Northview Titans Varsity Boys Game Summary
Northview vs. Duluth, 0-0
April 12th
Game conditions: 66 degrees at game time 8:15pm
The Titans and Wildcats battled to a 0 - 0 tie in a 2nd half rain, and following a first half that had a 45 minute weather delay after playing just ten minutes. Quick decision-making and large amounts of athleticism by both goalkeepers kept everything out of the nets, despite numerous shots from well positioned attackers at both ends.
Not that the defense allowed much for free; there was little sloppy play, just smart offensive ball handling by Northview and Duluth in front of both nets. The Wildcats played a man short for the final 27 minutes after drawing a red card.
Duluth attacked quickly and repeatedly in the first several minutes, and at five minutes Titan keeper Brian Luksis made a save at five yards with two Wildcats making runs into the box, on a ball sent in from 30 yards. For both teams, the initial pace was fast and quick, and challenges were hard. Marking up by defenders often covered the jersey numbers on players receiving passes, and fouls were sporadically called. The Wildcats received the first of three yellow cards in the 8th minute after a trip on Jeff Scannella at midfield. Northview fouled a minute later at 40 yards out on the left, and the free kick into ten yards was headed over the bar by Duluth.
The lightning flashed - the game was delayed for three quarters of an hour.
After resuming play, the Titans hurled many thunderbolts of their own at the Duluth keeper. Jeremy Stille drove a header low to the right side of the net, but the keeper's dive intercepted the strike. A free kick for Northview in the left corner on Duluth's end found Brandon McCollum open, and his shot was saved with an over the head grab by the keeper. Stephen Gulia drove one into the penalty area from 40 yards, and the keeper claimed it.
Intense play at midfield led to a foul called on Josh Carter, and a yellow was shown to Carter after the play. Two minutes later at 28 minutes, Scannella shot from 22 yards out just left of the penalty arc, and put it off the crossbar. The Titans passed well thru the half, with crossing plays that included AJ Johnson, Alex Alonso, Carter and Andrew Cameron, but few developed into solid shots on goal. And at 32 minutes, Scannella sailed past two Wildcat defenders who had been draped on him during the half regularly, then released a shot from 12 yards that went high over the goal.
The Titan defense kept the Wildcats away from the goal area for much of the half, breaking up passes, and not allowing openings. Duluth often chose to make long passes in from midfield looking for open space, but the Titan defense of Brian Colyer, Andrew Stoniecki and Gulia stepped in to turn the ball back, or chest it down and take control.
Late in the half, Luksis quickly came out to 6 yards as a ball got loose with a Duluth attacker closing in, and cleared away with a quick kick to the side.
Early in the second half, the Titans possessed well, and Alonso got two openings from 30 yards out. The first was a screamer that went just wide right in the opening minute, and his second shot a minute later was a low bullet, deflected by a Wildcat defender for a corner kick.
At 49 minutes, Luksis rushed out to 16 yards to clear a ball left open, and then it was quiet at his end for several minutes. At 51 minutes, Duluth picked up another yellow card with a wild jump into a Northview player at midfield. Two minutes later, the referee showed a red card to a Wildcat who put a cleat up into Stoniecki's midsection while scrapping in the left corner on Northview's end.
Though playing a man down, Duluth was able to mount attacks during the rest of the match. Colyer, Gulia and David Cantor shut down many of the runs down the wings, and those that turned offensive for the Wildcats were stopped by Luksis. Just a minute after losing the field player, from 10 yards the Wildcats put a shot off the left post of Northview, which bounced out harmlessly for a goal kick. Northview was called for fouls at 56 and 58 minutes, giving Duluth free kicks from good field position. The second restart by the Wildcats was well placed, but made it all the way thru the front of the goal area with no one touching it. Luksis punched out a hard shot from 30 yards a minute later for a Duluth corner kick, and after the initial incoming kick was cleared, another Duluth shot from 30 yards went high over the net.
Andrew Cameron broke free at 66 minutes and executed a short pass off toward Scannella on his left at 15 yards, but the Wildcat keeper slid out to collect the ball.
Northview and Duluth went up and down the field for several minutes, then the Wildcats collected yet another yellow card on a foul. At 75 minutes, Titan keeper Luksis leaped high and to his right to punch out another Duluth shot from 20 yards headed for the net, and the Titan defense cleared the resulting corner kick.
The Titans had additional rushes at the Duluth net in the last few minutes, including a ball allowed to play on after Andrew Cameron was tripped; Scannella attempted to go around the defense and the keeper on the left, but found no net. Quickly after, Cameron Pratt drove thru to ten yards and shot, with the Duluth keeper preventing a score yet again.
At the other end, with Duluth coming downfield, Luksis was staring at a ball and an attacker, and chose to backpedal to his line when the attack was 25 yards out. In a tense one on one, Luksis then moved out to defend, and two foot fakes by the attacker as he tried to get by the Titan keeper gave Brian Colyer just enough time to rush back in and make a sliding tackle to divert disaster. The Titans came back up field twice more, but could not find a passing lane to get close, and the match ended at 11pm in a scoreless deadlock.
