NorthWood moves up in Indiana Soccer Coaches Association Poll

Today's ranking have the Panthers in spot #10, its highest ranking ever! The ranking comes after NW defeated Memorial 1-5 last week. A tough schedule is ahead for this week with Glenn (8-5-1), Plymouth and 1A #4 Bethany Christian (9-5) on the menu.

Game Day 14

Today we travel to Glenn to play the Falcons.The squad from Walkerton is 8-5-1 on the season. The bus will leave at 4 pm and kick off for the Varsity only contest is slated for 5:30 pm. It will be sunny and 84 so come out and enjoy one of the last summer like days on the sidelines.

Sectional Draw

NorthWood draws West Noble in the very first game of the NorthWood Sectional. This game will be played at either 5 or 5:30 on Monday October 7th. The winner will play the winner of Lakeland-Angola (Game 2). Wawasee and Garrett face off for a spot in the championship. I will post dates and times as soon as they become available.

Training Update

JV practice for today (Friday 9/27) for the JV has been canceled due to the weather. Varsity will still meet in Duerksen's room

Friday update

Today's practice is on grass (at the HS). The Varsity will meet in Coach Duerksen's room to look at the Memorial video clips and do a quick tactical session. Varsity will finish on the practice field and be done by 5 pm. JV will be on the field from 3:30-5. The MaxPreps rankings came out this morning; after our win over Memorial, we moved up to #4 in 2A and 23rd overall in the State (combined 3 classes) and #300 in the country with a 4.1 strength of schedule. Next up is Glenn on Monday September 30th. Glenn is 8-5-1 on the season and comes off a loss to SB St. Joe (3-2). This is a Varsity only game day. Game starts at 5:30 pm, the bus will leave at 4 pm.

Memorial-NorthWood pics - the walk out and Aiden has trouble loading equipment

Elkhart Memorial- NorthWood 1-5 (1-0)

FIRST HALF -A slow start turns into a lackluster performance in the first half. Even though our first chance, in the 8th, should've come from the PK spot when Sebastian Guillen gets clearly fouled in the box. But referees seem to think that a foul in the box needs judges different then the ones outside of it. Andrew Graber is the outstanding athlete in half number one when he makes a few crucial saves and Andre DeFreitas sees a 30th minute free kick just clear the cross bar. The only other soccer fact mentioning is a combination on the right side where Andre's shot on the frame gets stopped by the Memorial GK. Memorial scores on a long distance shot that goes over Graber and into the goal in the 33'. HALF TIME- Coach Duerksen addresses the team by telling them that he has watched a lethargic and uninspired team. This is a big game for us because a win guarantees NW a winning record in NLC. It is obviously a great opportunity. He stresses the fact that when we play hard and work hard, we are a great team but when we do not, we are not that good. We need to get back to basics which means we need to pass and combine despite the bumpy field which besides the bumps, also sticks out by it being covered in geese crap. SECOND HALF- Complacency makes room for an energetic looking crew right from the second half whistle. The 11 on the field do not resemble themselves compared to the first 40 minutes. Three minutes in, NW combines quick and the crisp pass from the left flank gets to Andre in the center. Andre pushes the ball to Trent Edwards on the right side of the box. Trent takes a touch and from inside the right side of the box crushes the ball past the keeper and into the ropes in the left upper for a "BANGER" and draws us even with the Chargers! 1-1. I don't usually use the term "banger" and everyone knows that our players do even when it sometimes really isn't one but, my goodness, tonight must be the night for bangers! In the 56th, Sebastian's corner from the right (by the way there is no semi circle by the corner flag so I guess the ball can be placed anywhere ?!?!). The corner comes in near the 6 and Jerson Sanchez volleys the ball with his instep for banger number 2! 1-2 NW. Two minutes later, Andre tries his luck at a volley in the box but his effort gets blocked. Jerson picks a Memorial defender's pocket at the top of the 18 circle, takes the ball in the box and crushes the ball in the back of the net in minute 59. 1-3 NorthWood. The Panthers go from being behind at the half to scoring three goals in a span of 16 minutes and being up by 2 goals. We have been able to score all year (we have scored in 10 of 11 games) but the passing and moving off the ball is about as good tonight as it has been all year. The first half is one of our worst halves of the season but the second half is one of the best we played so far. It is great to see us being able to play this way against an NLC opponent. Sebastian sends a solid assist to Andre in the 66th who puts the ball behind the Memorial stopper and puts the Panthers ahead 1-4. Every field player on the bench gets significant time on the pitch. The Memorial JV coach's screaming finally fades away when she realizes that none of her Jimmy V type of encouragements ("don't give up, don't ever give up!") are effective. A foul in the Charger box in the 69th gets called which gives Jerson the opportunity to get a hat trick on the night. He makes no mistake and the final is 1-5. A great second half performance turns into a great win. The Varsity is 11-2 on the season and 4-2 in NLC. The JV reverses its result from Saturday as they beat Memorial on a Joel header (after a rib "shot" on the post finally finds Joel's forehead). The jV moves to 5-4-2 on the season. NEXT UP- The Varsity travels to Glenn Monday for a 5:30 pm start. Reports are that the field in Walkerton is much improved. Glenn has no JV so their next game will be Tuesday vs. Plymouth (late start : 5:30 pm due to Plymouth busing problems). That night will also be Senior Night at NorthWood. Because of the busing problem and Senior Night activities, we expect about a 7 - 7:15 Varsity kick off Tuesday.

