Saturday, September 13, 2008

62 x 2 = 2 wins, three hours to nowhere.

After waking up Cesar and Eddy, which made for a rocky start of the day, the team got a notification from our "AD" that the Crown Point Invite had been canceled due to the flooding of the fields. At this point we had logged 62 miles and were west of Wanatah. Our bus driver, unusually chatty, turned the bus around and continued our trip eastbound. Technically, the cancelation turns into two forfeits. Our record now stands at 3-2-3. Tuesday is our next home game (vs. Warsaw). Due to the weather, it is unknown where practice will be held monday. An announcement will be made during the course of the day.

So, after 124 miles, the team returned to NorthWood with the advantage of being able to rest up for two ranked NLC opponents next week.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Crown Point Invite

Looks like rain, feels like rain............must be rain. Rain is in the forecast for tomorrow's tournament and it looks like rain most of the day. With the temperatures in the low 70's it will be good soccer playing weather (not watching weather). Make sure you have extra pairs of dry socks, towels and rain gear and if you have them, extra pairs of soccer shoes.

NorthWood - Wawasee 1-2 (1-0)

FIRST HALF
Some opportunities presented themselves early on in the game but it took until the 20th minute before NW was able to create some danger off a corner kick. The Wawasee Goalie found it necessary to push German down at which point the somewhat obese center referee pointed at the white dot in the box. The Douwsma conversion resulted in a change on the scoreboard, 1-0 NorthWood. For the next 18 minutes, the only excitement came from sources other then the soccer players. The Wawasee ball boy on the dug out side asked the bench if "we ever hmpff thge grrrrr championship on the grokkhyuuu" to which we had no response. I guess it is tough to respond to something you don't understand. The center ref questioned my position on the sidelines but, as is typical for most referees, must have had some substance in his eyes since he was not able to see the wide white painted lines I was walking between. So yes, I was in "my box" and he acknowledged that with a "whiny" "I see the line now". In the 38th minute, Seth hit a hard shot off a St. Germain pass inside the Wawasee box that hit the crossbar.

SECOND HALF
An optimistic re-start for NorthWood resulted in a great shot by Cesar(42nd min.). A great GK save prevented the so much needed 2-0. Two other great chances (Trevor on the goal line in the 48th & Rethlake's shot from the right side missed the goal just to the right in the 65th)should have put NW ahead by 2 or 3 goals to put the game away. Four minutes later a long distance shot by the Warriors sailed over the goalmouth and into the far post net, 1-1. With less then 10 minutes to play,(I believe it was the 75th) Chupp fouled a Wawasee midfielder from 23.5 feet away (according to the bow legged creature in yellow & black)with his -apparently very very long 25 foot-arms by pushing him down in the box. The ensuing PK was to be the last score of the game. Wawasee won its first NLC game, NorthWood fell to 1-2-3 overall & 0-1-1 in NLC. Despite the botched call, NW should have capitalized on some first half and early second half opportunities. A chance to redeem themselves will be tomorrow at the Crown Point Invite. The bus leaves at 6:15 sharp.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Update on Crown Point Invite game times

The starting times on the NorthWood games are (EST -our time)as follows: 9 am vs. Wheeler, 11:30 am vs. Crown Point & 3 pm vs. Griffith. The previously listed starting times are Crown Point times (CST).

VV Grijpskerk - Broekster Boys 3-2



Watch the video & pictures of the September 6 match. Video of 1st team highlights start at 0:52 (after pictures of the 2nd/B team) . After winning the first regular season game in the 2nd division, Grijpskerk is tied for first. Next up is Wykels Hallum.

Friday, September 5, 2008

Bremen at NorthWood 2-2

With the remnants of "Gustav" looming overhead, the Panthers took the field against the Bremen Lions. An unusual 5 pm start (Bremen does not have a JV) confused one official who showed up for a 6:45 game at 6:30. The two remaining officials did a nice job of calling the game. That performance might have been one of the few highlights of the evening.

FIRST HALF
After a Bremen kick off, it was NorthWood who came out trying to control the ball. In the 4th minute a NW attack resulted in a Seth Douwsma assist to Ryan Lincoln on the left side, who, with a nice fast paced ball put the ball in the back of the ropes.The 1-0 lead gave NW the upperhand for a while. In the 12th, a deflected ball landed in front of Cam Seitz. Cam took a nice rip at the goal. The ball sailed just over the crossbar. In the 15th minute, Nick got the ball to Seth, who missed just to the right of the far post. Then the tide turned; Bremen took the ball to the NorthWood side of the field. In the 29th minute, Bremen hit the NW far post. The ball came back out and the Panthers escaped.

