Chipotle Charitable Donations, through the downtown Silver Spring ( Ellsworth Drive ) Chipotle branch,
provided a delicious end of season feast for our boys soccer division champions.
Congratulations to Varsity Boys Soccer MVP award winner Bush Yormie (photo at left) and Golden Boot award winner Dennis Runikera Jr. (at right), shown here receiving their awards from David Edlow, coach of the varsity soccer team, during the Northwood HS fall sports recognition ceremony in the school auditorium on Nov. 10, 2009. [Photos of all award winners appear in Susan Shaffer's Smugmug gallery.]
Gazette's Game Analysis Here
Game 16: Clarksburg 2, Northwood 0
The 2009 soccer season ended a bit prematurely for Northwood's varsity boys, who encountered one of the Washington area's best teams in Clarksburg HS in the semifinals of the West Region Class 3A playoffs.
The Coyotes' 2-0 victory at home on Thursday afternoon (Nov. 5) knocks out the Gladiators from a state tournament in which they had counted on making a somewhat longer run.
Clarksburg's sturdy defense effectively shut off the same Gladiator offense that ran up five goals just two days earlier in a lopsided, second-round tournament win. Clarksburg's junior national team player scored both of his team's goals, one in each half.
The first half was rather even with several Northwood players getting close to scoring, including junior forward Daniel Caballero, who hit the post. Clarksburg's first-half goal was off of a corner kick followed by a ground-hugging shot. The other tally came off a blistering, angled shot from about 10 yards out on the left side that Northwood's junior netminder Carlos Mendez had no chance to punch away.
Thursday's contest served as an unfulfilled chance for the visiting Glads to gain revenge for one of their most disappointing regular season losses, 1-0, at home to the Coyotes.
Coach David Edlow's charges finish the fall campaign with a 10-6 won-loss mark overall, while Clarksburg, the No. 2 seed in the region, will play next Tuesday against the defending state champion in 3A, Tuscarora HS of Frederick, Md., in the regional title game.
Clarksburg is ranked as the 7th strongest boys soccer team in the Washington region this week by The Washington Post. -- posted by jay p. goldman, 10:05 p.m., 11/5/09 -Game photos by Ed Sheahin here.
Game 15: Northwood 5, Frederick 1
Selected as a pre-season favorite to advance deep into the post-season, Northwood's boys varsity soccer team may be ready to live up to those expectations, judging from their first match in the Maryland state tournament.
With their biggest goal-scoring outburst of 2009, the Gladiators smothered visiting Frederick HS, 5-1, under the lights of Kaplan Stadium on Tuesday night (Nov. 13) in their post-season debut.
Seeded No. 3 in the West Region of the Class 3A division, which earned the team a first-round bye, Northwood now advances to the regional semi-final later this week against No. 2 seed Clarksburg, which edged Linganore HS, 1-0, on Tuesday.
Clarksburg, which defeated the Glads, 1-0, in the fifth game of the regular season, will host the contest later this week. The Coyotes are ranked No. 7 in this week's boys soccer poll by The Washington Post.
Looking as finely tuned on the attack as they have all year, the Northwood outclassed the Frederick Cadets from the outset and finally polished off the finishing touches, which had been lacking for a good bit of the campaign.
The scoring spree began just 10 minutes following the referee's starting whistle when junior midfielder Dallas Aminzadeh crossed the ball into the box where his team's leading scorer Dennis Runikera (“Denny” to his mom, who never misses a game) headed the ball past the Frederick goalie.
Aminzadeh made the count 2-0 with a tally of his own off an assist from Mario Ovalle with about 17 minutes before the interval. The halftime whistle blew without Frederick having managed much of a threat at all to Northwood's Iron Curtain back line.
However, about 14 minutes into the second half, that defensive blockade was breached momentarily by a Frederick striker who put a fast, ground-hugging shot past otherwise flawless goalie Carlos Mendez. But that would be it for the Cadets, who surrendered three more goals.
The first came about 20 minutes into the half when a corner kick by senior Max Amato put the ball into a busy area in front of the Frederick box where Runikera ultimately tapped it into the net, his second of the night. Less then three minutes later, Amato, a scrappy midfielder, made his corner kick even more efficient by bending it directly into the goal, registering goal number 4 for the Gladiators.
