2021 Awards Night

Tuesday November 9th (tomorrow!!) we will have our annual Awards Night in the High School cafeteria at 6:30 PM.

NLC All Conference

Even though we feel we deserved more, we received All NLC honors for Joey and Michael and Honorable Mention for Dom!!! Congratulations Gentlemen!!!! Well deserved!!!

Turning in uniform day

Thursday (Oct. 14) we will meet in the LGI room. Bring ALL NW uniforms (jerseys, shorts) in washed/clean condition.The meeting will be from 3:15-3:45. We will discuss plans for the winter and we also need to take the stick down back to the JV baseball field fence area.

West Noble - NorthWood 3-1 (1-0)

FIRST HALF- A well prepared NorthWood squad takes the field knowing that Torres and Macias need contained tonight. With the 3-5-2 (1-3-5-2 if you are LvG)in place for a while, some adjustments were made during the defense walk through portion of Tuesday's practice. The actual defensive execution part of practice worked well with Seth playing the part of Torres. Counters looked good as did the defense so tonight we have to do the same in the actual game. West Noble starts out controlling most of the game from the start but our defenders and wingbacks slide where they have to and encounter little difficulty containing Torres. In the 27th, Torres does get the ball on our right side and we do not double team near the end line where we should and the cross finds WN feet that turns into the only non set piece goal of the match. We play the way we want to for the rest of the half even though WN has more possession than the Panthers but a 1-0 score is manageable for the second half.SECOND HALF - Number 4 Macias flops all night long

as illustrated perfectly by my granddaughter Hannah Mattern. The officiating starts to take center stage in the 53rd. A ball in the box sees Eberle go up for the ball against a WN midfielder.

(drawing copyright Hannah Mattern). When Eberle turns in the air, AR1 raises his flag. The center official stops play and asks AR1 about the raised flag and to our surprise, a hand ball is called and WN is gifted a PK. Not sure how one is supposed to jump in the air and have the ball behind them and get called for a handball when the arms are not raised or extended but we have no choice but to live with this poor decision. WN scores even though Trent (who has a good night in the goal)goes to the right side but is unable to get anything on it. The Panthers start to press more and attacks the West Noble box more frequently. In the 57th a NW cross is defended by West Noble but a defenders hand touches the ball and the ball changes direction. The center ref places the ball on the 12 after loud appeals from the Panthers bench. Michael Hahn's penalty hits the ropes with authority for a NW goal 2-1!

(Illustration by Hannah Mattern). NorthWood keeps up the pressure and in the 67th, a Michael Hahn free kick hits the post. In the 69th a NW corner gets headed onto the frame by Solomon but a last minute reflex by the West Noble keeper prevents the ball from going in. And then it is time for history to repeat itself (just ask Nick Lechlitner). After #4 Macias finally received yellow caution for being the tallest and whiniest player on the field (not sure why you would put up with that behavior for 70 and then all of a sudden you've had enough) a Charger attack has Torres in possession of the ball inside the box. And just like he did two years ago, he then runs into a NW defender (Gifton this time) and falls and to everyone's surprise, the center official points at the PK sport for the third (!!!!!!!!!!) time tonight. Talk about officiating having an impact on a game. Numbers 4 and 9 had been flopping all night long but this time it pays off to play like this and never get punished for it. The penalty finds the net for the 3-1 West Noble win. NorthWood leaves it all on the field tonight. We played hard all night long, we were well prepared (although not prepared for this type of officiating). The coaching staff is extremely proud of this team. Our seniors were leaders and Joey, Michael, Kaleb and Aiden Schrock played very well tonight. We knew it would be a tough contest and with Dom being under the weather all week and unable to get much playing time, we knew we were in for a battle but we were in the game the entire time until the second West Noble PK and even after that we had opportunities. We are going to miss our Seniors next year and would have loved to send them off with a Sectional Championship! We had a young team this season and had to replace 9 starters from the team that went to Semi State last year and overall performed well with very good results against Marian and Plymouth. We end the season at 7-9-2 and had two canceled games (Glenn and Jimtown) that probably would have put us right at 500. We will collect jerseys etc. next week (Kyle will send out a remind). All in all, we will have a good group coming back next year so there is a lot to look forward to. On a personal note, I will miss our seniors. Some of them I have coached for 6 or 7 years. Thanks to our Athletic Director Roman Smith and Dean of Athletics AJ Risedorph for their support and everything they have done for us. Thank you to Sarah and all the parents that helped her with the snacks and meals. Thank you to Jeff Iwema for taping all the games and his general tent/water/propel support. Thanks to Kyle, Seth and Brayton who have not only done a great job this season but have made going to practice fun every day. When Seth asked Kyle on the bus how he would rate this season, Kyle said a B- , so room for improvement which we are eager to get start working on. Speaking of rating; on the 1-10 scale, the center ref gets a 3, AR 1 a 2 and AR2 a 9.

