Northview Titans Varsity Boys Game Summary
Sequoyah v. Northview - 1-0
March 4th
Conditions: 55 degrees at game time 6:20pm
The Northview eleven faced an opponent whose school name foreshadowed the difference in the score. The Sequoyah team stood firm while standing still, and in the end the Titans prevailed!
The game provided Northview enough scoring chances to have made this game a pleasant walk thru a tall forest. On defense, the Titans yielded nothing but had to stay on their toes to avoid surprises.
Northview's only score came at the 46th minute on a fine shot by Jeff Scannella, after the Titans came out for the second half with a stepped up level of play that assured their victory.
The match began with a style of play that was maintained for most of the half, with Northview passing thru and dribbling by Sequoyah's defense, but not finding the net with any of their shots. Josh Carter's corner kick for the Titans in the 11th minute, headed out by the Chiefs, followed two minutes later by a Chiefs' free kick from 40 yards out that Titan keeper BJ Luksis easily caught, were both indicative of what the offenses offered this evening.
Northview drove in again and again on passing efforts by Scannella, Tanner Chamblin, Andrew Cameron, and Brian McCollum, yet the Sequoyah keeper came out to collect balls that didn't quite connect. Cameron, Scannella, Josh Carter and Jeremy Stille, all took shots that either went wide or over the bar, and Carter's bicycle kick from the 15 was pulled in by the Seqouyah keeper. At the other end of the field, Luksis often stood at the 18 or farther out, directing the defense to clear, and the Titans made an easy time of stepping in on Sequoyah midfield passing that often was not targeted. One tense moment for the Titan defense occurred at the 20th minute when Luksis had to scramble on a poor pass back to him with a Chief attacker nearby.
As the first half was nearing its end, Scannella fed Alex Alonso 25 yards out, and Alonso was taken down just inside the penalty area and awarded a PK. His shot went over the bar, giving Seqouyah a chance to rest at a halftime break with no score.
Coach Cianciola's words during the break must have sparked something, for the Titan midfield play in the second half created more opportunities for the Titans. Fouls by a beleaguered Sequoyah squad became more frequent at midfield, and Stephen Gulia would restart the Titans' offense with penetrating kicks into the penalty area, creating Titan header shots to keep the Chiefs' goalkeeper busy.
At the 45th minute, the closest chance to a Titan score came when a Chiefs' player erred on an attempted clearing pass, sending a high ball back into the box that the Chiefs' keeper had to go up to save from being an own goal.
One minute later, the Northview offense did what it had to do, and Jeff Scannella dribbled right to left all the way across the top of the box, spreading the Chiefs' defenders. He circled around the left side and sent a hard low shot back to the right corner of the net past the diving Seqouyah keeper, and the Titans earned the margin of victory.
Just two minutes later, Luksis had to come out and make a kick save at the 18 on a Chiefs' attacker that snuck through. For the remainder of the match, the Titan defense rebuffed Sequoyah's few attacks, with Brian Colyer, Andrew Stoniecki and David Cantor keeping Luksis protected, or passing back to the Titan keeper to set up Northview's next drive downfield, with Luksis booming the ball into the Chiefs end of the field.
AJ Johnson, Scannella, Sayeed Mehrjerdian, Tanner Chamblin and Cameron Pratt all took shots on the Seqouyah net in the last 20 minutes of the match, and Sequoyah's keeper was able to punch them out or collect them. Andrew Cameron found himself alone in front of the keeper with a bounding ball, and made a short lofted pass to himself but it was just snatched by the keeper to avoid what would have been an easy open net for Cameron.
The Titans wound down the last two minutes with Sequoyah challenging twice into Titan territory. Luksis punched out one ball, and a final shot from the right corner by the Chiefs was hauled in by Luksis.
