NorthWood-Elkhart Christian 1-1 (0-0)

It doesn't take long to see where the game is headed. Possession favors the Panthers and the Eagles have not deviated much from last year's tactics. They park the bus with almost all players and launch #9 at every opportunity as their only threat. NW starts early when Alex crosses a ball into the danger area and Carlos heads the ball on the frame. The keeper makes the save and he would do that for most of the night. The pressure on the ECA defense remains constant throughout the first act but even when it looks like Andrew gets the ball past the keep after a Soloman pass, a Eagles defender clears the ball before it goes over the line. The half time score of 0-0 does not reflect what is happening on the field. The locker room talk focuses on how well we have played specifically when it comes to the hard work of our forwards and midfielders portrayed in attempting to get the ball back after possession is lost. Our switch passes are good, our runs are great and our work rate is fantastic. The focus now has to be on attacking the ball in the box. As the second half starts, the NW possession advantage continues. Two minutes in, it is Dom who finds Alex whose shot lands on the post. Luis commits a foul in the 47th that gets him a deserved yellow caution but apparently these cards are on sale tonight and for NW players only. In the 49th it is again Dom who slides a smart pass to Sol who in turn slots the ball to Alex. Alex finds Carlos in the box near the left side of the goal. Carlos, without hesitation, finishes the cross into the ropes for a 1-0 NW lead. ECA is forced to come out but does not threaten much until a breakaway in the 70th that gets stopped by Ethan. He gets all ball in the tackle but the clown in the middle calls it a foul (yellow for Ethan). The free kick from far out is the only real threat in the second half. The shot, which is decent, disappears in the NW right upper 90. This ties the game. Kyle asks for an explanation and apperently the answer is a) yellow and b) another word means red. If you are unable to explain the call and your skin is that thin that you can not handle a coach raising his voice, you probably shoud not sign up for this well paid gig. It only gets worse after this. A cross into the 75th goes into the direction of Joel who attempts to go up for a header near the right side of the goal. He gets pushed in the back hard by two Eagles defenders but neither AR1 or the center ref react. AR1 "didn't see it" and who knows what the center refs excuse is. Not that the arbiters are to blame for the tie but the facts speak for themselves. 60 percent of the fouls go in ECA's favor, we get three yellows, ECA zero and it was not a physical game. Arbitration has been pretty atrocious this season and we expect the trend that really started a while back, to continue. Despite the fact that we wanted to obviously win yesterday and Tuesday, our play has been very good and from a soccer perspective, we play "real" soccer with good and crisp passing and possession. We are organized and obviously been in every game this season. Our game just needs to improve near and in the attacking box. Our first attempt at that will be tomorrow at Trinity Greenlawn in South Bend. The JV traveled (in a delayed fashion) to Westview and wins 1-3 on Jack, Jager and Mark goals. Today's practice is at 3:30 and will run until 5pm and will be on grass at Wellfield Park.