Media attention for tonight's game

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N73A6TTXsfE - copy and paste this link into your browser for streaming coverage. Froggy 102.7 with Craig and Ryan will be present as well for the West Noble-NorthWood game. We believe broadcastsport.net will be there (use the IHSAATV.org app on your smart tv).

Sectional Semi Final Preview

The 13-4 West Noble Chargers will field a strong team with several threats. Macias and especially Torres will be the players to watch tonight. Comparing the common opponents shows that all but one have similar results. The only result that is different is where West Noble defeated Bethany 2-1 and we lost 2-1. Tonight's match outcome will probably determine the Sectional Champion. The West Noble head coach acknowledged in the Goshen News that NW has an organized team but he says his team is confident going into the game tonight. Two years ago, West Noble knocked us out of the tournament at NorthWood and last year we returned the favor when we defeated West Noble 0-2 at their home field. Tonight we are at a neutral site on a very fast surface. We should have everyone available although not all are at 100%. The weather looks to stay dry throughout the game (of course that is what the weather people said for Monday's game as well). Kick off is at 5 pm tonight. The bus leaves the High School at 3:45 and the Panthers will wear their white shirts, black shorts and white socks. We are hoping for a good performance from the Panthers and the arbitral trio tonight. Hopefully we will have good fan support as well. Go Panthers!!!!

WHEN WE SAY BRING RAINGEAR......

CAM STAYS DRY WITH THE UPGRADED NEW JACKET. F1 FANS (AND THERE ARE AT LEAST 5 ON THE TEAM) WILL HAVE TO GET UP EARLY THIS WEEKEND FOR QUALIFYING AND THE RACE!

NorthWood-Garrett 8-0 (5-0)

With the temps in the low 70's, the wind playing a factor and with a threat of rain, it is the kind of night where you're not sure if the game will be impacted by outside influences but fortunately that will turn out not to be the case. The ever prepared Jeff Iwema (last name will give the announcer fits when Trent presents himself to the spectators) has Tent #2 ready to go and actually comes out at half time to set it up and dry out the team. Mestach and Iwema are the chosen names to be butchered tonight, broadcastsport.net and of course the familiar voices of Craig and Ryan on Froggy 102.7 accompany the game again tonight. Sectionals and therefore the one win and move on or loose and go home format is about to kick off statewide. The Railroaders are 8-8 and just come off a 10-1 loss against Columbia City, the Panthers have some defensive restoring to do tonight after the 2-1 loss at Bethany. NW is looking to get back in the groove that they were in against the likes of Marian and Plymouth. The game kicks off about on time on the very unforgiving and fast carpet some call synthetic turf with gray lines to indicate the soccer field. It turns out to be a bit of a jittery start, expected somewhat; it is the play offs after all. In the 10th, Michael finds Solomon for the first time tonight who in turn gets the ball near the goal line to Carlos. Carlos is in the right spot but his effort goes over but it is an indication that the Garrett defense might have a long night ahead of having to deal with NW attacks. Michaels passes are spot on tonight. A very, very high Garrett defensive line (off side trap) is only effective early on when we get caught being in offisde positions but after adjusting to this high line (which at times is told to move up to the middle of the field by their coach)we get plenty of opportunities. The first one that penetrates the defense is a ball from Michael over the top between two defenders in front of Joel Guzman. He takes the shot as soon as it hits the turf and his effort finds the net for a NorthWood 1-0 lead. Dominic turns up the pressure a bit in the 25th when he decides to blast one from about 30 out. His shot disappears in the right corner as the keeper dives over the ball. Now the flood gates are open. Dom assists Sol for the 3-0 in the 28th and 22 seconds later Sol scores again for one of the quickest braces in NW history. A Michael Hahn corner hits a Garrett defender for the OG and 5-0 HT score. The Panthers come out strong in part 2 as well. Carlos makes a nice move and takes a hard shot that hits the post 4 minutes into the second half. A 25 yard shot from Michael hits the ropesin the 53rd for the 6-0 lead. Two minutes later Michael's cross finds a Garrett sub's head. The poor guy just came in and fires a header that he lasers into his own goal; 7-0. Maddox Brown has a couple of opportunities and his second one requires a great save by the Railroaders' back up keeper. Trace replaces Trent in the goal, everyone comes off the bench and gets decent playing time (15 minutes plus). Five minutes before the final whistle, Bryce Knepp puts himself on the scoresheet. Maddox passes to Bryce who scores the Panthers' final goal of the night. Final score 8-0. Solid job by the Panthers who move on to face West Noble (7-1 winners over Wawasee) on Wednesday at 5 pm at the same venue. The Panthers move to 7-8-2 on the season.