Panthers move up in ISCA rankings

The 9/23/19 Indiana Soccer Coaches Association poll has the Panthers in 12th, one spot up from last week. This is the highest ranking for NW Soccer in the history of the program. Maxpreps has the Panthers ranked at number 6 this week.

Game Day #13

Today we travel to Elkhart to play Elkhart Memorial for the last time. Elkhart Memorial and Elkhart Central will merge into one school and next year the athletic teams will no longer be separate. Since Elkhart High School will play in the NIC conference, they will no longer be on our schedule. Tonight's games are 5 pm (JV) and 6:45 -approximately- for Varsity. Memorial will have Senior Night tonight. The Panthers are 10-2 (3-2 NLC) while Memorial is 5-5-2 (1-2-2 NLC). Memorial has been playing well as of late with wins over Bremen (3-1) and draws against Plymouth and Northridge (both 1-1). So a dangerous opponent for sure tonight. The JV beat Penn last night (1-0 on a Alex breakaway) which brings them back to a .500 record at 4-4-2. It will be a nice night to sit on the sideline tonight with temps projected to be around 75 and sunny. The blog for tonight's game will not be posted until Thursday morning (I will be out of town Wednesday).

Heads up....

Tomorrow's game at Memorial will feature another Senior Night celebration (the third one for us this season, yipppppeeeeee) so probably another late start. Let's ruin their senior night by beating them!

2019 Sectional Draw

The Sectional Draw will be this coming Sunday 9/29 at 8 pm. You can watch the draw at IHSAAtv.org. NorthWood will host Class 2A Sectional 20. There are 6 teams in our Sectional: Angola, Garrett, Lakeland, NorthWood, Wawasee and West Noble.

JV Goshen Invite

The JV lost to Memorial (1-0) and Plymouth (2-0) in the NLC Invite this past Saturday (record now 3-4-2). Next game for the JV is at home vs. Penn this afternoon (Monday) at 5 pm. The Varsity practice will be at the High School.

From the Goshen News

From the Goshen News

Celebration time; Andre and Kayden.

Up next.....

The JV plays at the JV Invite tomorrow. The first game is at 9 am at Goshen High School. The bus leaves the school at 8 am. Memorial is the opponent. Winner of our game will fact he winner of Plymouth- Goshen, loser of our first game will face the loser of Plymouth - Goshen. Both those games are at noon. Our first game is at field 1. On Monday, the JV plays Penn at home at 5 pm. On Tuesday, both the Varsity and JV will travel to Elkhart Memorial (5 & 6:45 pm starts). Today, the JV will practice from 3:30 - 4:30 at the High School while the varsity will go over game tape. On Monday the Varsity will practice at the High School.

Announcer Randy Cripe getting ready for another exciting NW Soccer Match

Randy Cripe, our announcer and Nappanee Elementary Principal runs the scorebaord and announces the games. Here he is pictured alongside the Froggy 102.7 FM crew. If any of the NES students read this just think about your name being mentioned here in just a few years as you can be the next NorthWood Soccer player to play at Well Field Park ("the Home of NorthWood Soccer").

Froggy 102.7 Player of the Game and Play of the Game

Andrew Graber was selected as Player of the Game and Andrew DeFreitas' free kick and goal was selected as the "Laurie Sumpter Play of the Game"!

