Tuesday, September 11, 2018
Match Day 8
The ninth game of the season is a home game against NLC opponent Warsaw. The Tigers own a 6-2-3 record with the only losses coming in games against Homestead and Northridge. The Panthers are 4-3-1 on the season. NorthWood is in the middle of their season (8 games left to play) and Warsaw near the end (3 games left after tonight's game). Warsaw is ranked 13th in 3A this week and the Panthers would like to get a win and kick them out of the Top 20. So far, we have played three common opponents; Argos (Warsaw 1-1 draw, NW 4-3 OT loss), Concord (Warsaw 1-0 W, NW 2-0 L) and Northridge (both teams lost). The Tigers have only scored 15 goals in 11 matches and seem to be in a lot of close games. Their are strong defensively and have given up only 6 goals so far this season. The JV game starts at 5 pm, followed by a 6:45 kick off for the Varsity match up. Game time temperature will be 73 degrees and sunny skies so a great night to take in an NLC match! Go Panthers!
Monday, September 10, 2018
Today's practice
Today's practice will run until 4:45 pm. Varsity needs to meet in Duerksen's room (but be dressed for practice) at 3:20 for a short meeting. JV will meet on the practice field at 3:30 pm.
Argos Invitational Lakewood Park Chr-NW 1-2 (PK SO), Argos-NW 4-3 (OT)
In Game 1 Argos comes from behind to beat South Bend Washington. Game 2 features Lakewood Park Christian against the NorthWood Panthers.The Panthers play well against the #4 1A Panthers. LPC has a well balanced team that focuses mainly on having a well organized defense. Despite several chances, NW fails to score before the tea. In the 66th, Sebastian assists Landon who slips the ball past the LPC keeper for the 0-1 lead. Six minutes later LPC scores to tie the game. There is no score the rest of regulation and no score either in both half of the OT. So to PK's we go. NW is up first and Kayden's PK is not a goal and LPC does put their PK first in the back the net. Sebastian makes his and the ensuing PK by LPC sails way over the goal (1-1 at that point). Andre scores his as does LPC (2-2). Landon does not miss his PK but Luke comes up big with a stop(3-2)! All Andy has to do is score and we move on to the final. Andy hits the ball with pace and despite the fact that the keeper gets a hand on the ball, the shot is hard enough to hit the net! The referees seem to think they need to have LPC take a PK yet so obviously they either did not track the score or they do not know how a PK shootout works. The 8 o'clock final between #10 (1A) Argos and NorthWood starts out with a bang......for Argos. They score in the first minute. A very energetic Argos faces a flat Panther team. In the 8th minute Landon (who is on his own half) goes at a pass from a teammate. With his speed, he gets away from the defenders but the whistle blows because the AR puts up his flag for off side. Coach Duerksen explains in no uncertain but yet polite terms that the AR is wrong and does not know the rules of the game (a common theme it seems among the 30-55 year old crowd of referees). But the obvious goal scoring opportunity is taken away. Argos retakes control of the game and this results in another goal in the 24th, 2-0. The Panthers get one back in the 30th (Landon Parker) but the Dragons score again three minutes before the half time whistle. A fiery half time speech by coach Duerksen that focuses on workrate and pride has its desired effect. Jerson's pass finds Sebastian's head which leads to the 2-3 header over the GK). Two minutes later, Andy Duran fights to keep a ball in the box and gets the ball to Jerson whose hard and accurate shot finds the back of the net (3-3). With less then 2 minutes left in regulation, we all get ready for another couple of halves of OT. This second consecutive OT game sees a lot of NW players go down with cramps in their legs and understandably so. Two full games is a lot to ask from any player let alone if those games last 94 minutes each. As the coaching staff is about to prepare for another PK shootout, an Argos attack is not cleared properly by the NW defense and consequently, the ball is not dealt with on the second attempt and an Argos forward is able to sneak in and deposit the ball behind Luke with 70 seconds left in the second half of overtime (4-3). Despite another desperation attack by the Panthers, the score remains 4-3 and Argos wins its own tournament.
Friday, September 7, 2018
Argos Boys Invitational
Admission for the tournament is 5 dollars for adults and 4 dollars for students. These are all-day passes. Concessions are available at the field.
Match Day 7
Tomorrow is Match Day 7 (and we will play games 7 & 8). We will play Lakewood Park Christian in the second game of the Argos Invitational. Game 1 features South Bend Washington vs. the host Argos. Game 1 starts at 1 pm, Game 2 at 3 pm. The losers of Game 1 & 2 will meet up at 6 pm and the winners will face each other at 8 pm for the trophy. NW is the defending Champion after defeating South Bend Washington in last year's final. Our first opponent, Lakewood Park Christian (from Auburn) has an undefeated 4-0-2 record going into tomorrow's game. NorthWood is 3-2-1 while Argos is ranked 15th in 1A with a 3-1-4 record. We have incomplete information on South Bend Washington. We only know of three results in which the Panthers from Washington are 1-2-0. The weather is somewhat iffy so bringing rain gear might be smart. The bus leaves at 1 pm so we can catch the second half of the first game. Chicken tacos/tortillas are on the menu for the meal in between games (unanimous decision)!
