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.
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