IT IS 6 O'CLOCK ON A MONDAY, REGUALR CROWD SHUFFLES IN.....
The early fans see it, the ones who are a little late are not witness to NorthWood soccer history as the NorthWood kick off goes from Dom to Sol to Carlos for the 1-0 lead in the 10th SECOND!!! This blazing start sets the tone very early on. Especially after Grant receives the ball on the left and then crosses it into the danger area with his left to the left footed Solomon. Sol's challenge finds the back of the net and it is 2-0 in the fourth; half of our fans haven't even settled in yet. The Lakers are clearly struggling after these two early goals and try to not give up more goals this early on into the match. They are only succesful for about 11 minutes before Luis slings a pass over to Carlos on the right flank. Carlos, always super motivated when facing Lakeland, takes the ball directly into the box for a 1v1 challenge against the Lakers keeper. Carlos comes out on top as he slots the ball by the GK for NW's 3rd and Carlos' second goal of the night. Having a brace after 16 minutes clearly isn't enough for Carlos. In the 20th he decides to put himself on the other column of the stat sheet by assisting Alex on the next goal. Alex's speed is something the Lakers clearly are unable to deal with. But then again, a lot of teams have had problems with that. Alex's shot is hard and finds the net in a hurry; the Panthers are cruising! Alex also becomes the second NW player to record a brace tonight when he takes another shot at the goal in the 22nd. The shot at the frame gets deflected but goes in nonetheless, 5-0. Maybe the prettiest goal of the night comes in minute 33 when Luis bends a free kick from the left flank onto Joel's head near the six. The ball explodes off of Joel's head and into the ropes for the Panthers' 6th goal. The game is over obviously and Lakeland, with a lack of talent, is not coming back in this game. The second half sees a different lineup for the Panthers. Everyone on the roster gets significant playing time which is very beneficial in may ways. It gives the starters some time off before what is expected to be a tough game on Wednesday. It gives our younger up and coming talent minutes on the field at the Varsity level and at a Sectional game. They do well and even early on in the second half, threaten offensively. Jack Walter gets fouled about 7 minutes in and takes the PK but it is not a good one (despite doing very well on PK's in practice) and gets stopped easily by the Lakeland keep. We do end up with numerous opportunities and take a lot of shots but all but one (shot from Mark Santos headed for the side net) are easy ones for the Lakeland GK. Eight minutes before the final whistle, our shot at another shutout fades away as a free kick from the right (described by an unnamed announcer as not being in a dangerous spot) finds the back of the net when a Lakeland forward, a NW defender and keeper all go up for the high flying ball. None touch it and the ball lands in the back of the net. 6-1 is the final score and we can start preparing for our match up with West Noble Wednesday night.
LINING UP BEFORE THE GAME
POSTGAME MEAL WHILE WATCHING THE NEXT OPPONENT
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