Sectional 20 - Rd 1 Preview NorthWood- Garrett

NorthWood is the home team tonight versus the Railroaders who come off of a big loss to close out their 8-8 season. Garrett plays in the NorthEast Corner Conference and finished with a 4-2 record. The only common opponent is Lakeland. Garrett defeated the Lakers 3-1 where the Panthers beat Lakeland 8-0. The Railroaders have scored 43 goals in 16 games and have given up 53. Their leading scorers are #15 with 12 goals and #11 with 10 goals on the season. Today's game starts at 5:30 pm weather permitting. The GPS address for the Sectional Site at Wawasee is 401 S. Syracuse-Webster Rd and the game will be played on the turf at the football stadium. Cost is $ 6 for the two games tonight or $ 10 for the All-Session Ticket. Game 2 tonight will be between Wawasee and West Noble. The winner of today's games will face each other Wednesday at 5 pm (Oct. 6th). At this point we are not sure if we have all players available for tonight's game. If NW wins tonight, the team will stay for the first half of the second game.

ONE OF THE 4 MAX FANS

CAM SUPPORTING MAX!!! SOME OF US WILL BE WATCHING THE GP THIS WEEKEND!!!

IMAGES FROM THE SENIOR DINNER

2021 Senior Dinner

THANK YOU SARAH FOR ORGANIZING THE SENIOR DINNER (AND EVERYONE ELSE WHO HELPED SARAH!)

YOUR 2021 SENIORS!

OUR JUNIORS

OUR SOPHOMORES

OUR FRESHMEN (NOT PICTURED DOMINIC DE FREITAS)

Bethany Christian - NorthWood 2-1 (2-1)

Doesn't start well when three players don't bring their cleats and only two refs show up. And doesn't end well when this is the scoreline; 5" 1-0, 30" 2-0, 39" 2-1 (Carlos header off Dom's free kick).

Final Regular Season Game preview

The Panthers will travel to Goshen College tonight to take on the Bethany Bruins. The starting time is 6 pm and it is a Varsity only night. The 118 x 75 yard soccer field has a capacity of 1,000 according to goleafs.net with the main stand holding 500 plus seating. The GPS address for Goshen College is 1700 S. Main St., Goshen. The Bruins play their home games this season at the college because their own sports campus is undergoing renovations. The Bruins are 4-8 on the season and 2-2 in the Northern Indiana Soccer Conference. Bethany has been blanked six times thus far. They have scored 16 goals and given up 24. In contrast, the Panthers have scored 36 times and have been scored on 33 times. Common opponents are Mishawaka Marian (Bruins 4-0 L/NW 0-0 D),Northridge (Bruins 2-0 L, NW 4-1 L), Bremen (Bruins 3-0 L, NW 1-0 W), Goshen (Bruins 4-1 L, NW 4-0 L) and ECA (Bruins 1-0 L, NW 1-1 D)so our results have been slightly better. Bus leaves at 5 pm from the Pain Palace.

Thank You

THANK YOU TO RANDY AND KYLE CRIPE FOR ANNOUNCING AND RUNNING THE SCOREBOARD AT ALL HOME GAMES THIS SEASON AND THANK YOU TO OUR CERTIFIED ATHLETIC TRAINER MR. PAUL WIDNER FOR ALL HE DOES FOR THE SOCCER PROGRAM. MR. WIDNER TREATS ALL OUR INJURED PLAYERS, DEVELOPS ALL TREATMENT AND REHAB PLANS, MAKES SURE HIS ASSISTANTS SUPPLY US WITH THE MEDKIT, WATER AND ICE FOR ALL HOME AND AWAY GAMES. MR. WIDENER ALSO TREATS ALL VISITING PLAYERS WHEN INJURED AND DOES SO DURING THE PRE-SEASON AND THE REGULAR AND POST-SEASON.

