Northview Titans Varsity Boys Game Summaries

Northview v. Norcross 3-1
March 7th, 2006

Soccer has been called the “beautiful game” but sometimes, well, a win is a win.

This contest was filled with “I’ve never seen that before” moments.  Let’s count the firsts for the Titans:

• both teams’ goalkeepers are shown yellow cards and have to leave the field of play temporarily;
• the Titans get an indirect free kick from 8 yards out as the opposing goalkeeper handles a pass from his own team, then for some reason lets the ball go after the official whistles the infraction. Northview scores a goal on a quick restart, then have it disallowed, with no explanation, and a second restart sees 9 defenders on the goal line;
• two balls on the field at the same time, each being played by half of each team, 60 yards apart;
• 2 overtime periods with no scoring, and the match is decided by kicks from the penalty mark;
• Only 2 of 5 shots from the penalty mark getting past the Titan keeper, which….

…put the Titans on top in an absolutely wacky 3-2 victory, as region play got underway this evening.

This match began with the Titans quickly jumping out with offensive strength, as Jeff Scannella forced the first corner kick at 2 minutes, and Brandon McCollum’s header from close in at the left post off that corner kick was saved and forced a second corner kick.  A yellow card was given to Norcross for holding Scannella from behind at midfield in the 5th minute, the Titans’ attack forced another foul, and Sam Bevan’s free kick from 35 yards out found Andrew Cameron at 10 yards.  The Blue Devil keeper was too late on charging out for the ball and Cameron got past him for a GOAL.  The Titan lead would hold into the second half.

In just the 6th minute, it looked more promising for Northview, as Cameron led Mario Perazza attacking on the right flank.  Perazza and the keeper both got to the ball at 10 yards out, the ball popped up, play continued and a moment later a Blue Devil defender saved a goal before the keeper could recover.

For several minutes after that, neither team could mount an effective attack, and the game was played at midfield.  The Titans managed a few shooting opportunities but couldn’t put them on the frame, then Norcross found some minutes of offense midway thru the half.  Yet no serious challenges to the keepers occurred.  Sam Bevan and others stiffened and kept the Blue Devils away several times in the half.

With two minutes remaining in the first half, Jimmy Mitchell stole the ball at 35 yards out, and made his move toward goal, with Jeff Scannella trailing him on the left side and defenders near each, but Mitchell’s shot went high.

In the second half, the Titans couldn’t find the passing lanes, nor get to the ball as quickly as the Blue Devils.  Norcross tied the game with a goal at 57 minutes. Whorton had gone up high for a save, was bumped, and the loose ball was kicked in for the score.

Seven minutes and five yellow cards later, the Titans regained the lead with a GOAL at 64 minutes on a beautiful team-up by Scannella and Cameron.  Jeff gained control near the left touch line at midfield, worked his way past four Blue Devil defenders into 15 yards on the left, then crossed to an open Cameron in the center who made a quick dribble and fake on the keeper and put a low shot by him to make the score 2-1 Northview.
But in between those two goals, it got a little crazy.

Two of the five yellow cards were shown to the goalkeepers, with Northview’s Will Whorton and a Blue Devil attacker getting into a scuffle after the Blue Devil goal.  Andrew Cameron donned the keeper jersey for three minutes while Whorton had to leave the field before reclaiming his net position. 

A Northview attack a minute later appeared to end in a score for the Titans, but just seconds before the ball crossed the goal line, a second ball was played in by a Norcross throw-in.  The first ball indeed had crossed the touch line, but no referee whistle announced the stoppage and half of each team followed the play all the way to the Norcross penalty area, while the other official allowed a throw in to lead the remaining players off toward the Northview end of the field.  As order was restored, the Norcross goal keeper was shown the yellow card and had to sub out briefly.

A yellow for dissent was shown to Andrew Johnson at 64 minutes, just before the Northview goal by Cameron.  And the last in the flurry of yellow was a “double dip”, with the referee holding up both yellow and red, for a 2nd serious infraction committed by the offending Blue Devil.

Norcross threatened a minute later with a long shot from 50 yards and a head flick to that ball as it approached the penalty area; it sailed just wide of the left post.  Northview’s defense cleared successive attacks with good headers by Jeremy Stille and Tanner Chamblin, but a Titan foul at 40 yards gave the Blue Devils an opportunity.  They used it well, with a low driving shot that came into the box, and ended with a Norcross score to even the game  2-2 at 69 minutes.

In the final 11 minutes of the second half, with a 1 on 1 match up just in front of him, keeper Will Whorton saved a shot taken from 30 yards.  The Blue Devils missed another chance from 10 yards on the right with a sky-high shot.  The Titans also pressed toward the end, with Scannella on the receiving end of a pass after a steal at 40 yards out.  Norcross’ keeper came out to smother Jeff’s shot from 10 yards.  Scannella had another shot from 25 yards blocked, and his rebound shot from 15 was cleared by the keeper for a corner kick.  A second corner found Andrew Cameron at 25 yards, but as he approached his shot was blocked, and the clock wound to zero, forcing an overtime period.

The Titan defense blocked a close in shot in the first minute of O.T., and Whorton made a fine save up in the air at 83 minutes on a Norcross free kick from inside 40 yards.  Meanwhile, the Titans couldn’t find a chance to shoot.  In the second 5 minute overtime, with just seconds left, Andrew Cameron from 30 yards laid a beautiful ball to Scannella, but the Blue Devil keeper was up to the challenge as he came out to break up the attempt.

Both coaches then had to pick their line-ups for kicks from the penalty mark, and it went like this:
Norcross – scores
Titans – shot by Andrew Johnson for the top right corner is blocked by a leaping keeper.
0-1

Norcross – shoots into Will Whorton’s gut.
Titans – Stephen Glover rifles a shot low left past the keeper
1-1

Norcross – misses off the right post, as Whorton guesses left
Titans – Sam Bevan scores low right side with a bullet
2-1

Norcross – scores mid right side of the net
Titans – Brandon McCollum scores low right side, with authority
3-2

Norcross – misses wide left, and it’s finally over.

3-2, TITANS WIN ON KICKS !

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