Nothing stops us tonight, at least not in trying to get to Syracuse; not a road closing, not two car accidents we have to circumvent, nothing! We roll into town ahead of schedule and a lot of talk is about starting early because of some weather moving in later tonight. After all the talk between an interim AD, refs and coaches we end up starting 120 ticks early in each game. The coaches have to point out that the silver lines are the soccer lines (God forbid we have a paint that is brighter than the white football lines). The field is a football turf or an all sport turf, in any case, it is much flatter and quicker than our own turf. It will take some adjusting to. The JV sets the tone for the night, Douwsma's Boys register a 7-1 victory over the Warriors with goals from Andrew Myers (hat trick; the second andrew Myers who registers a hat trick in program history), Grant Miller with 2 and Camden and Carlos with one each. The JV moves to 2-0-2 (still undefeated and going for a school record in total wins this year according to Coach Douwsma). Then it is time to make room for the big boys. FIRST HALF- Coaching in front the Eshelman Stand, emphasis before the game is on neutralizing the Warriors' #14 Ethan Carey who thus far has tallied 10 goals on the season (albeit 5 against Mishawaka). The Wawasee offense comes alive in the 6th minute when the get a decent shot on goal off a corner but Greenlee is quick to react and saves the ball off the line! Kayden sends a pass on the right side to Sebastian who, with one move to the inside, beats the left back and then with a fairly tight angle, shoots and the ball flies in the net at the far post for an early 0-1 lead(9"). In the 17th, Andre gets the ball to Seba who crosses the ball into the mix. As always,Chase (called Dworkson in Wawasee land) is in the area and gets a head on the ball. The ball gets saved near the line but the rebound lands in front of Chase who doesn't hesitate and puts the ball into the ropes, 0-2! Despite the early lead, we let the control of the game slip away, play sloppy and do not make a lot of consecutive passes. We have trouble with the turf, passes are not to feet and miss their mark quite a bit. The last feat in half number one comes in the 39th when Andre takes a vicious shot at the Wawasee goal. The knuckler seems to go into the upper right 90 but an excellent diving save prevents an 0-3 lead. HALF TIME- The focus shifts to working hard. Coach Duerksen tells the team if they put in the effort, a win will be inevitable. SECOND HALF - In the 48th, Cam Iwema throws in from about 7 yards inside the field which is disallowed. The lines are confusing and if you are color blind, you can not officiate a game here obviously. In the 51st, AR 2 (the linesman on the grandstand side) decides to call a PK by waving his flag like a bow legged mad man. By the way if I get to pick my opponent in a "megnuts game", he is it!!!I will win that competition every time but back to the game..... Marshall and a Wawasee attacker both go into the Panther's box. The shoulder to shoulder battle ends when the Wawasee players topples over. It looks more like a 50/50 situation but our AR sees it different and the center ref reacts by blowing his whistle and pointing at the dot. It is the only goal scoring opportunity #14 would get and he tucks it away in the corner, 1-2. NorthWood decides the game when in the 65", Kayden takes the ball on the right side at a Warriors defender. He crosses the ball into the box and from about 12 out, Sebastian decidedly places the ball in the goal for the final 1-3 score. Not a pretty match but a good final score that reflects the game. The Panthers move to 3-1-1 (1-1-1 in NLC). Next on the schedule is Elkhart Christian Thursday at home. On a personal note; Kyle and I are flying with our families out west for my son's Ben's wedding over the weekend and we will have to miss the ECA game as well as the Argos tournament. Therefore the blog will be on hiatus until next Tuesday, the day of the Warsaw game. Not that you can not live without it but I thought I would explain our absence and you will have time to find something else to do after the games instead of spending three minutes reading this space. I am adding a new feature: the Dutch Touch POTG. The player of the game vs. Wawasee is a shared one: Joey Eshelman (worked hard and was instrumental defensively and re-starting attacks) and Sebastian Guillen (2 goals on the night and had a great first half!).
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