Northview Titans Junior Varsity Boys Game Summary
Northview v. Whitewater - 4-1
February 13th
The JV boys began their 2006 season with a home game against an out-of-region team from Fayette County, the Whitewater Wildcats. It was a very cool evening as the boys kicked off close to 6:30 p.m.
The long-term future for this team looks good, with 17 of the 23 member squad being made up of freshman. Captained by Russell Bradford and Gio Perazza, the team kicked-off in a 4-4-2 formation with the starting line-up being:
Bader Kashlan
Gio Perazza Caulin Collier Jarrod Nesser Steve Whiteside
CJ Jones Sebastian Czech Ross Cantrell Chad Elsey
Russell Bradford Steve Kim
The game began slowly with both teams probing for possession in midfield with the first attack on goal coming in the 3rd minute when the ball was crossed to Chad Elsey but the ball went out for a throw-in. Northview began to keep possession and in the 6th minute the Wildcat goalkeeper’s goal kick went straight to Sebastian Czech who passed to Russell Bradford and he passed to Steve Kim for Northview’s first real chance on goal. Northview won their first corner shortly thereafter, and they hit the post with a volley after the Wildcats tried to clear the ball. It was all Northview pressure, and in the 9th minute Ross Cantrell took a free kick from just outside the Wildcat penalty box which was collected by the away team’s goalkeeper. Whenever the Wildcats looked like threatening the Titan defense they were stopped dead in their tracks by Gio Perazza and Caulin Collier.
After 13 minutes, the Titans made their first substitution with Michael Driscoll coming on for Ross Cantrell. On the 15 minute mark, the Titans won a foul just outside the Wildcats penalty area and Jarrod Neser’s free kick was just over the left hand goalpost. The Wildcats made a rare entry into the Titans’ half only to be foiled by Chad Elsey and Jarrod Neser. The Titan goalie, Bader Kashlan, did not touch the ball until the 20th minute. From his clearance the Titans made a quick counter attack with Chad Elsey getting the ball to Steve Kim whose right foot shot hit the post before Russell Bradford beat the defense to the rebound and forced home the Titans’ first goal of the season. Last year the JV Titans did not score until their fifth game, so this was a much quicker start to this season.
Josh Taylor made his season debut in the 25th minute replacing Chad Elsey. With 5 minutes left in the first half the Wildcat’s goalie cleared the ball to Steve Whiteside who headed the ball to Caulin Collier. He gave the ball to Michael Driscoll who passed to CJ Jones. CJ took the ball down the wing and cut-in nicely but the goalie managed to gather the ball. The Titans kept up the pressure for the rest of the half but could not score again and at half time they led 1-0. The score did not reflect the Titans’ dominance.
In the first minute of the second half the Titans’ won a free kick just outside of the Wildcat box and Jarrod Neser’s free kick was stopped by the goalie on the line. The Wildcats began to play more aggressively with two speedy forwards running at the Titan defense. In the 41st minute CJ Jones got the ball into the net but it was ruled offside. Despite constant Northview pressure, the defense had to be wary of a quick counter attack but whenever one came Gio Perazza and Caulin Collier played well and stopped them.
In the 49th minute Russell Bradford and Chad Elsey combined to get the ball to Steve Kim who tapped-in the ball to make it 2–0. The Wildcats cut the lead in half a couple of minutes later when they scrambled in a strange goal following their first corner of the game. Chad Elsey discussed the goal with the referee and received a yellow card for his efforts. Rick Van Patten came on for Josh Taylor. Not to be outdone, the Titans responded well and in the 54th minute Steve Kim worked his way into the penalty box only to be pushed down from behind. Caulin Collier calmly took the resulting penalty and hit an unstoppable shot past the goalie.
The Wildcats kept changing their goalie but to no avail. With their third goalie of the night in the nets, the Titans scored their best goal of the night in the 61st minute. Jarrod Neser began the move with a nice through ball to Russell Bradford who played it out to Brandon Burton on the right wing. Brandon then played the ball back to Russell who dropped it back to Jarrod who then crossed it to Steve Kim who scored his second and Northview’s fourth goal of the night. Logan Greenburg came on as the Titans kept up the pressure and with three minutes left, following a poor clearance from the goalie, Sebastian Czech went close and put the ball into the side netting.
With 28 seconds left, the Wildcats had a rare attack but Bader Kashlan still had to be brave as he dove at the feet of the Wildcats forward who was surging into the Titan penalty area.
