NorthWood- Lakeland 7-0 (2-0)

What a difference 24 hour makes...... On Monday evening we are struggling to keep the large banners on the fence during the storm and tonight, skies are clear and the temperatures are comfortable. Tonight's opponent has been scored on 22 times in 5 games so we know that defense is not their strong point. The same starters from the last game take the field but this should be a night where everyone on the bench should get minutes on the field. Swing players' time needs managed a little different since they can only play 36 halves in a season so they should only take the field where they get valuable playing time but to the point where it does not interfere with JV time. So two minutes in one half and 7 in another equals two halves but does little for the swing player but having said all that, tonight is hopefully a night where all players get a good amount of time. The game starts a little late due to the Lakeland bus not being able to leave on time and a very very long huddle competition before kick off. Despite NW possessing the ball a lot from the kick off, we play sloppy. Our passing is not very accurate. We have to wait until the tenth minute before we see our first effort on goal (Dom shot that gets saved awkwardly). Finally, in the 28th, we get our first goal when Grant passes to Dom who, from distance, shoots the ball high at the Lakers goal, 1-0. Dom gets involved again in the 32nd when he splits two Lakeland defenders to find Andrew whose shot finds the woodwork. After 7 NW passes in minute 39, Grant tries a long distance shot which sails over the short Lakers backstop for the 2-0 half time lead. After a team huddle which ended with a "one two three let's go" in spanish, we really did not in half number one. The half time talk focuses on better and quicker passing and using the wings to stretch the opponents' backline. The second half starts out better than the first. Three minutes in, Dom takes a long distance shot and places it high into the net for the 3-0 lead which effectively takes the air out of Lakeland. An Alex Escamillo pass gets dummied by Dom on its way to Joel Guzman; Joel decisively puts the ball over the line. In Indiana a running clock is institued once a team goes ahead 5-0 in the second half; this fact occurs when a Wes Bell to Joel Guzman in the box to Carlos Alvarez-Ramirez ends with Carlos' first goal of the game and NW's 5th in minute 58. 108 ticks later sees a howling NW bench begging for different players to take the free kick. Drew Davis, who entered the match only minutes before the foul, and Aiden stand by the ball. Drew takes the direct free kick and after a fake move by Maddox, sees the ball disappear into the goal for his first ever NW Varsity goal; 6-0 NorthWood. In the second half we have numerous chances of running up the score but close by chances get diverted by the Lakers keeper in some form or fashion. The last goal of the night happens a minute before the final whistle when Wes Bell finds the feet of Jack Walter who slots the ball home for the final score, 7-0. Trent Iwema and Trace Roja combine for the shutout tonight (which makes two shut outs thus far this season). There is little wrong with tonight's result and match overall (even though our first half could and should have been better). The referee crew did not get themselves into the limelight tonight; a compliment for sure. A nice reprieve from some atrocious arbiter action we have experienced before tonight's match. All players on the roster who are eligible (Allessandro Longo, our foreign exchange player from Italy, does not have the required 10 practices in yet)see the field tonight. Randy Cripe was immaculate from the announcer table tonight and as always, the national anthem goes off without a hitch. We were a little disappointed that the NorthWood version of a F16 fly over from the last game (a Ford F150 truck with an American flag in the bed of the truck circling the field during the anthem) is absent tonight. NOTES - The Panthers move to 3-2 on the season. Next up is the away game at Rochester Thursdayat 5:30 (Varsity only) while the JV plays Warsaw's C team at home at 5:30 pm.Wednesday's practice is at the complex on grass.

Gameday 5 - Lakeland

The Lakers roll into town officialy with a 2-3 record. Their last game in conference was decided on PK's vs Garrett (2-2 regulation). Lakeland has produced 6 goals in 5 games and given up 22 which would indicate some defensive deficiency. The Panthers are 2-2 on the young season and would like to win in order to put together a nice win streak in the next 4 or 5 games. Kick off is 5:30 (Varsity game only) and tonight features doubleheader action; the girls saw their game at Trinity canceled and that game has been rescheduled at Wellfield Park following the boys contest.

Week ahead

Today's training will take place on the game field (turf) at Wellfield Park. Tomorrow (Tuesdya) we will entertain the Lakers of Lakeland at 5:30 (Varsity game only). Wednesday's training is TBD but more than likely will be on the grass training ground at the High School. Thursday, the Varsity travels to Rochester for the first time in school history while the JV will face the Warsaw C-team in an added fixture for this season. Friday's practice location is unknown at this point.

NorthWood- Northridge 0-2 (0-2)

THE FIRST GOAL. NorthWood plays well on the field but is unable to convert good play in the final third into goals. On the opposite end, we give up preventable goals in the 9th and 35th minute by way of set pieces that are defended poorly. With possessing the ball 55% of the game, we should have come away with a better result. The JV sees Jack Walter score a brace to give them a 2-2 draw on the night. NOTES- Today's practice will be on the grass field at the complex and will run from 3:30-5pm. Next up is Lakeland this coming Tuesday at 5:30 pm and will be a Varsity contest only.

