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.