# 13 (2A)NorthWood - (# 16 (3A) Goshen 1-0 (0-0)

After giving up two goals in the first half, the JV locks down defensively to give up only one more the rest of the way. The Goshen JV is a very solid and technical team. Both teams are in the A Flight in Saturday's JV Invite . If they face off again, NW might have a shot of reversing today's final result. The main event of the night is the match up of two NLC opponents who are both ranked in their respective classes. Technically, Goshen is always one of the best teams in the area. The Panthers have a couple of players who are under the weather; Cam Iwema is still too sick to play and now Trent Edwards has come down with something as well and before the game it is unclear if Trent is able to play the entire game. Fortunately, Trent takes the field and not only does he not have to come off, he plays a terrific game. A lot of times, Goshen threatens up his side but he shuts the Redhawk offense down time and time again. Being a defender is a thankless jobs. There are very little stats for defenders but their mistakes are magnified when they give up the ball near the 18 and the opponent takes the ball right at us. But tonight the entire defensive is playing well. Central defenders Skyler Duerksen and Nick Lechlitner are strong all night and never shy away from physical confrontation. Add to that that both are strong in the air as is Trent and you have the making of a good defensive unit. And to make it even better, Marshall Beebe, on the left, comes out tonight having to battle Goshen attacks up his side the entire first half. And he defends well, very well. With Trent not feeling 100%, Coach Duerksen has told Trent to not go up the side as much as normal and instead has told Marhsall to do that on the left.In the 7th, one of those runs starts in the back and ends about 20 out from the Goshen goal but the attack is dangerous. In the 16th, a NW free kick is taken by Andre DeFreitas. It is well exececuted and finds the feet of Sebastian Guillen. His decent shot requires a save from the Goshen GK. At our tactical session the day before, we discussed defensive organization and how it should be structured. It is obvious from the first whistle that the session was well understood. It becomes very clear when Trent stops another Redhawk attack in the 20th and we pass the ball out of the back to launch another counter attack. The Goshen bench is verbally frustrated about being unable to penetrate the Panther defense no matter how and from which side they try it. Michael Hahn and Jerson Sanchez are very disciplined and stay central as does Andre in the number 10 position. Sebastian Guillen and Chandler Bontrager play their outside midfield positions to perfection tonight as well as they stay connected with the holding and defensive center mids. Kayden Newcomer makes lively runs to keep the Goshen defense off balance. And then there is Andrew Graber. He not only makes geat saves all night but plays an intelligent game of soccer in his box. Slowing the game down when it is necessary and speeding it up when we have great opportunities up top. In the 38th, Andrew launches a ball up the right flank to Sebastian. Sebastian bring the high punt down in one touch and passes to Jerson. In turn, Jerson crosses to Andre in the box. Andre's header misses the frame but the attack and build up is a good example on how quick NW can go from defense to offense. This quick transition style of play suits us well. We work on it a lot and we can play this style because we have skilled players who can execute a quick counter. A minute before the half a NorthWood corner bounces around in the box and eventually ends up in the goal but it is called back for a supposed foul on the Goshen backstop. The halftime speech is a positive one. Goshen is frustrated as they are unable to penetrate our defense. But we need to make sure we do more of the same in the second half. Our effort has been great, the game plan execution has been good and the communication in the back has been excellent. But it is 40 minutes of it and we need another 40. Coach Duerksen starts the Panthers the same way as in half one. The coaching staff discusses a change suggested by Kyle, to have Sebastian play the holding midfielder position and to have Kayden go right mid and move Jerson to the striker position. About 6 minutes into the half, Coach Duerksen makes the changes. A dangerous Goshen attack in the 47" finds one of their three attackers near the box. A quick turn away from our central defense gives the striker an opportunity to shoot. A great shot requires an even greater save by Graber (truly earning his newly acquired nickname "Grabber"). In the 57th, NW gets to take a free kick from far out from the left side of the field. The intentional Goshen foul means that this is a direct free kick. With an over load on the backside for the Panthers, Andre has a good target but also wants to put the ball on the frame. The target seems to be the tall Trent Edwards. The hard hit ball flies at the goal, Trent gets close and the keeper is not sure if it is a shot at the goal or if Trent will redirect it with a header. Trent does not and the ball flies into the net for a NW goal; 1-0! NW almost scores again a minute later when Andre takes another free kick. This time he picks out Jerson whose header is saved by the Goshen GK. From the 59th to the 73rd, it is all Goshen as they start to put NW under pressure and try to force the equalizer. Great defense and even better organization and shape get us through this 14-15 minute period. Joey Eshelman relieves midfielders and applies pressure on the outside. Everyone who makes it onto the field plays well. It is a collective effort to prevent the Redhawks from tying the match.Nick Lechlitner prevents a couple of Goshen attacks from making it past him with his signature tackles (actions especially appreciated by color commentator Ryan Mattern who in his day tackled some). A nice 73rd minute 1-2 between Jerson and Sebastian ends with a nice Sebastian shot. The attack relieves some of the Goshen relentless attacks. The last 7 minutes of the game is a nail biting experience but the Panthers hold on to the lead and defeat an highly skilled and respected 16th ranked team in 3A for a win. The first win against Goshen, as Kyle reminds us, since 2011 (when his team defeated Goshen by the same score). A job well done. The Panthers are now 10-2 (!!) on the season and 3-2 in NLC. This is a team with a lot of talent and promise, and to quote Coach Duekrsen: "let's just keep this train moving". Also a shout out to some behind the scenes people important to the program. Jeff Iwema is in charge of the hydration and video department which is much appreciated and Randy Cripe does an excellent job announcing. Thanks to both. Also thanks to Froggy 102.7 FM and Ron Bedward, Craig Wallin and our own color commentator Ryan Mattern. Today we will meet in Duerksen's room to just go over some game video and will then call it a day. Time to physically recover. We will be back on the practice field Monday. JV will practice today in light of the tournament at Goshen tomorrow. The JV's first game will be at 9 am at Goshen.