NorthWood-Northridge Gameday *****new start times****

Tonight's kick off times have been adjusted due to bussing problems at Northridge. JV starts at 5:30 pm while the Varsity kicks off at 7:15 pm. Northridge comes off a 1-0 win over Bethany Christian while the Panthers have won their last two games. All players are healthy for tonight's match ups. Northridge plays a brutal schedule early on and so far has faced Chesterton (L), Penn (Draw), Elkhart (L) and Bethany (W). The game is being broadcast on Froggy 102.7.

Monday Training

At 3:15 the Varsity will have the film session from the weekend games (place TBA). This will take about 30 minutes. Practice for both squads will be at the High School practice field.

2022 NorthWood Invitational

NW-BREMEN - The threat of thunderstorms means the starting times for today's games have been adjusted. The first matchup therefore starts at 9:30 am instead of 11 am. Let's just blame the early start for our sub par first half performance.Our only threat comes in the 24th when a NW corner gets directed twice by way of NW headers but the Bremen keeper has no trouble stopping the effort. Class 2A #12 Bremen has the best of the play but is unable to penetrate our defense. Half time score is 0-0. The half time locker room speech is therefore not too positive. Obviously we need to clean up our passing and play in general. The second half brings a better effort albeit not a formidable one. We have to wait until the 68th minute to see the first goal of the tournament. A beauty of a pass from the center to the right from Chelsea fan Maddox Brown to Carlos Alvarez-Ramirez is the start of the threat. Carlos takes the ball at speed into the Bremen box. He beats the defender and the keeper with his shot in the upper left for the 1-0 lead!

CARLOS' SHOT THAT PUTHS THE PANTHERS AHEAD.

THE PANTHERS CELEBRATE The Panthers withstand a barrage of Bremen attacks and take the win to earn a spot in the 4 pm Championship game. ***pictures courtesy Dale Tobias*** Manchester ends up beating Western in a PK shootout after an entertaining 3-3 draw in regulation. Manchester faces NorthWood in the Championship game. Bremen ends up defeating Western in the consolation game. The Championship game sees a NW team that is much more lively this time. A good start to the game with the support of the student section (all in red) in the soutHern part of the new stands. NW passes easily and is in control of the game. In the 14th the crisp passing results in the first goal of the game after Luis finds Solomon Yegon. Sol smoothly dribbles into the box and his shot finds the back of the net for the 1-0 lead. Despite some chances and the Panthers domInating play no more goals are added and we start to head to the locker room for our half time break with the 1-0 lead. The second half starts the way the first ended. Three minutes into the second act it is Dominic (De) Freitas who gets into the box and seems to shoot for the second goal but the Manchester GK stops the shot and the ball comes back to Dom with a high bounce and a second shot is not an option. The 60th minute gives the Panthers a reason to celebrate again! Luis places a free kick from the right onto Maddox's head. His header spins away from the keeper and floats into the upper left for the 2-0 NW lead! It seems all the Panthers have to do is keep their composure and finish out the game and the trophy stays here. But about 8 minutes after the second NorthWood goal, the Squires manage to score to come within one goal of tying the game (which would send the game to PK's). Despite some sloppy and panicky play, the Panthers hold on and finish out the game without giving up another goal. Our defense has played a very solid tournament and kept us in each game. The final score is 2-1 and the Panthers end up winning their own Invitational. After winning the pre season Panther Classic, the Panthers can cross the first two of four goals off their list! A big Thank You to Randy and Kyle Cripe for doing the announcing and running the scoreboard, Ball Boys Jackson, Isaac, Kyler and Caleb and Jeff Iwema for running the camera for both games.

The Final Score!

2022 NORTHWOOD INVITATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!!!!

******* BREAKING ****** Updated start times for the NW Invitational

Due to the threat of inclement weather tomorrow, the starting times for ALL games have been adjusted: 9:30 AM NorthWood-Bremen 11:30 AM Western-Manchester 2 PM Consolation Game 4 PM Championship Game

Gameday #2 (Games 2 & 3) NorthWood Invitational

The NW Invitational will take place tomorrow (Saturday 8/20/22) at Wellfield Park.Game 1 features NorthWood vs Bremen at 11 am. Game 2 has Manchester taking on Western at 1 pm. The Loser of G1 will face the loser of G2 at 3 pm while the winners of G1 and G2 will square off at 5 pm for the Championship. NorthWood heads into the tournament at 0-1 (0-1 NLC) after its 1-0 loss at Concord. Bremen is 1-1 on the season and has lost to Plymouth (2-1) and beat SB Riley 10-1. Bremen's #24 Devine scored 4 in the Riley contest, #10 Fox had 3. The Manchester Squires are 1-0 on the young season after defeating Peru 9-0. Topscorer in that match up was #12 McClain with 4 goals. Western is 1-1 on the season with a 3-2 win vs Kokomo and a 2-0 loss to Ft. Wayne Carroll. Isaac and Jackson are ball boys for the first two games and Kyler and Caleb are ball boys for games 3 & 4.