SECOND HALF
The Panthers' kickoff almost resulted in a 2-0 lead. The far pass to Lincoln in the PK area resulted in a challenge between the Lions GK and Ryan. A foul could have been called but wasn't. In the 44th minute, Bremen's #7 scored the tying goal when the ball disappeared in the goal on the near side of the play. Four minutes later a Cesar Salinas free kick on the NorthWood defensive end of the pitch, ended up near the left side of the Bremen box. Seth ran onto the ball and got a solid touch on the ball to goal before the Bremen GK could get to it, 2-1. In the 57th minute, Andre Hilson scored the tying goal for Bremen.The 2-2 score would stand and give NorthWood its third draw in a row.

NOTES

The Bell choir will not take the field until next Thursday at Wawasee.

Next up for NW is a NLC matchup at Wawasee. For a change, the varsity will play first (4:30) and the JV will follow at 6:15 pm.

Today's practice is at the High School.

Red & black #16 sweatbands were giving to each Varsity player in remembrance of Travis Hunsberger.

Our next opponent Wawasee beat LaVille (potential sectional opponent)4-0.

Seth leads NW in scoring with 5 goals, Ryan has 2, Trevor and Cam each have one goal scored.

Temperatures are expected to be in the 70's all of next week, which is good news considering we will play 4 games (and 3 of those in one day).

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Crown Point Invite times & opponents announced.

The Crown Point Invite will be held on Saturday September 13, 2008. At 8 a.m., NorthWood will face Wheeler(field #2), at 10:30 a.m. the opponent will be Crown Point(field #1) and at 2:00 p.m. NorthWood will play Griffith. All games will be 70 minutes long (2 x 35 min.).

Northridge @ NorthWood pictures





WITH THANKS TO CAM'S DAD.

Mishawaka @ NorthWood pictures






A GERMAN CROSS

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Vitesse - FC Groningen 0-4

FC Groningen is tied for first place with PSV Eindhoven after round one of the Dutch Eredivisie by beating Vitesse Arnhem 4-0.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Mishawaka Floppers - NorthWood Panthers 1-1 (0-0)

A decent crowd was witness to a subpar performance overall. Subpar soccer, subpar acting and subpar officiating. The high workrate from just a few days ago was absent today and so was the precise passing. The first half was actually quite boring and the only highlights before the half were my conversations with former players Robbie Balogh and Kyle Hunsberger before kick off. Despite an effort by coach Duerksen to correct some shortcomings on the Panthers' side, the second half continued the same way the first half ended. Sloppy play with hurry up kicks were at rare times interchanged with some combination passing. The Mishawaka Floppers did a great job convincing the Ref of some barbaric fouls by the Panthers. His upcoming eye doctor appointment comes to late for the NorthWood side. It was Mishawaka who,halfway thru the second half, found the back of the net first. With NorthWood pressing off and on, time was running out. With 2 minutes left, it was NW forward Douwsma who was finally able to get a shot on the frame. After a deflection, the ball rolled towards the Mishawaka goalie. He got a hand on it but was unable to stop the forward progress of the ball. It rolled slllloooooowwwwllllly into the net; 1-1. The draw gives the Varsity a 1-1-2 record (0-0-1 NLC).


The Bell Choir saw a 2-1 lead disappear with little time left on the clock.Mishawaka tied the game 2-2. The JV's record stands at 1-1-1. Josh and Collin (I think) scored the NW goals.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Vitesse Arnhem - FC Groningen





Groningen travels to Arnhem for a 8:45 pm game tonight in the Gelre Dome in the first round of the Dutch Premier League. The FC just returned from a friendly pre-season match versus AEK Athens (played at the Olympic Stadium) in Greece. FC Groningen lost 2-1 on two late AEK goals. Berry Powel scored the lone FC goal.

Northridge - NorthWood 1-1 (0-1)

What a difference 48 hours make. A motivated NorthWood eleven stepped inside the lines after a speech from coach Duerksen about the meaning of having Travis Hunsberger's jersey on the bench with us this season. On this night, the team played the way Travis played each and every game.

FIRST HALF
In front of a crowd that filled the stands and then some, it was Northridge who won the toss and the right to kick off. The first 10 minutes of the game went back and forth as the teams were getting used to each other. In the 13th minute, Ben St. Germain passed the ball to Ryan Lincoln around the 18. Lincoln took a hard shot at the goal. With the pace he put on the ball combined with the accuracy (going away from the goalie), the ball ended up in the back of the net, 1-0. It was Lincoln's first goal of the season and NorthWood's most important goal so far.

