to. The Miller/Eshelman combo in the middle play like experienced defenders. Dennyz disturbs and breaks up numerous Wawasee attempts at bringing the ball up. Dylan keeps his play simple and does well in the second half. Matt moves across the field like a hovercraft and creates a lot of disarray in the midfield. Derek slaloms thru the Wawasee midfield and defense all night long. Eli has the best (first) half of the season. Juan has a couple of chances and plays well on the left side. Isaac is named captain for the next game for his work rate. Jaron and Tony do a nice job coming off the bench. Tony has a couple of shots from near the box and Jaron creates some panic with his speed. Cody gets his second shut out of the season and the Panthers their first home NLC win in over two years! NorthWood is 2-2-2 going into the Argos Invitational. NOTES- There is no JV practice today. The JV does not have a game tomorrow, the Varsity has two and with Seth gone for the week, JV practice will resume Monday. The Varsity practice is at the game field and will be light and short (done by 4:30 pm).

Gameday # 6

The Panthers host the Wawasee Warriors tonight. The JV game will start at 5 pm, the Varsity contest kicks off around 6:45 pm. NorthWood has not won a conference game at home in the last two years but hopes to halt that losing streak tonight by beating Wawasee. The Warriors have one (1) win so far this season (vs. Hamilton, 5-0), 5 losses and one (1) draw. They have scored 7 times and the defense has given up 19 (8 in one match versus Concord). They are 0-1 in Conference. The Panthers are 1-2-2 with 8 goals scored and 11 goals allowed. NW is 0-1-1 in Conference and is looking to go back to .500 in NLC.

Revised Referee grade

After reviewing the game tape, it is obvious that A) Brayton gets fouled in the box and B) the referee is looking right at the play/foul and then even glances at the AR to see if he sees the foul. Therefore the referee's grade will be revised to a definite F.

NorthWood - LaPorte 1-1 (1-0)

With looming storms on the horizon, no one worries about the possibilities of rain but more about lightning and strong storms. But despite the radar promising inclement weather, strong winds seem to break up the bad weather and we never get close to having to make decisions about halting or postponing the Varsity match. FIRST HALF- The Panthers have prepared for this match up all week. Organisation, communication and high energy are thought to be key in this very first NW-LaPorte series. The Slicers roll into Nappanee knowing they have just defeated #15 Crown Point only three days earlier. Their number 20 actually informs David that he made the winning PK in that matchup. David does not seem impressed nor interested and actually makes sure he keeps #20 in check all afternoon. We start the game after the national anthem goes off without a hitch. The Panthers have been playing musical dug outs all year and because the Slicers arrive at the field earlier than the JV, we end up in the south dug out. Duerksen states that if we get a result, he will let superstition take over and remain at the south bench until we lose. The first few minutes both teams are feeling each other out and no real threats present themselves near either goal. In the 7th, Matt takes the ball up the field and sharply passes the ball to Juan on the left side outside the Slicer box. Juan does what he has been doing all week; he rips a hard shot that requires the tall LaPorte goalie to tip the ball. The ball goes over the crossbar for the first NW corner. The next 20 minutes are uneventful. Brayton takes a couple of good shots at the LaPorte goal in the 28th and 30th minute. In the 36th thru 37th minute, we experience probably the two most exciting minutes in this game. A LaPorte attack in the box seems to go in for a goal but Cody makes an unbelievable save followed by a goal line saving header by Pipp to keep the score at 0-0. These defensive actions are the start of a NW attack. The ball from the back lands by Isaac's right foot. With a savvy outside chip over the last defender to Brayton we are now in our most dangerous attack since Juan's shot. Brayton goes into the box and pushes the ball to his right with composure past the keeper and into the ropes, 1-0! This score is also the score at the half. HALF TIME- A few individual issues are discussed but overall the performance was good, the energy level was where it needed to be and organisation and shape were good for the most part. David, Connor and Matt had a good half, Dylan struggled a little in his matchup (but would improve much in the 2nd half). Coach Duerksen stresses that we have only played 40 minutes and need to show the same energy in the second half. SECOND HALF- Our midfielders continue the workrate they showed in half #1. Juan, Derek, Brayton, Isaac, Tony, Eli and Jaron all work hard to keep the lines connected Johan Cruijff style. Dennyz continues his defensive destruction of the LP attacks as well as his offensive distribution. Pipp runs in his shoes the way most speedskaters push off in their skates. This running style has consequence in the 45". He simply separates the top from the bottom half of his bright orange Nike soccer cleat. Dijkstra's soccer shoe repair kit comes in handy. Almost an entire roll of medical tape fixes the issue (it would have been a complete roll but Duerksen's "I think that will do, that should be plenty" stops the repair right then and there). In the 50th minute, LaPorte starts to threaten more and more. One offensive action has Cody save the ball after it hits the post! NW loses some of the possession and control in the game. Another unbelievable stop by Cody is necessary but the ball does not leave the box. LaPorte #42 regains possession of the ball and goes to the left side of the box. Pipp is behind him and is called for a foul in the box. The ref points at the dot at the 12. LaPorte's #42 finishes the penalty decisively, 1-1. Eli is so focused on re-entering the game in the 70th that he is not aware that he has the sticky note with the pre-game instruction on the rear of his shorts. In the 73rd, NW crosses the ball into the LP box. As Brayton tries to go up for the header, he gets shoved in the back and goes down, expecting a whistle and PK. Despite protests from the bench, the best the ref can come up with is that he did not see the foul. My question is; where were you looking if you did not follow the ball into the box. And he does not ask the AR for advice. So despite a decently officiated game, he ends up making the difference in the game by awarding a PK to LaPorte and denying the Panthers a PK. Unfortunate but let us hope that things even out in the end. The result itself is a good one. It is obvious that the Panthers have made progress since the Concord game. The players will get two full days to rest and recuperate from the hard work. NOTES- The Varsity has a busy week coming up. Thursday we will host the Wawasee Warriors for our next NLC match up. Next Saturday we will play in the Argos Invitational (2 games). Varsity record :1-2-2, the JV won 4-2 over LaPorte with goals from Landon (2), Jaron and Kyle. LaPorte scored their second goal on 3rd keeper Nick Bean after Micah got hurt. REFEREE GRADE: D+, he would have received a high mark but not calling a foul that could have changed the outcome of the game makes this a poor officiating performance. No players received any kind of cards. The same can not be said about coach Douwsma. For the second consecutive game, the referee makes Seth the recipient of a yellow card for equipment issues. This time for having two #11's on the field at the same time. Douwsma is unable to go for a third yellow for equipment issues in a row since he will be out of town for the Wawasee matches and the tournament Saturday.

Gameday #5

LaPorte travels to NorthWood with a 5-1-1 record. The game tomorrow (Saturday) has different starting times due to fact that LaPorte is in a different time zone. The JV kicks off at 11 am, the Varsity at 12:45 pm.

Blackflippin' 4-1 win for JV

NorthWood JV - Westview 4-1 (1-0), goals from Landon, Jaron, Brock H. and Matt. JV record 2-3-0.

Team Dinner

Thanks to all parents who helped with the team dinner Saturday!!!

JV Gameday #4

The Junior Varsity faces Westview this afternoon at home at 5 pm. Hoping to get their first actual win on the field this season, the team will have all swing players available for both halves. The Varsity will practice at the practice ground from 3:30 until about 5 pm. The JV's official record is 1-3-0.