NLC All Conference

Even though we feel we deserved more, we received All NLC honors for Joey and Michael and Honorable Mention for Dom!!! Congratulations Gentlemen!!!! Well deserved!!!

Turning in uniform day

Thursday (Oct. 14) we will meet in the LGI room. Bring ALL NW uniforms (jerseys, shorts) in washed/clean condition.The meeting will be from 3:15-3:45. We will discuss plans for the winter and we also need to take the stick down back to the JV baseball field fence area.

West Noble - NorthWood 3-1 (1-0)

FIRST HALF- A well prepared NorthWood squad takes the field knowing that Torres and Macias need contained tonight. With the 3-5-2 (1-3-5-2 if you are LvG)in place for a while, some adjustments were made during the defense walk through portion of Tuesday's practice. The actual defensive execution part of practice worked well with Seth playing the part of Torres. Counters looked good as did the defense so tonight we have to do the same in the actual game. West Noble starts out controlling most of the game from the start but our defenders and wingbacks slide where they have to and encounter little difficulty containing Torres. In the 27th, Torres does get the ball on our right side and we do not double team near the end line where we should and the cross finds WN feet that turns into the only non set piece goal of the match. We play the way we want to for the rest of the half even though WN has more possession than the Panthers but a 1-0 score is manageable for the second half.SECOND HALF - Number 4 Macias flops all night long

as illustrated perfectly by my granddaughter Hannah Mattern. The officiating starts to take center stage in the 53rd. A ball in the box sees Eberle go up for the ball against a WN midfielder.

(drawing copyright Hannah Mattern). When Eberle turns in the air, AR1 raises his flag. The center official stops play and asks AR1 about the raised flag and to our surprise, a hand ball is called and WN is gifted a PK. Not sure how one is supposed to jump in the air and have the ball behind them and get called for a handball when the arms are not raised or extended but we have no choice but to live with this poor decision. WN scores even though Trent (who has a good night in the goal)goes to the right side but is unable to get anything on it. The Panthers start to press more and attacks the West Noble box more frequently. In the 57th a NW cross is defended by West Noble but a defenders hand touches the ball and the ball changes direction. The center ref places the ball on the 12 after loud appeals from the Panthers bench. Michael Hahn's penalty hits the ropes with authority for a NW goal 2-1!

(Illustration by Hannah Mattern). NorthWood keeps up the pressure and in the 67th, a Michael Hahn free kick hits the post. In the 69th a NW corner gets headed onto the frame by Solomon but a last minute reflex by the West Noble keeper prevents the ball from going in. And then it is time for history to repeat itself (just ask Nick Lechlitner). After #4 Macias finally received yellow caution for being the tallest and whiniest player on the field (not sure why you would put up with that behavior for 70 and then all of a sudden you've had enough) a Charger attack has Torres in possession of the ball inside the box. And just like he did two years ago, he then runs into a NW defender (Gifton this time) and falls and to everyone's surprise, the center official points at the PK sport for the third (!!!!!!!!!!) time tonight. Talk about officiating having an impact on a game. Numbers 4 and 9 had been flopping all night long but this time it pays off to play like this and never get punished for it. The penalty finds the net for the 3-1 West Noble win. NorthWood leaves it all on the field tonight. We played hard all night long, we were well prepared (although not prepared for this type of officiating). The coaching staff is extremely proud of this team. Our seniors were leaders and Joey, Michael, Kaleb and Aiden Schrock played very well tonight. We knew it would be a tough contest and with Dom being under the weather all week and unable to get much playing time, we knew we were in for a battle but we were in the game the entire time until the second West Noble PK and even after that we had opportunities. We are going to miss our Seniors next year and would have loved to send them off with a Sectional Championship! We had a young team this season and had to replace 9 starters from the team that went to Semi State last year and overall performed well with very good results against Marian and Plymouth. We end the season at 7-9-2 and had two canceled games (Glenn and Jimtown) that probably would have put us right at 500. We will collect jerseys etc. next week (Kyle will send out a remind). All in all, we will have a good group coming back next year so there is a lot to look forward to. On a personal note, I will miss our seniors. Some of them I have coached for 6 or 7 years. Thanks to our Athletic Director Roman Smith and Dean of Athletics AJ Risedorph for their support and everything they have done for us. Thank you to Sarah and all the parents that helped her with the snacks and meals. Thank you to Jeff Iwema for taping all the games and his general tent/water/propel support. Thanks to Kyle, Seth and Brayton who have not only done a great job this season but have made going to practice fun every day. When Seth asked Kyle on the bus how he would rate this season, Kyle said a B- , so room for improvement which we are eager to get start working on. Speaking of rating; on the 1-10 scale, the center ref gets a 3, AR 1 a 2 and AR2 a 9.

Media attention for tonight's game

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N73A6TTXsfE - copy and paste this link into your browser for streaming coverage. Froggy 102.7 with Craig and Ryan will be present as well for the West Noble-NorthWood game. We believe broadcastsport.net will be there (use the IHSAATV.org app on your smart tv).

Sectional Semi Final Preview

The 13-4 West Noble Chargers will field a strong team with several threats. Macias and especially Torres will be the players to watch tonight. Comparing the common opponents shows that all but one have similar results. The only result that is different is where West Noble defeated Bethany 2-1 and we lost 2-1. Tonight's match outcome will probably determine the Sectional Champion. The West Noble head coach acknowledged in the Goshen News that NW has an organized team but he says his team is confident going into the game tonight. Two years ago, West Noble knocked us out of the tournament at NorthWood and last year we returned the favor when we defeated West Noble 0-2 at their home field. Tonight we are at a neutral site on a very fast surface. We should have everyone available although not all are at 100%. The weather looks to stay dry throughout the game (of course that is what the weather people said for Monday's game as well). Kick off is at 5 pm tonight. The bus leaves the High School at 3:45 and the Panthers will wear their white shirts, black shorts and white socks. We are hoping for a good performance from the Panthers and the arbitral trio tonight. Hopefully we will have good fan support as well. Go Panthers!!!!

