Lakewood-NorthWood 1-0 (0-0) Glenn-NorthWood 0-4 (0-2)

The Panthers of Lakewood Park Christian defeat the Panthers of NorthWood with a 66th minute PK in the 3 pm game. The final 1-0 score sends Lakewood into the 8 pm final versus Argos, who earlier had defeated Glenn. The 6 pm consolation game therefore features John Glenn and NorthWood. It takes a little adjustment, not being in the final. This is the Panther's 5th trip to the Argos Invite but the first time we have not made it to the Championship game. Before the first game, the lineup was changed in a more attacking one but after losing 1-0, the decision was made to go even more offensive in the consolation game. A 4-3-3 was put in place in hopes of generating more shots and goals. Prior to the matchup with Glenn, the team is asked to walk out so the starters can be announced. As nice as it is to give the starters some recognition, it would have been even nicer if the announcer would have actually have announced the correct starters. As it turns out, it would not be the only screw up of the night. The one consistent in this tournament thru the years is the officiating. It has been awful. Not that all officials have been below par but every trio seems to have one member who has no business being on a soccer pitch. So tonight, once again, is no exception. The game itself is fairly entertaining. All NW players get playing time, as expected and all contribute. The effort is good and we generate a good amount of offense. Indicative of that is a nice pass from Lucas Aukerman to Jaron Mullett thru the middle near the top of the box in the 29th minute. Jaron gets a nice first touch to go by the last defender and his trademark laser hits the ropes for the first NW lead of the day. In the 37th, Eli Aukerman dribbles around a Glenn defender and makes it to the end line. His perfect pull back pass/cross lands in front of Micah Pippinger who decidedly puts the ball over the line for the 2-0 lead. The officiating crew decides to show their incompetence in the 39th. When Kegan Shiflett (Glenn's #21; their only good player) gets hit by the ball that is cleared by Josh Weldy, the two get tangled up. Shiflett fouls Josh before they get tangled up and that foul earns a red card from the center ref. Now keep in mind that this takes place on the southeast end of the field. Glenn's #21 walks off the field and all of a sudden the AR on the southwest side of the pitch consults with the center ref and that conversation apparently results in a red (what????) card for Josh Weldy. He gets accused of stepping or stumping on Shiflett after the foul. With the crowned pitch and the distance from the AR to where the foul takes place and considering that the center ref is closer to the infringement, it is odd that the AR says he witnessed such a flagrant foul that it constitutes a red card. In other words, this high pitched moron has no business making this call considering his proximity to the area where the "foul" takes place. He then berates coach Duerksen about his smile or grin on his face when he questions the AR on his call. Believe me, coach Duerksen does not smile or grin when one of our players receives a red, ever. So if you can't determine if someone is smiling or not ,you probably can't determine a foul from a non foul. The Panthers stay on task in the second half and there is more room to play since it has turned into a 10v10 contest.Juan Pantoja scores in the 53rd (Landon Parker assist, 3-0) and in the 74th we are able to increase the score to 4-0 with Jerson shot on frame that rebounds and has Jason McPherson touch the ball towards the frame where Matt Thornton finishes it off with his first and the team's 4th and final goal of the day. So the final tally for the day is one win, one loss, one red card and two yellow cards (Eli and Matt) and Juan got a yellow card that was taken away again (talk about some awful officiating). The Varsity's record is now 3-4. Next up is an away game Monday at LaPorte. The bus leaves at 3:45.