Warsaw-NW images

# 7 (3A) Warsaw - #13 (2A) NorthWood 3-1 (3-0)

The day starts well with a nice JV result (1-1; Chase Duerksen goal) which moves their record to 3-1-1. The Varsity faces the # 7 team in the state. Warsaw, with a 10-2 record. Warsaw has 15 seniors on the team and unfortunately for us, it is Senior Night. This drawn out affair takes a good 25 minutes which results in a late start. The team gets announced, kind of. Some of the players' names (Gillion, Grabber and Jursen ???) seem to be too difficult to pronounce. The game starts with NW playing well and looking to combine. This only lasts until the 9th minute when Warsaw's # 10 takes advantage of some defensive indecision, 1-0. It becomes clear early on that neither NW nor the arbitration trio performs up to the level expected in a game of this magnitude. The Tigers score in the 21st and 30th. The halftime 3-0 score is indicative of the play on the field. Our positioning is off and it is disappointing to see that a good scouting report and consequent game plan is not really executed well. We do better in the second half and do not allow another goal. The center referee (one of the kind who has to explain all his bad calls) seems to have little control of the game and hands out 4 yellow cautions to NorthWood (Jerson, Sebastian, Kayden and Dijkstra Sr. all are recipients). In the 75th, a cross (corner) from Kayden into the box finds Chase Duerksen who towers over everyone and with a hard on the target header, Chase will score the lone NW goal on the night.The referee misses a foul and a hand bal in the box but consistent with his performance all night long, he does not call them. The final therefore is 3-1. The result is not awful, the NW play was not good and there are some things that need corrected. Just to be fair, Warsaw is a good team and plays with only 3 men in the back and those 3 were tough to expose; they are fast and physical. NorthWood falls to 9-2 on the season and has only one day to prepare for #16 Goshen.

Froggy 102.7 broadcasts NW-Goshen game this coming Thursday

Game Day #11

The # 13 (2A) 9-1 Panthers go on the road to face the # 7 (3A) 10-2 Warsaw Tigers today. The JV game starts at 5 pm and the Varsity follows at 6:45 pm. Warsaw's losses are against FW Carroll and Mishawaka Marian. NorthWood's only loss of the season was against Northridge. The Panthers have won their last 7. It will be senior night in Warsaw tonight. While some players have a knock or two, the only injury concern for tonight is Jerson Sanchez who is still nursing the injury he sustained in Friday night's football game. A win tonight would be one of the biggest wins in program history. Speaking of history; the 9-1 start of the season is a program best as is the #13 ranking! We hope to see everyone tonight cheering on our boys. Go Panthers!

Goshen Invitational this coming Saturday - Tournament Information

Final Score part 2

Courtesy Kyle Dijkstra.

Your 2019 Argos Tournament Champions

Courtesy Adam Bontrager.

Final Score

The announcer quickly turned off the scoreboard and hurried home after the home team was defeated by the Panthers 2-3. An impressive NW win against a good team and all this without one of our crucial players, Jerson Sanchez. Hopefully he will be back against Warsaw. More pics and stories from today's tournament below. I will have Kyle correct the scoreboard and post it here.

Championship Celebrations & the Paperazzi

#4 Argos - $15 NorthWood 2-3 (0-2) Argos Invite Final

After the coaches had a chance to speak with Argos's loopiest of fans and with the hope that the Dunlap girls had made it to Eugene Snyder Field, it is finally time to take the field and battle for some hardware. The Panthers do not come out flat this time around. They realize this is a worthy opponent, hence their #4 ranking in 1A. It looks like the Dragons themselves think they are pretty good as well gauging their reaction when NW's Michael Hahn passes to his right to Kayden Newcomer who finds Andre near the box. Andre shoots and scores, 0-1 in minute 7. The Dragons look shocked; they are not used to being scored on this early. It was obvious to the coaches that Argos has make some changes by taking their best defender and moving him up the field. Kayden takes advantage of that as he feasts on #13 in the early part of the first half. Argos #7, a very talented player, close shot is saved by Andrew Graber. It will not be Andrew's last important save of the game. In the 26th, Sebastian crosses a ball to Andre who puts in NW's second goal; 0-2. Two minutes before HT, Argos #3 gets a free kick on the frame but Andrew comes up big with a nice save. 0-2 is the half time score. The hope is for one more goal early in the second half to take the wind out of the Dragons' sails. In the 57th, Kayden gets mauled in the box and the Panthers get awarded another PK. Trent goes up to the spot but is not money in the bank this time as he puts it over the goal. Four minutes later we get the strangest goal of the tournament. On the left side of the Argos box, a Dragon defender attempts to clear the ball but shanks it. The ball flies into the box and is headed towards Cam. Cam gets a head on it but it goes for the Argos keeper. But the ball goes in between his legs and over the line for a 0-3 lead. A chaotic end of the game ensues as Argos starts to press and NW is unable to put too many passes together. There is little possession on either side and a lot of hard nosed kick ball is the result. Argos scores in the 62nd, enhancing the NW anxiety. It gets worse when they score again 9 minutes later. The Panthers battle through the last 9 minutes but hold on for a deserving win. We win the tournament, go home with a trophy and are 9-1 on the season. The Panthers work hard and defend from all positions all night long. Congratulations boys.WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!!!!!

Fact Check: this is NOT the perfect Pitch

Far from it, this pitch was probably the worst field we have played on this season. Bumpy, uneven and spots with so much sand that you can easily take an entire Kindergarten class there to play for recess equals an added challenge for our boys.

