The Panther Classic offers a day with 9 soccer games, plenty of sunshine and a busy day for the port a potty driver this coming week. Goals are a plenty with lots of offense and a little less defense showcased on the pitch today. The Panthers start their group play versus the Bethany Bruins and Dominic DeFreitas scores the lone Panther goal in the 36th. A defensive miscue (Landon's play back to Trace does not have enough pace) gives the Bruins the opportunity to bring the game level and with only 180 ticks left on the clock, the Panthers simply run out of time to change the outcome. We have to settle for a draw and one point as a result. Glenn defeats Bethany 2-1 which sets up a deciding game between the Panthers and the Glenn Falcons. Veteran coach Keith Meola looks like he has his players prepared and by judging their game and result versus the Bruins, this could be a tricky one for NorthWood. Kyle Dijkstra's Panthers are ready for this battle after the pre game talk. Fatigue might be the main issue during and after this game especially players who will have a good amount of playing time to their name by the time we kick off. In this 4th pre season game, the Panthers show some good possession skill -just like they did in the first game-. But unlike the first game, there seems to be more purpose offensively. In the 16th the attack from the NW side results in a Luis Castillo goal. The man who wants to wear Luis' number, Carlos Alvarez, scores goal #2 in the 35th. Dom scores his second of the day while more in an offensive MF role when he signs for the 3-0 lead. Carlos scores his second with 10 minutes left; the final is 4-0 and we need to get ready for a 6 pm Tournament Final against Plymouth. Plymouth barely beat Wawasee 13-1 after they knew they had to score 8 in order to reach the finals. The british version of Concord's Shawn McCuen was screaming his blokes to a victory ("don't be crying; it's a contact sport. if you want to play a non contact sport, pick up badminton")all the while entertaining some spectators on the east side of the field. The final sees a game that does not start out well for NW. A PK call (the ref saying a NW player "pulled" on a Rockies/Pilgrims shirt was apparently enough to justify the blowing of his flute) in the 3rd minute deflates us somewhat. Trent gets a hand on the ball but not enough to keep it out this time. It is obvious that the ref on the north side and the Panthers are not in midseason form yet. Both have room to improve. A second goal in the 6th makes matters worse. A defensive marking mistake is punished by a Plymouth striker. With three more late goals in the second half, it is the Rockies who get to take the trophy home. The tournament overall is a succes. We have now played 5 games in the pre season. We have won 4 and lost the last one, exposing some of our weaknesses that will have to be worked on. That work will start Monday morning at 9am! A shout out to Jeff Iwema and family to help with the tents and the bees, Sarah Freitas for organizing the chicken sale and all the coaches' wives for running the gate ticket stand and concessions stand from 7:30 til 7:30. As nice as the field is, it is embarrassing to not have water or decent bathrooms at the field. A park that is a Well Field should have at least water access somewhere. The lack of a shelter is also a concern for the rec league, Pumas and Panther games. For three years we have been promised that something will pop up but you can put me in the "I believe it when I see it" category. The season starts Monday with 9-11 am practices at the High School and 7-9pm practices on the turf.
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