WHEN WE SAY BRING RAINGEAR......

CAM STAYS DRY WITH THE UPGRADED NEW JACKET. F1 FANS (AND THERE ARE AT LEAST 5 ON THE TEAM) WILL HAVE TO GET UP EARLY THIS WEEKEND FOR QUALIFYING AND THE RACE!

NorthWood-Garrett 8-0 (5-0)

With the temps in the low 70's, the wind playing a factor and with a threat of rain, it is the kind of night where you're not sure if the game will be impacted by outside influences but fortunately that will turn out not to be the case. The ever prepared Jeff Iwema (last name will give the announcer fits when Trent presents himself to the spectators) has Tent #2 ready to go and actually comes out at half time to set it up and dry out the team. Mestach and Iwema are the chosen names to be butchered tonight, broadcastsport.net and of course the familiar voices of Craig and Ryan on Froggy 102.7 accompany the game again tonight. Sectionals and therefore the one win and move on or loose and go home format is about to kick off statewide. The Railroaders are 8-8 and just come off a 10-1 loss against Columbia City, the Panthers have some defensive restoring to do tonight after the 2-1 loss at Bethany. NW is looking to get back in the groove that they were in against the likes of Marian and Plymouth. The game kicks off about on time on the very unforgiving and fast carpet some call synthetic turf with gray lines to indicate the soccer field. It turns out to be a bit of a jittery start, expected somewhat; it is the play offs after all. In the 10th, Michael finds Solomon for the first time tonight who in turn gets the ball near the goal line to Carlos. Carlos is in the right spot but his effort goes over but it is an indication that the Garrett defense might have a long night ahead of having to deal with NW attacks. Michaels passes are spot on tonight. A very, very high Garrett defensive line (off side trap) is only effective early on when we get caught being in offisde positions but after adjusting to this high line (which at times is told to move up to the middle of the field by their coach)we get plenty of opportunities. The first one that penetrates the defense is a ball from Michael over the top between two defenders in front of Joel Guzman. He takes the shot as soon as it hits the turf and his effort finds the net for a NorthWood 1-0 lead. Dominic turns up the pressure a bit in the 25th when he decides to blast one from about 30 out. His shot disappears in the right corner as the keeper dives over the ball. Now the flood gates are open. Dom assists Sol for the 3-0 in the 28th and 22 seconds later Sol scores again for one of the quickest braces in NW history. A Michael Hahn corner hits a Garrett defender for the OG and 5-0 HT score. The Panthers come out strong in part 2 as well. Carlos makes a nice move and takes a hard shot that hits the post 4 minutes into the second half. A 25 yard shot from Michael hits the ropesin the 53rd for the 6-0 lead. Two minutes later Michael's cross finds a Garrett sub's head. The poor guy just came in and fires a header that he lasers into his own goal; 7-0. Maddox Brown has a couple of opportunities and his second one requires a great save by the Railroaders' back up keeper. Trace replaces Trent in the goal, everyone comes off the bench and gets decent playing time (15 minutes plus). Five minutes before the final whistle, Bryce Knepp puts himself on the scoresheet. Maddox passes to Bryce who scores the Panthers' final goal of the night. Final score 8-0. Solid job by the Panthers who move on to face West Noble (7-1 winners over Wawasee) on Wednesday at 5 pm at the same venue. The Panthers move to 7-8-2 on the season.

Sectional 20 - Rd 1 Preview NorthWood- Garrett

NorthWood is the home team tonight versus the Railroaders who come off of a big loss to close out their 8-8 season. Garrett plays in the NorthEast Corner Conference and finished with a 4-2 record. The only common opponent is Lakeland. Garrett defeated the Lakers 3-1 where the Panthers beat Lakeland 8-0. The Railroaders have scored 43 goals in 16 games and have given up 53. Their leading scorers are #15 with 12 goals and #11 with 10 goals on the season. Today's game starts at 5:30 pm weather permitting. The GPS address for the Sectional Site at Wawasee is 401 S. Syracuse-Webster Rd and the game will be played on the turf at the football stadium. Cost is $ 6 for the two games tonight or $ 10 for the All-Session Ticket. Game 2 tonight will be between Wawasee and West Noble. The winner of today's games will face each other Wednesday at 5 pm (Oct. 6th). At this point we are not sure if we have all players available for tonight's game. If NW wins tonight, the team will stay for the first half of the second game.

ONE OF THE 4 MAX FANS

CAM SUPPORTING MAX!!! SOME OF US WILL BE WATCHING THE GP THIS WEEKEND!!!

IMAGES FROM THE SENIOR DINNER

2021 Senior Dinner

THANK YOU SARAH FOR ORGANIZING THE SENIOR DINNER (AND EVERYONE ELSE WHO HELPED SARAH!)

YOUR 2021 SENIORS!

OUR JUNIORS

OUR SOPHOMORES

OUR FRESHMEN (NOT PICTURED DOMINIC DE FREITAS)

Bethany Christian - NorthWood 2-1 (2-1)

Doesn't start well when three players don't bring their cleats and only two refs show up. And doesn't end well when this is the scoreline; 5" 1-0, 30" 2-0, 39" 2-1 (Carlos header off Dom's free kick).