Game Day # 12 - #13 (2A) NorthWood- # 16 (3A) Goshen

Back on the turf again today. The Goshen Redhawks will be our NLC opponent tonight. The Redhawks fly in with a 5-4 (3-1 NLC) record. Deceiving to say the least because the losses come against very good teams (Carroll, Crown Point, Northridge and Elkhart Central). Goshen defeated 1A #3 Bethany Christian Tuesday night. Besides a win vs. West Noble (a possible NW opponent in the NorthWood Sectional in a few weeks), the Redhawks also beat NLC opponents Concord, Plymouth and Memorial. They are ranked 16th in 3A. The weather will cooperate once again (sunny & 77 at kick off) so we are hoping for another large crowd. Our crowd has been phenomenal all season. The Panthers are undefeated on our turf so far this season, a record we would like to keep intact! All but one player were able to practice last night. Jerson is back to just about 100 % and the only player questionable is Cam Iwema who has been under the weather the last few days. The Panthers are 9-2 (2-2 NLC) and our JV is 3-1-2 on the season. Froggy 102.7 will be live from Well Field Park tonight ("the Home of NorthWood Soccer")to broadcast the game with our own Ryan Mattern (our former announcer) as the match color commentator.

Warsaw-NW images

# 7 (3A) Warsaw - #13 (2A) NorthWood 3-1 (3-0)

The day starts well with a nice JV result (1-1; Chase Duerksen goal) which moves their record to 3-1-1. The Varsity faces the # 7 team in the state. Warsaw, with a 10-2 record. Warsaw has 15 seniors on the team and unfortunately for us, it is Senior Night. This drawn out affair takes a good 25 minutes which results in a late start. The team gets announced, kind of. Some of the players' names (Gillion, Grabber and Jursen ???) seem to be too difficult to pronounce. The game starts with NW playing well and looking to combine. This only lasts until the 9th minute when Warsaw's # 10 takes advantage of some defensive indecision, 1-0. It becomes clear early on that neither NW nor the arbitration trio performs up to the level expected in a game of this magnitude. The Tigers score in the 21st and 30th. The halftime 3-0 score is indicative of the play on the field. Our positioning is off and it is disappointing to see that a good scouting report and consequent game plan is not really executed well. We do better in the second half and do not allow another goal. The center referee (one of the kind who has to explain all his bad calls) seems to have little control of the game and hands out 4 yellow cautions to NorthWood (Jerson, Sebastian, Kayden and Dijkstra Sr. all are recipients). In the 75th, a cross (corner) from Kayden into the box finds Chase Duerksen who towers over everyone and with a hard on the target header, Chase will score the lone NW goal on the night.The referee misses a foul and a hand bal in the box but consistent with his performance all night long, he does not call them. The final therefore is 3-1. The result is not awful, the NW play was not good and there are some things that need corrected. Just to be fair, Warsaw is a good team and plays with only 3 men in the back and those 3 were tough to expose; they are fast and physical. NorthWood falls to 9-2 on the season and has only one day to prepare for #16 Goshen.

Froggy 102.7 broadcasts NW-Goshen game this coming Thursday

Game Day #11

The # 13 (2A) 9-1 Panthers go on the road to face the # 7 (3A) 10-2 Warsaw Tigers today. The JV game starts at 5 pm and the Varsity follows at 6:45 pm. Warsaw's losses are against FW Carroll and Mishawaka Marian. NorthWood's only loss of the season was against Northridge. The Panthers have won their last 7. It will be senior night in Warsaw tonight. While some players have a knock or two, the only injury concern for tonight is Jerson Sanchez who is still nursing the injury he sustained in Friday night's football game. A win tonight would be one of the biggest wins in program history. Speaking of history; the 9-1 start of the season is a program best as is the #13 ranking! We hope to see everyone tonight cheering on our boys. Go Panthers!

Goshen Invitational this coming Saturday - Tournament Information

Final Score part 2

Courtesy Kyle Dijkstra.

Your 2019 Argos Tournament Champions

Courtesy Adam Bontrager.

Final Score

The announcer quickly turned off the scoreboard and hurried home after the home team was defeated by the Panthers 2-3. An impressive NW win against a good team and all this without one of our crucial players, Jerson Sanchez. Hopefully he will be back against Warsaw. More pics and stories from today's tournament below. I will have Kyle correct the scoreboard and post it here.