In the 26th minute, Brandon German was able to get his name in the books, after receiving a yellow caution. In the 35th minute, Raider Andy Morrison got an opportunity around the goal box area and a shot at goal. Maliq Taylor was able to stop the ball. In the 37th minute, a NorthWood attack landed the ball in front of Christian Barahona's feet right in front of the Northridge goalie. Christian lofted the ball over the goalie towards the goal. The ball hit the inside of the left post and bounced back out. The 39th minute provided a little entertainment for the bench. After a hard elbow and tackle by the Northridge #15 on Eddie Salinas, both coaches tried to assist the referee by telling him how hard the foul was. The idiot in yellow took offense to the advice by not giving Northridge a yellow and by admonishing both coaches (to quote Grandpa: "One more sound and you're done"). A minute later, with only seconds to go until the intermission, Christian received a yellow card for kicking the ball away after a whistle for a free kick.

During the half, some minor adjustments were made and the defensive adjustments made during the first ten minutes of the game, reitterated.

SECOND HALF
In the 56th minute, NorthWood attacked the Northridge goal when Ben St. Germain got tangled up with a Northridge defender. In our eyes it should have been a NW free kick but Grandpa decided to go with Northridge. His eye sight bothered him even more in the 71st minute when Seth got all ball while a Northridge defender went down in a battle for the ball. Seth ended up with a yellow, his first of the season. Moments later, Cesar Salinas had to leave the game temporarily with a nosebleed after being hit in the face by an opponent. A lot of substitutions occured during the second half, partly due to some minor injuries or cramps and partly due to the way the game was being played. The Raiders kept pressing on and the NW defense kept it together well until the 74th minute when Northridge saw an opportunity for a shot at the goal. The shot hit the inside post but came back out, no goal. In the 78th minute the ball was on our defensive end in the corner. Northridge lost the ball, the AR indicated the ball went over the line and then changed her mind to a free kick for the men in green. I guess that she had not played a prominent role in the game so far and wanted to put her stamp on the game as well. The free kick landed in front of Luke Carpenter who pushed the ball towards the goal, low and hard, to tie the game with 120 second left to play. Despite NorthWood pressing at the Northridge goal no real opportunities came about thus sending both teams home with one point in the conference.

A hard fought game with tough play and good defense ends in a draw. At this time last year, the team was 1-1-1 as well but it looks to me that this years results rank a little better so far then last year's. It was a good comeback after a less then stellar performance against Lakeland Christian.

The man of the match was, without a doubt, Ryan Lincoln. He was strong on the ball, threatened the Northridge defense all night and of course scored a nice goal. All players that entered the game played well and hard, without exception. As coach Duerksen stated after the game, it was good to see players upset about the draw instead of being happy with it. It defines the attitude of the players. With this type of effort, this team could have a very good season.

NOTES
Skyler Titus and other members of the football team were out to support the soccer team again. Dressed in 1990's Germany style NW soccer jerseys, the men were situated in front of the front row.

This was the best attended game in about two years (Northridge - NorthWood in 2006).

Hoosierfutbol.com ranked Northridge #25 in the state before yesterday's game.

The Bell Choir (JV) lost 7-0 and struggled defensively.

Next up: Mishawaka, tomorrow. JV 10 a.m., Varsity at noon. It is essential that the varsity displays the same type of effort on Saturday in order to get a good result.

Today's practice information: JV at the High School, Varsity at the game field.

Ryan Mattern returned to the commentators/announcement booth for another season!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

NorthWood - Lakeland Christian 1-2 (1-2)

1-0 (4") - Cam Seitz (assist Douwsma)
1-1 Lakeland Christian girl
1-2 Lakeland Christian boy

JV wins 4-0.

Varisty record 1-1
JV record 1-0

Next up: first home game vs. Northridge, tomorrow 5 & 6:45.

Friday, August 22, 2008

NorthWood - Central Noble 4-0 (3-0)

I guess we were missing the flight attendant so the pilot had to give us the evacuation instructions in case the plane would crash. This was followed up by an announcement about bags needing to be put under seats. After a late take off, we finally landed in Albion fifteen minutes after the game was supposed to have started. Fortunately no one got injured from luggage in overhead bins that might have shifted in flight.

"The Hill Stadium" had been partially watered which was an improvement over the last couple of years. If improvements are made at this rate, the entire pitch will be irrigated by 2012.

