Northview Titans Varsity Boys Game Summary

Northview vs. Dacula, 6-0
March 18th

Game conditions: 43 degrees, no wind at game time 8:00pm

Drub-v., to beat severely, to defeat decisively (Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary)

Northview's Titans added new vocabulary to this season's descriptions of their game style, and made the trip back from Dacula Friday night with another shutout notched, and a season high six goals scored. Titan ball control, execution of passing both in open areas and while guarded, and a defense that kept it quiet most of the night for the Titan keeper, were the hallmarks of this match.

At two minutes, Dacula fouled AJ Johnson, and the free kick from 50 yards came in to freshman Tanner Chamblin. Tanner demonstrated the high quality game he was intent on having, with a sharp header from 18 yards to Sayeed Mehrjerdian at 12 yards on the left. Sayeed's cross into the box found no one this time, but the Titans were establishing how and where much of the contest would be fought.

In the next four minutes, Chamblin got off two shots from 20 and 30 yards; the first went wide left, and the second was saved in the air by the keeper. David Cantor set up the next Titan scoring chance with a fine pass from 25 yards to Mehrjerdian, who seemed to slip just as he shot, and the ball went wide right. In the 11th minute, though, there was no such slip, as Alex Alonso's lead to Josh Carter on the right let Carter cross from the right corner and fed Sayeed at 5 yards. Short shot, and a GOAL - Titans 1, Falcons 0.

Titan keeper BJ Luksis' first save was an easy one, on a short head flick by the Falcons from 12 yards that went down to the ground, after a free kick from 50 yards. The first of several indirect free kicks for dangerous play was called at 14 minutes against the Titans, in Dacula's end of the field. The Titan offense would be stopped later in the game with IFK calls, for attempting to bring down passes at chest or shoulder level. Through the first half, the Falcons offense consisted of trying to drop the ball in to 20 yards from midfield, or taking free kicks from 40 yards out, and driving them over the crossbar.

A strong part of the offense this night, Mehrjerdian also stopped Falcon drives from developing by tackling well near the touch lines. Jeff Scannella entered the game midway into the first half, quickly took a ball from midfield into 20 yards and fed Jimmy Mitchell making a run, but Dacula's keeper won the race to the ball near the end line.

The Titans all got into the mix in the rest of the first half, with Scannella feeding everyone a ball to take a shot. Jeff's next touch took him into the penalty area on the left side. He had only one defender in the way, and he passed the ball out to Cameron Pratt, whose low shot from 15 yards was saved. On the next Titan march upfield, Stephen Gulia passed to Scannella, who found Brandon McCollum open at 30 yards. McCollum's shot went wide right. Scannella brought the ball in from 40 yards once again, found Jeremy Stille open, and Stille's shot went wide left. At 31 minutes, Andrew Stoniecki came in undefended from 40 yards on the right touch line, lined up a shot at 20 yards, and missed wide. Dacula's keeper must have been thankful for the near misses, but not for long.

More of Stille's good passing this night found Jeff Scannella at 35 yards out on the right side. He dropped it back out to Gulia at 50 yards, then called for the ball on a run in to the box, made a head flick on the incoming pass, recovered the loose ball on the left side at 10 yards, and drove a shot low to right for the Titan's second GOAL. Titans 2 - Falcons 0.

The Titans played out the remaining nine minutes of the half, with Brian Colyer leading the defense in clearing anything coming in to within 25 yards in the air with good headers. And on offense, Mitchell and Scannella seemed to be having great fun passing up the touch line. Northview couldn't capitalize on any of several more chances -- from corners, good crosses in to the box, and including one fine piece of dribbling by Mitchell from 40 yards into 10, going around 2 Falcon defenders, but no clean shot resulting.

In the second half, the Titans kept pouring it on. Stoniecki's formula was to keep bringing it in unchallenged from midfield on the right side, draw a defender at 40 and then feed one of several midfielders on short passes. On one such drive, Josh Carter took the feed, then crossed in to Sayeed at 15 yards, and a four man pile resulted, including Mehrjerdian, the keeper and two more Dacula defenders. On the next drive, it was in to Scannella who found Alonso in the left corner. Alonso crossed into Mehrjerdian on the right post, whose quick stretch kick made it another GOAL for Northview. Titans 3 - Falcons 0.

Luksis was required at the other end of the field to make a save, as a Dacula attacker found a rare opening after collecting a throw-in, passed to himself and shot quickly. Northview continued to dominate on the attack, though, with Alonso taking a free kick from 25 yards, apparently deflected by a wall of defenders for a corner kick, and McCollum turning the incoming corner kick into a shot going just over the bar from 10 yards. At 51 minutes, some fine Northview passing created the next GOAL. It was Stoniecki from 50 yards out, down the right line to Carter at 30, who crossed in to Chamblin (Scannella let the ball thru on a wonderful fake). Chamblin's shot from the left side was too much for the keeper, and it dribbled over the line just as Scannella arrived to finish if needed. Titans 4 - Falcons 0.

Northview found the net again in the 54th minute, with Stoniecki crossing in from 40 yards to Scannella at 25 yards, who rocketed a left footer past the keeper for another Northview GOAL. Titans 5 - Falcons 0.

A mental lapse in the Titan defense gave a lone Falcon attacker a breakaway from 50 yards, but Stephen Gulia's speed allowed him to catch up and make a tackle just outside the penalty area. The referee assessed a tripping foul, and Luksis made a save on the 19 yard free kick on a hard ground shot.

The Titans kept pressing the offense, with Cameron Pratt, Jeff Scannella and Jeremy Stille all taking shots in the next ten minutes, and AJ Johnson had three shots. All of them either went wide right or were saved by Dacula's keeper. Toward the final minutes of the match, Brian Colyer and Andrew Stoniecki had been rotated up front for the Titans, and each had two solid opportunities for more scoring. Colyer scored the Titan's sixth and final GOAL of the night at the end of a long flurry of shots on net at 75 minutes. He began it with a shot from 15 yards that was saved but not maintained by the keeper. Scannella got the ball on the left side and shot hard toward the top of the net; the keeper's initial block rebounded out to the right side of the goal area, where Colyer finished with a fine shot high into the middle of the goal. The final few minutes saw more shots, by Stoniecki on a header from ten yards which was saved, and a final blast by Alonso which went just high of the bar.

Final score: Titans 6 - Falcons 0.