Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
SYRACUSE - NorthWood's varsity boys soccer team did something for the first time Thursday night, and Wawasee coach Paul Boyd said he remembers what that's like.
"I'm extremly happy for (NorthWood coach) Brad (Duersken)," Boyd said. "I remember the first time we beat Warsaw and Plymouth. When you step up and beat those power schools for the first time, it's a pretty big thing."
And Thursday night it was NorthWood topping Northern Lakes Conference rival Wawasee for the first time, 3-1.
"This is the first time the program has beat Wawasee," Duerksen said. "This is my fourth year, and I've seen improvement every year. We lost eight starters last year, but you couldn't tell by the way we've played."
The win improves NorthWood's overall record to 2-1 and 1-0 in the Northern Lakes Conference. A year ago the Panthers were 0-5-1 in NLC action.
The home loss drops Wawasee's overall record to 4-1-1 and 0-1 in conference action.
The Warriors struck first with sophomore Michael Cone making good on a penalty kick with 36:15 remaining in the first half.
After that it was all NorthWood. With 6:06 left in the first half, Panther junior Chris Roelandts tied the game at 1-all. Just over a minute later he put NorthWood up with his second goal.
"He played a good game," Duerksen said of Roelandts. "He has a lot of speed. He usually plays midfield, but tonight we moved him up because he really has a lot of speed."
With 2:30 left on the first-half clock, Roelandts nearly put NorthWood up 3-1.
The Warriors spent most of the game outmanned, as senior Alex Hernandez was ejected from the game in the first half for shoving NorthWood goalie Casey Lehman and then arguing with a teammate and an official.
"It's crucial," Boyd said of the ejection. "We played a lot of the game down 10-11. That's pretty difficult, especially against a team like NorthWood. My hat's off to Brad, they're a good team. I told the kids there has to be a winner and a loser, and tonight they were the better team. I would've liked to see how we stacked up against them. You have to play the hand you're dealt. You learn from it and go on."
Junior forward Brody Morningstar scored the game's final goal at the 16:36 mark of the second half.
The Warriors could have scored at least six times in the second half but sent the ball sailing over the net like a field goal.
"Our shooting offensively was poor," Boyd said. "Our shooting wasn't good. We didn't drive the ball, we were just kicking it."
Wawasee will be in action again Monday at Huntington North in a make-up game. NorthWood, which will play 10 games over the next three weeks, will host Central Noble Monday.
NORTHWOOD 3, WAWASEE 1
Wawasee goal - Michael Cone (penalty kick)
NorthWood goals - Chris Roelandts 2, Brody Morningstar 1
Wawasee record: 4-1-1 (0-1 NLC)
NorthWood record: 2-1 (1-0 NLC)