Championship Celebrations & the Paperazzi

#4 Argos - $15 NorthWood 2-3 (0-2) Argos Invite Final

After the coaches had a chance to speak with Argos's loopiest of fans and with the hope that the Dunlap girls had made it to Eugene Snyder Field, it is finally time to take the field and battle for some hardware. The Panthers do not come out flat this time around. They realize this is a worthy opponent, hence their #4 ranking in 1A. It looks like the Dragons themselves think they are pretty good as well gauging their reaction when NW's Michael Hahn passes to his right to Kayden Newcomer who finds Andre near the box. Andre shoots and scores, 0-1 in minute 7. The Dragons look shocked; they are not used to being scored on this early. It was obvious to the coaches that Argos has make some changes by taking their best defender and moving him up the field. Kayden takes advantage of that as he feasts on #13 in the early part of the first half. Argos #7, a very talented player, close shot is saved by Andrew Graber. It will not be Andrew's last important save of the game. In the 26th, Sebastian crosses a ball to Andre who puts in NW's second goal; 0-2. Two minutes before HT, Argos #3 gets a free kick on the frame but Andrew comes up big with a nice save. 0-2 is the half time score. The hope is for one more goal early in the second half to take the wind out of the Dragons' sails. In the 57th, Kayden gets mauled in the box and the Panthers get awarded another PK. Trent goes up to the spot but is not money in the bank this time as he puts it over the goal. Four minutes later we get the strangest goal of the tournament. On the left side of the Argos box, a Dragon defender attempts to clear the ball but shanks it. The ball flies into the box and is headed towards Cam. Cam gets a head on it but it goes for the Argos keeper. But the ball goes in between his legs and over the line for a 0-3 lead. A chaotic end of the game ensues as Argos starts to press and NW is unable to put too many passes together. There is little possession on either side and a lot of hard nosed kick ball is the result. Argos scores in the 62nd, enhancing the NW anxiety. It gets worse when they score again 9 minutes later. The Panthers battle through the last 9 minutes but hold on for a deserving win. We win the tournament, go home with a trophy and are 9-1 on the season. The Panthers work hard and defend from all positions all night long. Congratulations boys.WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!!!!!

Fact Check: this is NOT the perfect Pitch

Far from it, this pitch was probably the worst field we have played on this season. Bumpy, uneven and spots with so much sand that you can easily take an entire Kindergarten class there to play for recess equals an added challenge for our boys.

Break time.....preparing for the Final

Argos Invite - South Bend Washington - NorthWood 1-5

Argos beats Rochester 8-0 in game one (what a lucky "draw")which means they will play in the 8 pm Final with plenty of time to rest up and not having wasted too much energy getting there; in other words, the perfect set up to win the tournament. NorthWood takes the field against SB Washington where our keeper gets announced as Andre Grabber, not a bad name for a goal keeper. He will end up grabbing a lot of balls and making quite a few crucial saves. What we dub the Panther Classic V 2.0, our Panthers come out pretty flat and the Washington Panthers have some skill but not a lot of speed. Early on however, Washington gets a free kick that seems to go to the left but gets redirected by a NW body part and disappears into the net and we fall behind 1-0. A push in the back on Kayden in the back gets called for a PK. A nice and needed present. Trent is money in the bank; 1-1. Seconds later, Kayden is involved again when his throw in reaches Andre whose shot goes in; 1-2. History repeats itself 8 minutes later (barely history then at this point) when Trent, our throw in specialist, finds Sebastian who makes sure he is responsible for the 1-3. Kayden is one of the final recipients of the ball on the right after a nice from the back NW build up. Kayden finds Sebastian who connect smoothly, 1-4. Chase gets fouled in the 74th (taken out from behind in the box) and gets to take his own PK. He makes no mistake - 1-5 which is also the final score. After a lethargic start, the Panthers turn it all around in the second half and will now get some food and rest before the 8 pm final. A major challenge for the second game will be the fact that we have to play without Jerson, who injured his knee in the other football, on Friday. Jerson is a very important and integral part of this team that now, without him, others will have to step up to make up for this loss.

Game Day #9 tomorrow

Saturday is the annual trip to Argos where we face South Bend Washington at 3 pm. The winner of that game plays the winner of the 1 pm game (Argos-Rochester). The losers face off at 6 pm. The bus leaves the school at 1 pm.

NorthWood JV -Westview JV 3-2

In what Coach Douwsma describes as a game like he has never experienced before, the Panthers come away in a nail biter where Andrew Meyers scores the winning goal as time expires. Their record is 3-1-1 with the next game Tuesday at Warsaw.

New Strategy

When all else fails, try to start 12..........

Press Box images

So, not really a year to make fun of other clubs' press boxes but I just can't help myself. The thoughts that have gone into this one are impressive. Some genuine ingenuity for sure.

