#18 NorthWood - Trinity 6-3 (3-1)

The National Anthem causes incoming vehicles behind the dugout to stop but the traffic jam clears up once the music stops. In the booth we hear an unfamiliar voice. Randy Cripe has a previous commitment and Nick Davis is nice enough to take over and flies solo. But all goes smooth on the west side of the field. NorthWood is aware that Trinity's number 9 has found the back of the net 22 times so far this season. A tall, skilled and strong player who needs a little bit of extra attention. Dom makes sure he does just that in the first minute of the game when he takes the ball off of the #9 and starts a NW attack. In the 5th minute, Carlos applies pressure to the Titans defense that results in a NW throw in. The throw goes to Dom who finds Sol who takes the ball in the box. His pass across the 6 gets to Jack who simply taps the ball into the goal for an early lead. In the 14th, Sol starts a run on the right into the box. His cross goes to Carlos who tries to aim at the goal but has to drop it back to Grant. Grant takes a shot and scores, 2-0. In the 19th the referee awards the panthers a free kick taken by Dom. Sol ends up with the ball in the box, turns and shoots the ball into the low left for a 3-0 lead. Where most teams would have a tough time getting back in the game, you can tell that this team feels they always have a chance of getting back into it. Sebastian Lindstrom makes his debut in the 20th. His first action for the Panthers is a steal when he takes the ball off a Trinity player. In the 30th, a Trinity midfielder challenges Carlos for a header and pushes him in the shoulder which results in Carlos' dislocating his shoulder. With the help of AT Mr. Widner, he is able to get his shoulder back in place but will not see action the rest of the day. After the restart, Trinity scores when #9 goes by a couple of NW defenders and shoots the ball low into the right corner; 3-1 which is also the HT score. After the break, play goes back and forth until Dom delivers the ball to Sol on the left flank near the Titans dugout. Sol delivers the cross into the box to Jack who leaves the ball for Dom who crushes the ball into the roof of the net for a 4-1 lead. Despite it being a three goal lead, it does not feel like that. It has more of a 1 goal lead vibe. And soon after the Trinity kick off, they score with a shot outside the box over Trace; 4-2. In the 58th, Drew Davis delivers a very accurate cross into the box. Sol's header off the cross goes into the net; 5-2! Dom sits on a yellow card and when he challenges a Titan where he gets the ball, the Trinity Greenlawners Coaching staff scream foul and ask for a yellow. The entire coaching staff chirps the entire game and acts as if they never get a call. That in itself is irritating enough but to ask for a second yellow just because you are unable to contain someone is not very classy. An inadvertent hand ball in the NW box gives the Titans what they hope for, some help from the opponent. The PK goes to the right and Trace gets a hand on it but just not enough to push it out of the goal. And with 8 goals scored on the day, the scoring is still not over. When Dom gets possession of the ball near the middle circle, he drives the ball up the field almost losing control of it but in order not to, he crushes the ball from over 20 yards out to the left of the Trinity back up keeper to paint the final score on the board: 6-3! A good win against a 7-1-1 team and a game with a high entertainment value that shows we know how to execute in the final third. The Varsity moves to 6-3-1 on the season. The JV wins 4-0 where Kyler's second goal is his 10th of the season. Tueday's game will be a tough one against and at Class 3A #17 Warsaw.