1-0 & 2-0

1-0

2-0

Thank You to all our Seniors and their parents for all your hard work and dedication!!!!

ALL SENIORS WITH THEIR PARENTS

Senior Night 2021

KALEB EBERLE

AIDEN SCHROCK

MICHAEL HAHN

JOEY ESHELMAN

SO HAPPY WITH HIS PERFORMANCE, THE REFEREE DANCES THE MACARENA IN FRONT OF THE SENIOR NIGHT CROWD

NorthWood-Plymouth 2-0 (1-0)

After a pretty exciting JV game that ends in a 1-1 draw (Cam's great goal ties it up with about 6" left), it is time for the seniors to take the field for their last home game. After the 4-3-3 earlier in the season seems to be less productive then it needed to be, the Panthers have worked on some reorganization defensively while offensively switching to a two prong attack. Defensively, we haven't given up a goal in the last two games while at the same time frustrating our opponents. The hope is that that streak continues tonight at Wellfield Park (the Home of NorthWood soccer after all). The change also has some implication on the ball possession in general. A little less possession, a little more counter attacking danger in return. Plymouth is a solid opponent who just comes off a 1-0 win vs. Northridge. The game starts with some minimal Panther threats but after a few jittery oments, the game settles down a bit. In the 18th minute, NW is awarded a free kick on the left side of the pitch on the Rockies half. Michael Hahn, who has come on strong recently with dangerous free kicks, passes and corners, strikes the ball with authority towards the Plymouth box. Just outside the 6, Solomon Yeagon gets behind the ball and with the smoothest of touches, slots the ball in the near corner for an early NorthWood lead; 1-0. Michael strikes again in the 25th when a perfect pass makes it to Luis who in a very nifty way, gets away from a central Rockies defender and goes at the GK. It look like his shot to the keepers left is perfect but the ball misses just right of the far post. Luis does everything well with the exception of the finish. Plymouth gets numerous chances and some efforts get cleared off the line (Alex saves one in the first half) and in the 32nd, Plymouth #14 breaks thru and goes 1 on 1 with Trent but Trent sticks his leg in the way and keeps the 0 on the guest side of the scoreboard. The half time speech focuses on needing another 40 minute effort. We have now played 3 good halves and want to make that 4 and get a result. The second half starts the way the first one ended. The referee has a second half performance that can be best characterized as consistent.....consistently bad. We end up with four yellow cards and Plymouth with one. Carlos gets one for kicking a ball away where Plymouth did the same in the first half and gets nothing. Those are the performances that frustrate coaches; all we want is consistency! Plymouth threatens the Panthers at times in the second half but defensively we deal with it. Aiden Greenlee has the backline playing in a disciplined fashion and Kaleb and Ethan play their position well. Our wingbacks work hard from box to box. Alex has a motor that won't stop and does not mind making runs up the flank to give us additional offensive options. Luis might have missed a great opportunity in the first half but in the 68th he gets revenge. In a ball in the box situation, Luis heads the ball over the keeper. In the ensuing scramble between a Plymouth defender and GK, Luis and Solomon, Solomon ends up near the ball on the far post and puts the ball over the line for a NW 2-0 lead. It needs mentioned that Joey disturbs many Plymouth attacks in the middle and Dom has a nice game with great distribution and with about 15 or so left in the game, takes on a more defensive role -part of the new system we play- and even though it looks like we might invite more attacks from the opponent, it gives us more counter attacking opportunities as well. The game ends in a 2-0 win for the Panthers on Senior Night and the contribution by our four seniors (Michael, Joey, Kaleb and Aiden Schrock)was fantastic all night long. Our final record in NLC is 3-4. Thanks to our Seniors for all these years of dedicating themselves to NW soccer. We are glad the rest of the team could help out with getting them a win on Senior Night! Thanks to Sarah DeFreitas for getting everything ready for Senior Night. Also thanks to Jeff Iwema for replacing the broken canopy tent (which was also donated to us by Jeff). Thanks to all the fans for showing up all season long and being our 12th man! Now you know where to sit as well so thank you Sarah for posting the new signs ("Home Fans- Panthers" and "Away Seats"). Next up is the Varsity only game at Goshen College versus Bethany Christian tomorrow (Thursday 09/29 at 6 pm). The JV finishes the season at 5-6-2 and was unbeaten in their last 3 games.