Wednesday, September 5, 2018
Wawasee-NorthWood 2-4 (2-3)
After a fairly close JV game that gets out of hand late, Marshall Beebe and the NW JV make sure they set the tone for the night. Marshall Beebe collects four goals on the night and Aiden Schrock scores his first NW goal. The game is closer then the score indicates, the last 3 (NW) goals are scored in the last 10 minutes. It is a hot afternoon and it apparently affects the announcer who manages to butcher Skyler and Sebastian's last names (Durkensen and Gillen; a good name for a law firm). The arbiters will prove to us tonight that they look better then they will perform. FIRST HALF- The Panthers start out with lots of energy. A very early attack by Jerson has him weaving thru several midfielders and defenders and the moment he sees some room, Jerson takes a hard shot which he slots behind the beefy Wawasee keeper for a quick 0-1 lead (2"). With moderate pressure, NorthWood seems in control early on. In the 8th, Andre sends a cross towards Luster who, while running in the box and at the goal, heads the ball. The ball misses the frame just to the right. A good effort and a good and promising start. But one defensive let down on the left and the Warrior's #14 speeds by the defense and at the goal and all of a sudden it is a tied ballgame, 1-1 (11"). In minute 17, Jerson's pass to Landon turns into another goal scoring opportunity which gets saved on the line. In the 25th NW is awarded a corner. The training ground corner works to perfection as the Jerson corner to Andre who plays Sebastian who, in turn, takes the hard shot on the frame for the 1-2 lead. Officiating thru the first half is inconsistent and an awful lot of fouls are not even recognized, including one where Landon gets tackled from behind (official's observation "they got tangled up"). In my book, "tangled up but from behind" would be a foul. But no foul is awarded. More about this reference a little later on. In the 35th, Wawasee's #4 Pena goes around our defense. He has extraordinary speed and a very good shot and proofs to us that with those two assets, he is a deadly threat as he scores the 2-2. Four minutes later, Sebastian adds to his goal total when he wins a challenge in the box and heads the ball over the Wawasee keeper and a defender and then passes the ball in the left corner for a 2-3 half time lead. HALF TIME- The discussion at the half has a focus on organization in the back and spacing in the middle. SECOND HALF- It starts out similar to half number 1; Andre places a free kick from the left towards the right to Kyle Luster. Kyle's header requires a save tip by the keeper for another NW corner. In the 50th, Landon finally has enough of some defensive hacking from the Warriors defenders but pays for the retaliation push with a yellow caution. A challenge in front of the main stand does not end well for Sebastian; while going up for a header, he is being shoved in the back and lands awkwardly.He comes off the field under his own power. Wawasee #4 goes around the defense in 5th gear in minute 69 and his shot goes past Luke and hits the post. Luke gets up very quickly and recovers the ball off the woodwork. A very important save indeed. In the same minute, Andy Duran comes on the field. He provides some relief as the lone striker immediately. Andy holds on to the ball, passes it off when possible and in the 70th takes a great shot with pace that barely goes over the crossbar. Andy holds on to the ball in the 72nd and waits for support. Andre makes a terrific run up on the right side. Andy finds Andre's feet. Andre's right side magic ends with a precision pass to Landon. Landon turns with the ball and whacks the ball with good speed into the right upper 90 for a 2-4 lead! Two minutes later a Wawasee midfielder runs into Nick Lechlitner right outside the 18. The center whistles and we all figure it is a NW free kick but the call is that Nick "fouled" him but the term used by the referee is that they got tangled up. Sound familiar. Yes it does, thanks for asking because when this happened to Parker in the first, tangling up equaled "no foul" (for NW) but now, "tangled up" (read: barreling into Nick) means a free kick for Wawasee. The inconsistency is blatant incompetency at best. Fortunately we get to see the Wawasee trick free kick (chip over wall to #4) and the effort misses its mark. Note to self for Sectionals for sure. Kayden Newcomer is the last NW player to get a crack at a goal. He receives the ball outside the box, turns the opposite side from what the Warrior defender expect and hits a nice shot that hits the crossbar. The final score is 2-4. The captains armband for a great effort goes to Andre (played hard and defended well) and Landon. Both played a very good game but that can actually be said about the entire team. Everyone worked hard on the pitch. The defense did well especially considering they have had to adjust to life without Trent and do this in a different formation. Sebastian added two goals to his season total, Landon had a nice goal and Jerson started us off with the nice cracker in the second minute; like he said "I love playing on this field!"). Jerson was asked to defend the middle in the holding MF position in the last 20 or so and matched their #4 for sure.NOTES- The JV is now 1-3, the Varsity is 3-2-1 (1-2 in NLC). Next up for the JV the home game vs. Warsaw while the Varsity plays two games this Saturday in the Argos Invitational). Today's practice will be from 3:30-5ish.
Tuesday, September 4, 2018
Match Day 6
Today we travel to Syracuse to play NLC opponent Wawasee. The Warriors started the season strong with two wins (Westview and SB Riley) but have since been unable to add another "W" to their record. They are currently on a 6 game losing streak. Our common opponents so far this year are Concord (Wawasee lost 4-1, we lost 2-0) and Bremen (Wawasee lost 3-1, we tied 3-3). In the Panther Classic NW and Wawasee faced each other in the final. NW would pull off the win in a PK shootout after the game had ended in a 1-1 draw. This is a chance for the Panthers to get their first NLC win. The JV (0-3) will kick off at 5 pm, followed by the Varsity match. It promises to be a hot and muggy one today enhanced by the artificial turf pitch. During the extra Labor Day practice, Coach Duerksen emphasized to all players the importance of hydration before today's game. Hope to see everyone there! Go Panthers!!!!
Mowing issues......
In case you wonder why the game field isn't always mowed, it probably is because we get too busy mowing other soccer related things such as coach's notebook and the net for the stickdown.
Sunday, September 2, 2018
Guess who the cars belongs to for a NorthWood Soccer prize
The four entries below show a part of a soccer players' car. Guess which one belongs to who (CAR A - "player name") and email it to NWdutchtouch@gmail.com by Wednesday 9/5/18 before practice for a NW soccer prize.
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