Concord-NorthWood 1-0 (0-0)

FIRST WALK OUT OF THE SEASON After lightning speed team introductions, the Concord announcer plays a (almost complete)fast rendition of our National Anthem.The game turns out to be a tyical NLC battle. The Panthers gets the first chance at a goal when Luis places a far ball into the box off a corner but Dom's header misses to the left of the goal. A collision in the 11th requires Luis to come off the pitch so he can insert a nasal tampon to stop the nosebleed. The Minutemen threaten for the first time in the 14th when an attack and ensuing cross followed by a shot from the left hits the post. In the 18th the ref misses a blatant Concord keeper foul when he trucks thru Carlos after the keeper mishandles a cross inside the box. The halftime score is 0-0. The second half starts with a nice pass from Solomon to Dom who goes one on one with the keeper, but the Concord backstop makes a great save with his feet to prevent the Panthers from scoring. A hard low Concord cross in the 55th finds some green feet and thru a melee of players, the shot ends up in the back of the net. Despite a shot in the 69th by Sol as well as Dom -both requires save from the Concord GK-, the Panthers are unable to find the back of the net. In the last two minutes of the game, NW gets two more opportunities off free kicks near the box but the efforts fall short. Final score 1-0. Overall, the Panthers played well and organized, played even or better than their opponent for the first 60 minutes after which the Minutemen dictated play for about 20 minutes (after their goal). Despite the loss, it was a good performance overall. We did not execute on the chances we created. Our defense, lead by a flawless playing Aiden Greenlee, was very organized. Concord's strength is their individual play and is at times hard to defend. We dealt with it pretty good overall. Next up is the NorthWood Invitational this Saturday (Varsity only). I will post more information on this on Thursday. NOTES- The JV loses 2-0 to Concord but played a Concord team loaded with juniors and a senior GK. There will likely be a film session at 2:30 today before the start of practice. Film session is for Varsity only and a message will be sent on Remind. Practices are at Wellfield Park the remainder of the week.

Game Day #1 @ Concord

Today's game is the season opener for both teams. The JV contest kicks off at 5 pm followed by the Varsity game at 6:45 pm. Concord comes off a win vs Bethany over the weekend in a pre season Jamboree game. The Panthers are 4-0-1 in the pre season and have not allowed any goals against. This is the first time in NW Soccer history that the season starts with an NLC match up. Last year the Panthers lost at home to the Minutemen 1-5 even though the game was still tied at the half. Concord is heavy on seniors this year. They also feature a senior exchange student from Spain as well as one from Norway. The Panthers are looking to continue their defensive streak of holding the zero which will be a tough challenge against an experienced Concord team.

Wawasee Jamboree

NW competed in the Wawasee Jamboree this past Saturday. The first game was played on a horrible grass field with a matching officiating center referee. Columbia City was the opponent. The game (40 minute half) ends in a 0-0 draw even though the end of the game was chaotic, inexplicable and a disaster. Game #2 was on the carpet like turf on the football field versus Manchester. The final score was 1-0 NW on a Grant Miller goal (quite the week for Grant!). The only loss was Carlos' half front tooth which was made to exit his mouth by way of a Manchester elbow.

GK Coach Andrew Graber supplied the Rise-n-Roll donuts (testing one himself).

Compete Week 2022

Compete Week 2022 concluded Friday with a tie breaker cross bar challenge for second place in the Varsity competition. Landon beat Joel

THE WINNING SHOT! The Final Standings are as follows: VARSITY #1- Grant Miller, #2 Landon Weldy, #3 Joel Guzman

Grant Miller with his first place Trophy and Head Coach Kyle Dijkstra

Landon Weldy with his second place Trophy and Head Coach Kyle Dijkstra

Joel Guzman with his third place Trophy and Head Coach Kyle Dijkstra

JV Winner Isaac Bell with Trophy and Head Coach Dijkstra

In Compete Week 2022, points were gathered by playing in the Pugg Tournament and Red-Black game as well as skills competitions and a 1v1 tournament.

