Glenn - NorthWood 0-8 (0-3)

The Glenn announcer seems impressed with himself when he utters a "WOW" after announcing both teams. But that feeling fades quickly when "technical difficulties" ruin the playing of the national anthem. The Start Spangled Banner only makes it through "whose broad stripes and brights stars". The game therefore starts a little earlier then anticipated. The 8-5-1 Falcons just come off a decent 3-2 loss versus South Bend St. Joe. The Panthers had to cancel Friday's practice (weather) and had already taken a break on Wednesday as well so "rusty" might be the keyword to start with. But the boys surprise by attacking from the first whistle and only about 120 ticks in, Sebastian gets to the endline and crosses to the 6 and on the ground. Jerson is waiting for the ball and not a single Glenn defender is marking him. The easy tap in gives us the early lead; 0-1. NW controls play and the Falcons rarely threaten. Their #19, who has 17 goals and 11 assists on the season, does not come close to the Panther goal. In minute 13, a cross reaches Chan. His shot is on the frame and I mean, on the frame because it hits the left post. Five minutes later Andre passes to Jerson who in turn, passes it back to Andre in the middle. Andre takes a shot for his first and NW's second goal of the night; 0-2. In the 35th NW gets a corner. Michael delivers it to the middle in the box to Andre, he shoots and scores; 0-3. Right before the half time whistle, a Glenn midfielder takes a shot that goes over by a mile which draws the comment from Glenn coach Meola "let's try and keep it in the county". Clearly a frustrated coach. Not alot of adjustments are necessary at the half. From the coaches' perspective, we want to try and get all the players time and rest some of the starters with a game on Tuesday and Thursday and both a lot tougher than this match. The second half start similar to the first one. Three minutes in, a deflected cross from Chandler, lands near Andre whose shot finds the back of the net; 0-4. Andre already has a hat trick at this point. A 48 minute Kayden pass gets to Andre inside the 18. Andre goes at the Falcon GK and slots the ball to the right; 0-5. A minute later, Glenn does not defend well and Kayden gets possession of the ball. He aims for the goal and the ball goes over the line; 0-6. In the 53", NW threatens in the box when Jerson and Sebastian hit the woodwork in sequence. In the 56th, we get a replay from the first goal. Sebastian takes the ball, after some fancy footwork that dazzles the Glenn defenders, to the end line. He crosses the ball away from the keeper and near the 6. Jerson is there but Glenn defenders are not. An easy tap gives Jerson another brace and NW an 0-7 lead. After Ryne kicks what the Swedes call a "smorpassing" or butter pass to Andre, NW threatens again. Andre shoots but crushes the post. The last goal of the night, to Glenn's relief, comes off a Kayden assist to Andre. Andre's finish is clinical and the final score, 0-8 is on the board. The Panthers move to 12-2 on the season. We have scored 66 times so far which is a season record. 12 wins so far ties the most wins in a season as well. Next up is Tuesday's match up against Plymouth. It is Senior night, the weather will be great and a win would still give us a shot at second place in the NLC. We are counting on a large crowd to support us tonight. The JV starts at around 5:15 (Plymouth has busing issues so they will arrive late) and the Varsity game follows the JV game and Senior Night activities. After the game there is a Senior Dinner at the High School for players and families.