Elkhart Christian - NorthWood 0-8 (0-2)

Indicative of today's game is GK Andrew Graber's positioning on the field (at the kick off spot) as he admires Angel's first goal of the season. The game itself starts a little late due to a girls game prior to ours starting late. It is obvious early on that this is not a strong opponent and as long as we pass and get open, this should be an easy victory. The early press is not super effective but we score nonetheless in the 6th when Kayden hits the cross bar from the right and the ball lands in front of Andre on the left who, in turn, serves it to Sebastian. His laser shot hits the ropes for an early 0-1 lead. Not much good happens until about minute 23 when a Sebastian Guillen corner finds Trent Edwards' forehead but the ensuing header hits the cross bar (2 for 2 in that department!). Four minutes later, Andre slips a thru ball to Jerson who goes one on one on the keeper. Jerson makes no mistake and scores the second NW goal. The halftime score is 0-2 in this not very entertaining match. We try too many thru balls and balls over the top that do not reach their destination. At the half, coach Duerksen talks about keeping it simple, pass, get open and press the opponent. Elkhart Christian seems to have developed a new strategy when they take the field with 12 players but notice just in time that they are fielding too many. NorthWood plays with more energy in half number 2. Two minutes into the second half, Andre gets another assist with his throw in to Jerson. Jerson goes 1v1 on the keeper and places the ball over the line for the 0-3 lead. Lightning to the north is far away and not threatening to stop the game yet.Seven minutes after the first second half goal, Andre passes a ball to Sebastian. Sebastian, who is having a great night on the pitch defending, attacking and distributing, decides to go at it alone. He dribbles by 2 ECA players and with a decisive hard shot signs for the 4th NW goal (his second of the night!). Four minutes later, Sebastian gets involved again with a long thru pass to Kayden. The ECA keeper does not come off his line and Kayden gets the ball inside the box. He slots the ball to his right into the goal; 0-5. A scramble in the box a minute later, ends with Angel Pantoja placing the ball over the line and the Panthers go up 0-6. In the 56", Kayden takes a long distance shot that finds the net (0-7) and things are falling apart quickly for the Eagles. Their keeper has already left the game with an injury and the back up only touches the ball when it is in the back of the net. In the 59th (and what turns out to be the last minute of the game) another mad scramble in the box has players from both sides trying to get control of the ball. The winner is....Joey Eshelman. His shot finds the back of the goal; 0-8! More lightning, now also to the south, is noticeable and the arbiter stops the game. After a quick sideline conference, the ECA coach decides to make the game official. 0-8 is the final score and moves the Panthers to 7-1 on the season.

Game Day 8; away at Elkhart Christian

Tonight's opponent are the Elkhart Christian Eagles. The Eagles are 4-3 on the season with wins versus Culver Community (6-0), Oregon Davis (4-0), Granger Christian Christian (10-1) and Prairie Heights (8-0). All of these teams are in the "weak to very weak category" so not exactly wins to brag about. The 3 losses are against Bethany Christian, Lakeland Christian and Argos (9-0). These last three are all in their Conference . Their "prolific" goal scorer is #3 Becker; he has 10 on the season. The game is slated to start at 7 pm and is a Varsity only contest. The bus will leave the school at 6 pm! The JV plays Westview at home. This will be the first year that Elkhart Christian has a nicer press box then we do.

NW-Wawasee - team walk out & press box

Beebe sidelined

Marshall was sick yesterday and did not play, he should be back in action Thursday. Jason Weldy took his spot for most of the game and played well as did Angel Pantoja when he came in for Jason.

NorthWood-Wawasee 5-1 (2-1)

The NW student section comes out in force again (this time with the theme being "America"); "the 12th Man" has been a true supportive and entertaining force this season! The JV starts out an evening of Panthers soccer with a solid 5-1 win with two goals from Joel (Luis & Chase assists), a long distance shot from Aiden Schrock and two goals from Eduard Luna. The JV is 2-1-1; on track maybe for a record season (best ever was an 8-4-2 record, a record that has stood for almost two decades). The traveling Ramirez Referees Family Circus runs the arbitration show tonight. The main event of the evening kicks off after a warning from Coach Duerksen to not be complacent against a winless Warriors squad and to not lose sight of their #4 Pena who for all intent and purposes, is their only threat. But is seems as if some of these words from Coach Duerksen are not absorbed by most. 120 seconds into the game it is that very player, Pena, who dribbles at the NW goal and plunks the ball past Graber for a shocking and surprising 0-1 score. Wawasee somehow manages to play on NW's half but in the 15th, Skyler Duerksen sends a ball in the back over the top, skipping the midfield. The ball finds Kayden Newcomer and he, in turn, finds Andre DeFreitas who calmly places the ball in the goal to tie the game. In the 31st Cam Iwema crosses from the left and finds Joey Eshelman's head. The header is saved by the Warrior's stopper. Two minutes later, Andre finds himself with an opportunity to score but his shot is stopped by the keeper as well. In the 40th Chan assists Andre who with some magical dribble slices thru defenders like a hot knife thru butter and scores the 2-1 right before the tea. A somewhat lackluster and lethargic NW first half comes to an end which will give Coach Duerksen the opportunity to make some much needed adjustments. With little movement off the ball in the first half, the Panthers know to change that part of their game because all that takes is effort. In the 46", Jerson Sanchez shakes off two Wawasee midfielders and takes a wicked shot that disappears in the right upper 90 for a comfortable 3-1 lead. There is much more movement off the ball by the Panthers and the passing is much better as well. Inside the box in the 48th, Andre takes a shot at the goal but hits the woodwork. In the same minute, Joey executes a slick flick pass to Trent Edwards who with a sweet move cuts back inside and takes a shot that nearly misses its target and finds its final destination in the side net. The Warrior who looks like one (with the pink headband) asks "Where is the FIRE!!!!????? Coach Duerksen's answer for him is that the fire is in Jerson's shoes, obviously. With 23 minutes left on the clock, Andre recognizes a nice hard roll up run on the side from Trent. Trent gets the ball and takes it to the end line and crosses it back to Andre who has no problems finishing; 4-1! In minute 60 Sebastian -who has a heck of a game on the left side and is solid all night long- picks a Wawasee pocket and takes the ball all the way from the middle to the box. His shot nearly misses to the left of the post. In the 72nd, Trent Edwards gets another assist with his long throw in this time. The ball finds Cam who does a very nice job of finishing and puts the Panthers ahead by 4; 5-1. Jerson closes the story by grabbing the last two headlines; first, in the 73rd a shot at the frame gets somewhat stopped by the keep but he lets go of the ball and it goes over him and it appears it crosses the line. AR 1 however is not in position to make the call (his effort to get to the end line is pathetic and he looks frozen in place much like the ice cream sold on the other side of the pitch)and he waves off Jerson's effort as a no goal. As the clock goes off in the 80th, Jerson shoots at the goal and the ball finds the net but time has expired so the final remains 5-1. Another NLC victory which puts us at 2-1 in Conference. We are off to a record 6-1 start with a trip to Elkhart Christian on Thursday (7 pm start). This is a Varsity game only but the JV will host Westview on the same day at home at 5 pm.