Break time.....preparing for the Final

Argos Invite - South Bend Washington - NorthWood 1-5

Argos beats Rochester 8-0 in game one (what a lucky "draw")which means they will play in the 8 pm Final with plenty of time to rest up and not having wasted too much energy getting there; in other words, the perfect set up to win the tournament. NorthWood takes the field against SB Washington where our keeper gets announced as Andre Grabber, not a bad name for a goal keeper. He will end up grabbing a lot of balls and making quite a few crucial saves. What we dub the Panther Classic V 2.0, our Panthers come out pretty flat and the Washington Panthers have some skill but not a lot of speed. Early on however, Washington gets a free kick that seems to go to the left but gets redirected by a NW body part and disappears into the net and we fall behind 1-0. A push in the back on Kayden in the back gets called for a PK. A nice and needed present. Trent is money in the bank; 1-1. Seconds later, Kayden is involved again when his throw in reaches Andre whose shot goes in; 1-2. History repeats itself 8 minutes later (barely history then at this point) when Trent, our throw in specialist, finds Sebastian who makes sure he is responsible for the 1-3. Kayden is one of the final recipients of the ball on the right after a nice from the back NW build up. Kayden finds Sebastian who connect smoothly, 1-4. Chase gets fouled in the 74th (taken out from behind in the box) and gets to take his own PK. He makes no mistake - 1-5 which is also the final score. After a lethargic start, the Panthers turn it all around in the second half and will now get some food and rest before the 8 pm final. A major challenge for the second game will be the fact that we have to play without Jerson, who injured his knee in the other football, on Friday. Jerson is a very important and integral part of this team that now, without him, others will have to step up to make up for this loss.

Game Day #9 tomorrow

Saturday is the annual trip to Argos where we face South Bend Washington at 3 pm. The winner of that game plays the winner of the 1 pm game (Argos-Rochester). The losers face off at 6 pm. The bus leaves the school at 1 pm.

NorthWood JV -Westview JV 3-2

In what Coach Douwsma describes as a game like he has never experienced before, the Panthers come away in a nail biter where Andrew Meyers scores the winning goal as time expires. Their record is 3-1-1 with the next game Tuesday at Warsaw.

New Strategy

When all else fails, try to start 12..........

Press Box images

So, not really a year to make fun of other clubs' press boxes but I just can't help myself. The thoughts that have gone into this one are impressive. Some genuine ingenuity for sure.

Elkhart Christian - NorthWood 0-8 (0-2)

Indicative of today's game is GK Andrew Graber's positioning on the field (at the kick off spot) as he admires Angel's first goal of the season. The game itself starts a little late due to a girls game prior to ours starting late. It is obvious early on that this is not a strong opponent and as long as we pass and get open, this should be an easy victory. The early press is not super effective but we score nonetheless in the 6th when Kayden hits the cross bar from the right and the ball lands in front of Andre on the left who, in turn, serves it to Sebastian. His laser shot hits the ropes for an early 0-1 lead. Not much good happens until about minute 23 when a Sebastian Guillen corner finds Trent Edwards' forehead but the ensuing header hits the cross bar (2 for 2 in that department!). Four minutes later, Andre slips a thru ball to Jerson who goes one on one on the keeper. Jerson makes no mistake and scores the second NW goal. The halftime score is 0-2 in this not very entertaining match. We try too many thru balls and balls over the top that do not reach their destination. At the half, coach Duerksen talks about keeping it simple, pass, get open and press the opponent. Elkhart Christian seems to have developed a new strategy when they take the field with 12 players but notice just in time that they are fielding too many. NorthWood plays with more energy in half number 2. Two minutes into the second half, Andre gets another assist with his throw in to Jerson. Jerson goes 1v1 on the keeper and places the ball over the line for the 0-3 lead. Lightning to the north is far away and not threatening to stop the game yet.Seven minutes after the first second half goal, Andre passes a ball to Sebastian. Sebastian, who is having a great night on the pitch defending, attacking and distributing, decides to go at it alone. He dribbles by 2 ECA players and with a decisive hard shot signs for the 4th NW goal (his second of the night!). Four minutes later, Sebastian gets involved again with a long thru pass to Kayden. The ECA keeper does not come off his line and Kayden gets the ball inside the box. He slots the ball to his right into the goal; 0-5. A scramble in the box a minute later, ends with Angel Pantoja placing the ball over the line and the Panthers go up 0-6. In the 56", Kayden takes a long distance shot that finds the net (0-7) and things are falling apart quickly for the Eagles. Their keeper has already left the game with an injury and the back up only touches the ball when it is in the back of the net. In the 59th (and what turns out to be the last minute of the game) another mad scramble in the box has players from both sides trying to get control of the ball. The winner is....Joey Eshelman. His shot finds the back of the goal; 0-8! More lightning, now also to the south, is noticeable and the arbiter stops the game. After a quick sideline conference, the ECA coach decides to make the game official. 0-8 is the final score and moves the Panthers to 7-1 on the season.

Game Day 8; away at Elkhart Christian

Tonight's opponent are the Elkhart Christian Eagles. The Eagles are 4-3 on the season with wins versus Culver Community (6-0), Oregon Davis (4-0), Granger Christian Christian (10-1) and Prairie Heights (8-0). All of these teams are in the "weak to very weak category" so not exactly wins to brag about. The 3 losses are against Bethany Christian, Lakeland Christian and Argos (9-0). These last three are all in their Conference . Their "prolific" goal scorer is #3 Becker; he has 10 on the season. The game is slated to start at 7 pm and is a Varsity only contest. The bus will leave the school at 6 pm! The JV plays Westview at home. This will be the first year that Elkhart Christian has a nicer press box then we do.