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.