Gameday 7

Today's game becomes an important one for the Panthers as they will take the field against NLC opponent Wawasee. The Warriors are in the middle of a tough season and currently hold a 0-6-1 record (0-1 in NLC - 0-2 loss to Memorial). The Warriors' #4 Pena is always a threat with his speed, skill and hard shot. And they have nothing to lose. The Panthers want to take the step to the next level this year and another win in conference will be big. We are hoping for another great crowd to support the 5-1 Panthers on what looks to be a summer like night. A good night to take in some Rocket Science Ice Cream and NorthWood Soccer!!! Jv starts at 5 pm and the Varsity match up kicks off at 6:45 !

Busy week ahead....4 games in 6 days!

Tomorrow is already Game Day 7. NW will host Wawasee at home (JV 5/V 6:45)Tuesday 9/10. We will then be on the road for the next four games. First up on the roadtrip is our game vs. Elkhart Christian on Thursday (7pm start Varsity only; the JV will be at home at 5pm that day when they play Westview). Saturday is the Argos Invitational. We will play South Bend Washington at 3 pm and the winner of the first game between Argos and Rochester will play at 8 pm vs the winner of our game. Losers face each other at 6pm. The last game on the road until we return back home against Goshen on 9/19, is the away game at Warsaw on Tuesday 9/17.

Indiana Soccer Coaches Association Poll 9/9/19...... up one spot!

2A ISCA High School Boys Soccer Poll (9/9/19) 1. Memorial (Evansville) 2. Mishawaka Marian 3. Guerin Catholic 4. Washington Community 5. Concordia Lutheran 6. Cardinal Ritter 7. St. Joseph (South Bend) 8. Danville 9. Heritage Hills 10. Western 11. Lawrenceburg 12. Gibson Southern 13. Manchester 14. West Noble 15. NorthWood 16. Leo 17. Brebeuf Jesuit 18. Lebanon 19. Canterbury 20. Delta

Today's practice

Today's practice will be at the High School practice field and it will be a light one that will last from 3:30-4:30.

Busiest man on the field last night

NW Announcer Randy Cripe busy changing the scoreboard and announcing 11 goals last night!

Elbow in the face

Joey took an elbow in the face (nose) against Bremen.

Christmas Vacation = Wellfield Park....to quote the Movie "Shitter is full"

NorthWood - Jimtown 11-0 (7-0)

