ON THE WAY TO THE GAME>Iwema pronounced correctly but "Durkskin"? But it does not throw of coach Duerksen; the pre-game speech is a spirited one. The game plan has been made very clear. We worked on defending their number 1 threat (# 9 Henry Torres) with Nick especially motivated to get the game going. After the Chargers kicked us out of the tournament, everyone is determined to return the favor on their home field. The game starts off with NW taking the ball to the West Noble half of the field. And a nervous start with several fouls finally settles down some after about 12-13 minutes. Our passing is not especially crisp and we do not really see a lot of sequence passing. It becomes clear early on that Andre's throw ins are dangerous each and every time. Sebastian decides to take matters into his own hand (or foot) when he fires a laser in the 16th that seems to surprise the somewhat thick and not so agile Charger stopper. He does not get close to the ball and lucky for him it hits he left post. Unlucky for him is the fact that Andre is in he perfect poacher location and has no trouble placing the ball over the line for a deserved 0-1 lead. Takings shots and crashing the goals were mentioned in the run up to this game and apparently the players have paid attenion. A lot of action takes place in the middle third of the pitch. A lot of collissions, near fouls and some actual fouls all get called as fouls (mainly the NW ones). After another foul, the center arbiter states that the next NW foul is a yellow. Think about that! With more than half the game to go, the ref decides to just make up his own rule and thinks that there is a threshold on the number of fouls and no matter who commits the next "foul", receives a caution. And the odds are that the recipient would be Sebastian since he is involved in the majority of possession battles in the middle of the field. And so it happens; in the 38" Seba gets a yellow for a very, very, very soft foul. It is ridiculous that the rules interpretation is thrown out the window and the man in yellow comes up with his own. What makes it tough is that Sebastian is the type of player who is in on most of the defenisve confrontations in the middle of the field because of his position and his role and ability. And West Noble has the #9, 10 and 14 who can all be threats coming thru the middle. It takes a part of our game away and it is taken away by the center referee. A referee should not have any influence on the outcome of the game by coming up with his own rules. Period. Luckily Sebastian is one of those players with a very high soccer IQ but still, it was not a decision that was welcomed with a lot of enthusiasm on the bench. The call is questioned at the half and the referee trio does not really have a good explanation and decides to disappear into the announcers camper. The second half starts with more NW offense. An Andre cross gets to the 6 and Chan almost puts the ball in the net but his effort sails just to the left of the goal. All night long (and I mean 80 minutes straight), Torres experiences the close proximity company of one Nick Lechlitner. The man is determined to stop Torres' every attacking attempt. And it is not just determination, it is execution as well. Henry Torres never ever is a threat because Nick is on his back, on his front, on his side all night long. Torres can not receive a ball or Nick is there. Torres is held to zero (!!!!) shots at goal. It is the defensive pinnacle performance of the night. Because of this effort from Nick, the rest of the defense focuses on the other threats. In the air, Chase and Nick both, rule all night. Every time Torres does get the ball, Nick gets assistance from others like Joey whose role was to help double Torres up. In the 61st, NW gets a free kick from 50 yards out. Coach Duerksen tells Nick to put the ball on the frame. The keeper is shaky at best and it is time to try him out. Nick puts the ball high in the air and it flies towards the goal. The keeper misjudges the shot, gets maybe a finger on the ball (and maybe not even that) and the ball hits the ropes! A 0-2 lead feels like a large lead with the Chargers not really threatening us much. With about 11 minutes left in the game, the Chargers start sending up their center defender #3 but that leaves gaps in the back and it eventually is not a strategy they keep in their repertoire. In the 67th, Sebastian crosses a ball from the right side into the box and Chan is in the right position to get it over the line but just misses the ball. The Panthers stay composed until the end and even though it wasn't our prettiest match of the season, it does become our most important win on the season.The Panthers are now 12-3-3 on the season. We move on to the Sectional Finals where we will face Angola who beat Garrett 3-1. Game time is at 7 pm and the weather will be great so few excuses to not make it out to the game! Andre becomes the record holder in total career goals scored with 60 surpassing the 59 from Rodrigo Dosal. Several other records are set as well (more about that later). Undoubtedly, the Dutch Touch Player of the Game is Nick Lechlitner.
No comments:
Post a Comment