#19 NorthWood- Concord 0-2 (0-1)

The new pressbox gets its first match and our back up announcer has no problems with the Concord roster but trips over Jager Bute's first name pronounciation (it is not like Jagermeister) but Jager does not seem affected.FIRST HALF- The first 15 minutes are sloppy and do not contain a lot of consecutive passes by either team. The Panthers do not have all players available as they have to leave Trace and Dom on the bench. Maddox takes over the temporary keeping duties (and does very well). The first time he sees any action that needs his attention is in the 17th minute. A Concord shot on the frame requires Maddox to make his first save. A challenge in the NorthWood 18 in the 26th between a Concord attacker and Gifton results in a tackle near the end line. Fifty percent of the officiating crew blows the whistle for a PK. The PK lands in the net for a 0-1 Concord advantage. Five minutes later the Panthers show up near the Minutemen box and as Drew Davis collects a ball and goes at the box. When he notices that no one is shutting him down, he takes a shot that barely goes over. HALF TIME - The adjustments at the half deal with our midfield and that our MF's need to have options when they have the ball. Concord attackers need to be shut down near the box and our verbal communication needs to improve. Clearly, even after not a great first half, we are in this game. SECOND HALF- Our passing was not fantastic in the first half and that seems to improve early on.The first four minutes we play better combination soccer compared to the first half. As we seem to settle in and get more comfortable we lose the ball in the middle and Concord swings the ball to the right and a long shot from outside of the box is taken on the volley by a Concord midfielder. Despite Maddox getting a hand on the ball, it disappears in the upper left, 0-2. We are contending with Concord the rest of the game and get two great opportunities; Sol in the 61st that has him go for placement from the 6 but the keeper saves it and Carlos in the 69th with a one on one run into the box. His great take is saved miraculously by the Concord keeper's foot. A disappointing result where we had our chances but could not get them past the Concord keepers. NOTES- The JV falls 1-4 to Concord. JV record is 1-1-0, Varsity starts the season at 0-1. Next up is Bethany away tomorrow. JV plays a half game at 5, Varsity kicks off at 6 pm. Trace will be available again which will give us Maddox back on the field.