The game is moved up because of the chance of inclement weather (the threat is all it would be, it turns out) so we actually get to play the game under sunny conditions for a good portion of the contest. We start the game with the two referee system since #3, referee Weiss, must have forgot to check his email. Once he does arrive, in the second half, he tries to get the center ref to take a flag but is denied and is therefore relegated to the sideline. It becomes clear early, very early on that this will be nothing more then a practice session, if that. So, with a actual 5:15 start, it will turn out to be a busy night......for our announcer Randy Cripe. His fingers will need a massage after the game. Randy and the clock are the ones getting the work out. 23 (!!!!!!) seconds in, Andre finds Jerson who scores his first goal of the night; so try to stay with me here - 1-0., When the clock has gone down a mere 70 ticks, Jerson assists Chan - 2-0. On the bench the discussion turns to how to slow down the barrage of goal scoring. Fortunately, the Panthers do not find the net again until the 12th when Kayden assists Sebastian - 3-0. In the 18th, Jerson launches a long pass to Andre who finds the back of the net - 4-0. In the 28th, Joey lays off a pass to Jerson who connects for his second goal of the night - 5-0. In minute 34, Joey decides to support Andre's stats and gets the assist to the aforementioned Andre - 6-0. In the 37th, the first half scoring comes to a halt after a Kayden Newcomer (unassisted) goal to stop the clock temporarily at 7-0. The entire roster gets significant playing time (with the exception of Skyler Duerksen who is nurturing an injured knee) and the second half starts out with most starters on the bench. Coach Kyle Dijkstra probably needs to start looking for a therapist after Andrew Graber is the first keeper at NW to get an assist after Kyle himself got one as a Panthers stopper a few years ago. The assist bragging rights now have to be shared with Graber. Chase Duerksen is on the receiving end of the assist and goes one on one on the Jimmies back up keeper; 8-0. In the 60", Chase gets involved in another attack when he gets credit for his assist to Michael Hahn who, after several tries earlier in the game, now is able to find the back of the net. The rest of the match shifts the focus to Joey Eshelman. Trying to compensate for the elbow in the face from the night before, the altered faced Joey is trying to score every which way possible and finally connects in the 76th after a Jerson assist - 10-0. Nick Lechlitner gets on the score sheet with 3 minutes to spare when he puts himself in the assist column when he passes a ball to Kayden who finds the goal for the final score of the evening; 11-0.

******* Starting Time change for tonight's game *******

The home game tonight versus JIMTOWN will start at 5 pm instead of 7 pm due to the expected severe weather later tonight!!!!

Gameday 6

Today, Gameday 6, we will face Jimtown at home. The Jimmies field a boys soccer team for the first time in school history this year. The Jimmies are 0-3 on the young season with losses to Mishawaka (5-1), Manchester (7-5) and South Bend Riley (6-1).

#16 NorthWood - Bremen 2-1 (1-0)

The JV gets its first win of the season by beating the Bremen JV 4-0 with goals from Joel Guzman (2), Chase Duerksen and Eduard Luna. Luis hits the bar on what could have been the prettiest goal of the night. The JV record is 1-1-1 (not bad considering they have already played Concord & Northridge). VARSITY FIRST HALF - The coaching staff has a good game plan but hopes that we show up for tonight's game after the hard fought win over Concord. It doesn't start out too good. Graber has to make a tipping save in the 5th to prevent a Bremen goal. Despite explaining that we just need decent shots on the frame we see players wanting to either make pretty shots or hard ones. In the 7th, Jerson rockets a shot towards the goal off a corner but the shot misses it target. Four minutes later, Sebastian does get a shot on the frame but the keeper makes a decent save. After a very nice NW build up, Andre split passes Sebastian who takes a hard shot that finds the side net. In the 19th Andre hits the post.Finally in the 29th, a long Sebastian pass finds Jerson near the right side of the box; he cuts in and his shot hits the ropes for a 1-0 half time lead. The quality of the game is not very good which is underscored by what seems to be a Bad Throw In Festival with contributions from both teams. When a Bremen player"throws"a ball into play, a Lions coach asked what was wrong with the throw, the center ref's reply is: "that's bad, bad, real bad!!". On the turnover, Angel also illegally returns the ball onto the pitch. Like the referee said; it was bad, bad, reeeaaaalll bad! SECOND HALF- It is ugly and I should maybe leave it with that. 6 minutes into the half, Bremen ties the game. Two minutes later, Graber has to prevent NW from falling behind by making a save in a 1v1 sutiation. When you think it gets better, it gets worse. First Sebastian gets fouled in the box (opponent's knee in the back of the head). The ensuing PK, taken by Andre, sails over the goal (thankfully we have ballcatchers).With only 15 ticks left on the game clock, Andre pushes a ball in the box, Chandler touches it and it ends up in front of Sebastian. Sebastian calmly slots the ball on the ground and past the keeper much to the relief of all NW fans, players and coaches and gives us 2-1 victory. The Panthers are 4-1 on the season. Next up, Tuesday (9/3/19) another home game when the Panthers host the Jimmies for the first time in boys soccer history. Our SR 19 neighbors to the north will be here for a 7 pm kick off. Hope to see all of you there again!! Go Panthers!

NW 12th Man!!!! Thank You Fans!!!!

Every boys home game so far has been a packed house. The stands are full, the entire west side line is sitting and standing room only and the cheap seats (0 dollars I guess) outside the fence even have occupants. The fans are a tremendous support for this exciting team.

Rocket Science Ice Cream and Dutch Kernel popcorn now available at the field

Long awaited concessions available now at NW home games!!!!!

NorthWood now #16 in ISCA Rankings

After losing to Northridge (ranked in top 15 in 3A)but beating Concord, the Panthers drop a couple of spots to #16.

Celebration Time!!!!!