2022 SEASON PREVIEW

With about 35 players in the program, the NW Panthers have one of their largest squads in recent years. The preseason has gone well so far for the Panthers. Few injuries (although Caleb and John are still out for now)overall and most took only days to heal. The Panther Classic showed some promise and very good results. Never before have we defeated two NLC team in one day. A lot this season will depend on the workrate of the team. The talent is there but hard work is required in order to get the results. Staying healthy is key as well. A large group (13!) freshmen came out in what looks to be a class with a lot of promise and quality. The Panthers lost 4 seniors from last year and not having Joey and Michael in the middle meant that changes there were inevitable. Luis and Joel will hopefully be able to pick up where we left off last year. An offense with Dom, Sol and Carlos has shown early signs of promise. Wingbacks (of which a lot are needed) will see Grant and Alex intially but in a demanding position like this, others like Wes and Landon will have to come in a lot as well. The defense is built around Aiden who, after winning a National Championship at the club level, has shown a lot of confidence and looks to be ready to lead his team as a captain. He has completely recovered from his shoulder injury and with Ethan (our other captain) and Gifton, they will be working to hard to shut out opponents or at least keep the number of goals against low. Our solid backstop Trent has fierce competition from JV and -so far- back up keep Trace. Andrew and Jack will give us options offensively as they will be able to give our strikers some breathers to keep up the tempo, especially when pressing. Bryce will be a defensive option each game and he will be able to give our defenders a break when needed. The same goes for Alan who is in his first year with the program. Maddox and Drew (Davis) have shown very good performances in the pre-season. Maddox should see a lot of action when performing like he has and Drew should see decent playing time especially considering he is a V/JV swing player. Our season opener is vs the Concord Minutemen this coming Tuesday at Concord. Last year we were beaten 1-5. Concord will start quite a few seniors. Our expectation is that we will come away with a better result than last year. The first game is followed by the NW Invitational for august 20th, a week from this Saturday. New on the schedule this year are Rochester and Trinity (9/1 & 9/10 respectively). We look forward to a hopefully competetive and succesful season and will preview most games on this space. Froggy 102.7 will be at two home games this season, the first being the Northridge game. The JV starts their regular season next Tuesday vs Concord as well. We feel that we have a talented JV that is capable of breaking the JV school record of 8-4-2 set in 1999.

2022 WAWASEE JAMBOREE INFORMATION

The NorthWood Boys Varsity will leave the High School at 09:45 AM Saturday (tomorrow, 8/13/22) for the Wawasee Jamboree. We will play one half on grass at 10:45 vs Columbia City and another half at 11:40 vs. Manchester on the turf.

2022 BOYS SOCCER SCHEDULE

THE VARSITY AND JV SCHEDULES FOR THE 2022 SEASON

NorthWood Soccer's #1 Fan

Jack leaving the complex after the Red-Black scrimmage!

New season, new jerseys

The NorthWood boys Varsity will sport new jerseys this season going all black with a red stripe on the side and red numbers and letters in addition to a red accent in the front. Red shorts will be worn at times as well. The JV took possession of the former Varsity red and black striped outfits and were therefore able to discard their old black shirts.

2022 Panther Classic Champions

On July 30th, the Panthers hosted their 4th Panther Classic. Beating Wawasee 6-0 and Bethany 1-0 gave us the right to face Plymouth in the tournament's final. The Panthers defeated the Rockies 1-0 in a chippy match to give NorthWood its third (out of 4) Panther Classic Trophy! Dale Tobias took the team picture after the win and made sure it made its way to the print edition of the Goshen News!

Gifton and Coach Dijkstra (E) before the Red-Black scrimmage

Luis and Coach Dijkstra (E) discussing music options for the warm up (great tunes were enjoyed by players and spectators alike!)

NW Boys 8th annual Pugg Tournament

2022 CHAMPIONS

RUNNERS UP

THIRD PLACE

2022 Red-Black game images

PARENTS TAKING PICTURES OF THE PLAYERS BEFORE THE RED - BLACK SCRIMMAGE

THE WHITE TEAM WHO LOOKED TO BE WINNING BUT LOST ON TWO MAGNIFICENT JOEL GUZMAN BANGERS!

New Bleachers installed, new buidling opened

A 600 plus west stand and an absolutely stunning building on the north end of the Wellfield Turf field is ready for visitors of the Panthers Boys and Girls home games this season. The new stands are lower then the old one but run along most of the west side line. The building holds locker rooms with bathrooms for both the boys and girls teams, a concession stand that can be accessed from the turf side and the concourse side, public restrooms and storage areas as well as a ticket booth. The building was first used for the 2022 Panther Classic Tournament two weeks ago. The facility, stands and field areone of if not the best soccer facility in Northern Indiana. A press box on top or behind the stands, expansion of the parking lot to the west and new dug outs are still in the works. This project is a partnership between the City of Nappanee and Wa-Nee. The result is truly amazing!

Dutch Touch back online for the 2022 Fall Season

The Dutch Touch Blog returns for season # 16! Today's blogs will feature the pre season wrap up from the Panther Classic thru the Red-Black game. I will feature the Jamboree of 8/13/22 (tomorrow) and there will be a short season preview as well.