Northview Titans Varsity Boys Game Summaries
Northview v. Peachtree Ridge Lions 1-3
February 26, 2008
Peachtree Ridge looked, on paper, to be the Titans’ toughest opponent to date and on a frigid night their starting line up was:-
Carter Rhoad
Tyler Chamblin Caulin Collier Jarrod Neser Chad Elsey
Chris Britton Jacob Lee Tanner Chamblin Dan Schwartz
Eric Carrion Jeffrey Degen
The Titans were attacking the TitanTron with a strong wind at their backs and immediately Eric Carrion broke through forcing the Lions’ keeper to kick clear. Within 90 seconds Jacob Lee had given a nice through ball to Jeffrey Degen who then caused the keeper all sorts of problems and the Lions frantically cleared the ball. Still in the second minute Eric Carrion had a shot just miss the left hand upright. The first few minutes were all Titans but they could not get a good shot on target and would come to regret that as time went on.
The Lions did not mount any attack until the 6th minute when Chad Elsey defended well. The Titans had another chance in the 9th minute when a Titans clearance was chased down by Eric Carrion. As Eric went through, the keeper fumbled the ball and knocked it back to Eric but he was unable to control the deflection and it went wide. The Lions did not get a shot at Carter Rhoad until the 13th minute but they put it wide, however, they did get the first corner of the game in the 15th minute. Tanner Chamblin headed the corner clear.
With 18 minutes gone, Eric Carrion cut in from the left wing but his right footed shot went high. Northview very nearly took the lead in the 21st minute as Eric Carrion flicked the ball to Jeffrey Degen but his chip over the keeper just missed the crossbar. Shortly thereafter, Jeffrey was subbed-out for Nick James who was making his season debut. The Titans kept up the pressure but the Lions did have a quick break after 23 minutes which they shot wide. Jason Scannella then came in for Chris Britton and very quickly drew a foul earning a Lions player the first yellow card of the game. Tyler Chamblin was replaced by Jamie Sanclemente after 26minutes.
The Lions had begun to pick up their game nearing the half hour mark because, until then, there had really only been one team in it and the Lions did not look like a top ten ranked team! Despite this improvement by the Lions, the Titans won their first corner with 28 minutes gone. Caulin Collier had passed to Jason Scannella and he beat the keeper but a defender cleared the ball off the line and conceded the corner. Northview immediately won a second corner which Jamie Sanclemente took. He gave the ball to Nick James who fed Jacob Lee but his shot was high. Jamie then had another chance from the goal kick but the Lions held on and then turned the game upside down. By the 31st minute Peachtree Ridge could easily have been down by three or four goals, but the Titans had failed to take advantage of their possession and were made to pay when the Lions got a goal on a quick break against the run of play. Disaster struck 19 seconds later. The Titans defense failed to clear a long throw and the ball sailed over the top of a group of players to a Lions forward totally unmarked near the six yard box. He hammered the ball home to give the Lions a thoroughly undeserved 2 – 0 lead. No excuse for that, just terrible defending.
All credit to the Titans, howeve,r as they did not let their heads drop and for the rest of the half they were once again the dominant team, pushing forward, shooting and winning several corners.
The Titans’ starting line up returned for the second half and this time took quick advantage of their possession. Jarrod Neser took a long throw which Chad Elsey left for Jacob Lee who took his time to carefully shoot past the keeper to get the Titans back in the game at 2 – 1 in the 43rd minute. The Titan defense was under pressure and had Caulin Collier to thank for making a great block on the Lions within a minute of the Titans goal. Even though the defense was struggling Carter Rhoad was not called upon to make a save until the 53rd minute and he dealt with it admirably. The next couple of minutes were all Peachtree Ridge and Carter, Tyler Chamblin, Dan Schwartz and Chad Elsey all helped soak up the pressure.
In the 59th minute Carter Rhoad followed a long ball from the Lions towards the corner flag and let it run out for a goal kick. The assistant referee had agreed with Carter but the referee decided it was a corner. From the corner, the ball bounced around inside the Titans six yard box, wasn’t cleared properly and the Lions hit it home to take a 3 – 1 lead. Another defensive lapse let the Titans down.
Jacob Lee had been under constant attention from the Lions players and he earned a yellow card in the 63rd minute. He was replaced by Stephen Dunbar and within a minute Stephen came ever so close to scoring Northview’s second as his shot beat the keeper but just missed the right hand upright. Carter Rhoad was then called into action and made a brave save diving at the feet of a Lions forward. Jacob Lee subbed-in for Jeffrey Degen. Northview tried to climb back into the game and Jacob, Tanner, Dan, Stephen and Eric were all involved as the Lions defense struggled to clear the ball. With 10 minutes left Chase Reineke replaced Chad Elsey in defense. The next minute Jarrod Neser, Tanner, Dan and Stephen were all involved before Jacob was fouled two yards outside of the Lions penalty area in the center of the field. Jacob and Chris Britton stood over the ball but Jacob’s shot was high and wide.
The game fizzled out after that with a few attacks by Northview far outweighing anything that the Lions had to offer. At the end the Lions had an extremely fortunate victory because they didn’t win it, the Titans lost it.
Final score: Northview Titans 1 – 3 Peachtree Ridge Lions
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