The Panthers took the field after an abbreviated warm up. The first dangerous shot came in the 4th and came from Seth. In the 9th minute the Cougar goalie made a great save to avert going down early against a better NorthWood team. On an assist from Ben St. Germain, it was Seth who went one on one on the goalkeeper in the 11th minute. Ducky put the ball away and NorthWood registered its first official goal of the 2008 season, 1-0. In the 21st minute, Cam saw a nice header off a corner go over the crossbar after it was touched by the Central Noble goalkeepers left hand.
Seth went into the box in the 29th and pushed the ball in the net to move the score up to 2-0. A pure soccer hat trick was still a possibility (three goals, in one half, uninterrupted by goals from the opposing team). But Trevor Moseman would screw that up for Ducky. In a 40th (!) minute Ryan Lincoln corner that went to the far post, it was Trevor who was able to get a body part (knee?) on it to bring the score up to 3.

The halftime adjustments were simple; possess the ball, play it wide and cross it in or near the box.

The play in the second half matched the field condition......ugly. Despite a nice opportunity for St. Germain, who hit the horizontal part of the woodwork, it was really only the German assist to Ducky for #7's third goal (hat trick completed)that could be added in the highlight column. Unless you want to add to that column the fact that Kronk did not grunt despite taking a soccer ball in the man berries near the end of the game. Final score 4-0, bottom line; a WIN. A better and harder working soccer team awaits the Panthers on Tuesday when we travel to Winona Lake to play Lakeland Christian.

Notes:
Also on Tuesday, former NorthWood player Arick Armington scores the lone goal in Elkhart Christian's first game of the season in a 2-1 loss.

A dry practice run with the new tent/canopy was succesful. The next step will be to actually set it up.

Hopefully we will get better at getting equipment off the bus. The cones traveled with us but stayed on the bus during the warmup.

Today's varsity practice is at the game field.

Monday, August 18, 2008

CVVB Bedum - VV Grijpskerk 0-1


Grijpskerk (in away whites) celebrating the winning Steenburgen goal.


The regular season kicks off on 9/6 but Saturday 8/16/8 was the start of the Cup competition. Grijpskerk drew first division CVVB on the road. Grijpskerk outplayed CVVB and scored in the 86" on a Bernard Steenburgen goal. This turned out to be the lone goal of the match, giving the VV Grijpskerk a win on opening day in Cup play.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Red & Black game/ countdown to kick off begins


Warm up before the scrimmage.

Last night's "Red/Black" scrimmage ended in a tie (3-3) and the self proclaimed "best referee of the year" decided to tag a PK series on to that. Because Coach Dijkstra's team was not prepared for that,it is easy to see why Coach Bell's team won that part of the competition. The annual intra-squad scrimmage is played on the game field for a variety of reasons. First of all it is a test to see if all the equipment is working. It is also the inauguration of the seniors music CD for the season (maybe a back up more up tempo CD should be developed). This season features a new "Star Spangled Banner" (I believe it is the Marine Corps Band's version but I'm sure Ducky will correct me if I am wrong).

All the lights worked, the scoreboard is in midseason form (lightbulbs are therefore already missing/not working) and the field looked great, thanks to all the hard work this summer by Nick. Thank you, Nick!

Another thank you goes to the players' parents who sat thru the rain and lightning (thanks for keeping the umbrella's up so the players did not have to worry about getting struck!). Play resumed after a short lightning delay in the second half but in general, the players looked good. It is clear to the coaches what areas need attention yet and fortunately, we have almost a week to correct some of the mistakes we noticed during the game.

August 21 is opening day for both Varsity and JV; the Varsity travels to "beautiful" Central Noble's soccer park and the JV entertains Penn at home. The Varsity game kicks off at 4:30 and the JV starts at 5 pm.

Hopefully all players will have met their $40.00 pledge goal for tomorrow's car wash at LJ Wagner (9am- 1 pm).

This afternoon we will have the usual friday afternoon practice to be followed by a taco salad(?) supper/swim/bonfire at the Douwsma's on Country Way (CR's 11&28) area).

Kick off is only 6 days away!!!

Friday, August 8, 2008

NO Practice Monday Morning

There will not be a monday morning conditioning practice. The afternoon practice will be from 3:30 until 5:30 pm.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Practice Times

The first week of two-a-days will run from 9 am - 11 am and from 1 pm - 3 pm (8/4 thru 8/8/8). The second week (8/11 thru 8/15/8) the morning session will be mainly conditioning with JV Coach Bell from 9 -around 10:30 a.m.. The afternoon practice will be from 3:30 until 5:30 (players should be getting ready around 3:15). Once school is in session, practices will be from 3:30 - 5:30 pm. All practices will be at the High School practice field. The varsity normally practices at the game field (at Nappanee Elementary) the day before a home game (unless the girls have a game).