COLOR INSPIRED BY SUNFLOWER FIELDS

RARE GLIMPSE OF WORKING SCOREBOARD

Northridge-NorthWood 2-1 (1-0)

What used to be a soccer field is now a combined soccer, boys and girls lacrosse field with so many different lines and colors painted on the field, you would think the Edinburgh Tattoo is about to kick off. Bathrooms are plugged, forcing players to risk their lives to play Frogger across US 20 to visit the lavatories at a gas station. The scoreboard is in about the same condition as the restrooms. It is off more often than not with time, score and comepetitors names disappearing at random. The JV Raiders defeat the Panthers 3-1 after falling behind 0-1 in the first act. The Varsity match starts around 7:15 with the sun obscuring view from the new dug outs. The Panthers settle in and play organized football for the first quarter defensively. After 18", we encounter our first defensive breakdown when NR takes the ball down the end line and the ensuing cross between the 6 and 12 does not get sufficient man marking from our left defense. An easy finish and goal puts Northridge ahead 1-0 which is also the Half Time score. It is clear that this NR team is skilled but not nearly as good as teams in the past and the Panthers have a real shot at an upset. A draw would put us in a position to win this NLC matchup in PK's. It is is however an arbitral cluster that dominates the game in the 68th minute. A loose and adventurous Raider gets fouled by Vince near the box. The awarded free kick includes a yellow caution for Vince. Several minutes later, after a official conference that seems to include the Northridhe Head Coach turns into a change of card for Vince. Apparently the center who was about 7 steps from the play, lets the AR at 38 yards away convince him that this foul deserves a red and not a yellow card. This means that not only the color of the caution changes but also changes the number of contestants on the -ugly- yellow and green pitch on this lacrosse/soccer combo complex. We are now down to 10 men. In the 70th, NR scores to double their lead to two. But the Panthers show courage and fighting spirit in the last 10 minutes as they pressure the Raiders while having a numerical disavantage. It pays off six minutes later when Jager Bute gets the ball near the top of the box and charges towards the opponent's goal. He takes a shot, it gets deflected past the NR Goalkeeper for a 2-1 lead. Cutting the lead in half puts Northridge in true panic mode. The minutes after the NW goal turn intol panic in the tent defending by the Raiders who almost get scored on when Kyler Fike threatens the NR goal from inside the 20 while the clock runs out and falls apart (the clock that is). A strange but close game ends in a narrow Raiders win over NorthWood; 2-1.

Monday Update

The JV travels about 7 miles to the west for a game versus the Bremen Lions; kick off at 5 pm. The Varsity stays behind and will have a film session followed by a light training session on the grass at Wellfield, the Home of NorthWoood Soccer.

Panthers rebound with two wins to take own 2025 Invitational

The 2025 NorthWood Invitational has NW defeating Bremen (2-1) to earn a spot in the Nightcap Final. Goals from Jager and Kyler give us a shot at another trophy! Merrillville beats Manchester in the afternoon match up. The Final is delayed by 3 (!) hours due to lightning in the area and starts at 8 pm. A NW corner finds Tyler Frye (TyFry) who heads it perfectly in the opposing corner and out of the keepers' reach. a 1-0 lead that would need some magic from GK Evander Magana after a PK is awarded to Merrillville. The Merrillville keeper is the taker and Evander the stopper of the effort, leaving the score at 1-0 which ends up being the final score of the final game. The Panthers conclude the first week of the season at 2-2-0 before taking a break in match action until Thursday when the Panthers start a three game road trip that takes us east for the first two (Northridge and Lakeland) and then west (SB Adams).

Panthers looking to rebound from early season losses

The NW Men's Soccer team loses 0-4 versus the Concord Minutemen 0-4 Tuesday evening at Wellfield Park. Despite playing a decent game, we are being outclassed by the technical skilled Concord team that shows a lot of promise of going deep into the post season. One of the goals is an OG and another is a PK. Last night (Thursday) is an evening to forget. It doesn't start out all bad when the JV beats the Bethany JV in a shortened 40 minute game 0-2 on two Bowen goals. The JV moves to 1-1-1 on the season in its quest to a record setting season. The Varsity takes on the 2023 State Champions Bethany Bruins in an unusual early start (6 pm). A couple of very early defensive mistakes turn into a score of 3-0 in the Bruins' favor. One of the goals is a very soft called PK by the center ref who would make sure that the NorthWood fans get to see a repeat of poor judgment several more times when it comes to awarding PK's. NW, not known for it's physical or dirty play, will witness this referee award two more PK's in the game to Bethany. All of them questionable at best and that is giving the last minute contracted ref the benefit of the doubt. Clearly calling this man at 2 pm for a 5 pm contest, interrupted a nap that he badly needed. Bethany ends up scoring 2 of 3 penalties. We have now been called for 4 penalties in the first two games of the season. A NorthWood record! Being behind after 30 minutes means that we are playing from behind all night. Bethany brings back 7-9 players behind the ball on our attacks and we rarely are dangerous. When a NW player gets trucked over from behind and the arbiter does not blow the whistle (just balances the plastic in his mouth, a lot of good that does), unfortunately one of the Asst. Coaches loses his cool and says "blow the whistle". That awful and hurtful comment gets a reaction from geriatric Jerry who gives head coach Kyle Dijkstra a yellow card for the Assistant's unprofessional behavior. The assistant has now halfway paid back a red card from last season. All in all, we did not play well in general, did not play well on defensive specifically and were unable to provide a lot of hold up play on attacks or semi-attacks. Stuff to work on with not a lot of time because we play game 3 and 4 tomorrow at the NorthWood Invitational(first one at 10 am). Jager Bute scores the comfort goal with minutes left in the game and sees another shot rejected by the woodwork. NOTES: Practice today at Wellfield on the turf from 3:30-5. This will be a light training. After tomorrow we will have played 25% of the regualr season games in a five day period.