To finish things off, sweeper Bush Yormie, having covered the entire distance of the field, scored Northwood’s fifth goal with 16 minutes remaining, off an assist by fellow defender Tito Miranda.
With a little more self-control on the field, the Gladiators would have given the referees less cause to pull out about as many yellow cards as goals scored.
On hand to witness the triumph -- Northwood's 10th in 15 games this fall -- was Principal Henry Johnson, wearing his Northwood jacket and cap. “They did an excellent job,” Johnson said. “They have made our school proud the whole season.”
Coach David Edlow was also pleased with his boys’ performance, noting the team did a better job of capitalizing on goal-scoring opportunities than it had during most of the season. The rematch against favored Clarksburg is sure to be a tougher match. “We are going to have to do even better in the rest of the playoffs,” he said. -- posted by jay p. goldman with reporting by ivan amato, 10:45 p.m., 11/3/09
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Game 14: Northwood 1, Sherwood 0
Senior night festivities in Olney for the Sherwood Warriors undoubtedly pumped up the host team for the boys varsity soccer match against Northwood on Monday night (Oct. 25).
But it was the Glad boys who prevailed over tough odds, overcoming one of the toughest sides they've faced this fall, as well as the spectacular halftime performance by the school's Poms to stir up the home team's passions.
All three aspects of the Gladiators' game -- defense, midfield and attack -- did their jobs, well enough to secure a 1-0 upset over Sherwood, the No. 1 seed in the West Region's Class 4A tournament. The performance raised the visitors' final regular season mark to 9-5 overall. But, more importantly, the win provided timely momentum for the Northwood team, which earlier in the day secured the No. 3 seed in the state's West Region Class 3A playoffs, meaning they get a bye in Friday's first round of play.
The game's only goal against Sherwood started on a long feed from junior midfielder Daniel Shaffer to Jerry Membrano, who scored with a ground-hugging shot from about 10 yards out with just under 3 minutes left in the first half. The Gladiators had a handful of other good opportunities that they failed to convert, which has been a theme for the season, but the defense managed to render Membrano's goal sufficient for the uplifting win.
Sherwood's attack force managed to force at least a half-dozen harrowing corner kicks in Gladiator territory, but the Olney team was unable to capitalize on any of them. Other highlights included the return of phenom defender Bush Yormie, who played with a taped-up ankle; a couple of quick-reflex saves by junior goalie Carlos Mendez; and stretch performances by several players including Chase Kea and Julian Saldana.
Gladiator coach David Edlow, who undoubtedly heard the high-decibel cheerleading of his father who often watches the action along with the Northwood parents and family members, was noticeably pleased with his team's showing against a tough team that was favored to win.
"We played against the best team in 4A West and we won," Edlow said, before gathering his team to remind them they still had some soccer challenges to surmount in the state's post-season tournament.
The team's first game will be a quarterfinal match against Frederick HS or Blake HS on Nov. 3 on the Kaplan Stadium pitch. Northwood squashed Blake, 4-0, in Game 6 of the regular season, but did not play any sides from Frederick County. -- posted by jay p. goldman with reporting by ivan amato, 11:10 p.m., 10/26/09
Link to Silver Spring Gazette: Northwood soccer breaks through--Gladiators beat top-ranked Sherwood on its senior night.
Game 13: Northwood 3, Seneca Valley 2 (OT)
After 94 minutes and 31 seconds of soccer play riddled by yellow cards, the Gladiators struck for a goal scored by a defender who rarely figures in the offensive scheme.
The result was a much-needed 3-2 overtime win on the road Friday night (Oct. 23) at Seneca Valley HS. The victory raises Northwood's season mark to 8-5 in the last game that will count toward calculating the seedings for the post-season state tournament that begins next Friday.
One fateful moment on the wet evening in Germantown did in the Screaming Eagles. With 5:29 remaining in the second 10-minute session of sudden death overtime, Gladiator defender Tito Miranda raced toward Seneca Valley's net to push home the game-decider off a ball that midfielder Dallas Aminzadeh niftly had fed into the penalty box.
It was a hard-fought victory characterized once again by an abundance of unfinished scoring opportunities for the Northwood 11, a recurring tale that may haunt them in the knockout tournament just over the next hill. The perseverance of Gladiator junior goalie Carlos Mendez was again in evidence as he kept the opponents mostly at bay, allowing one goal in each half.
Noticeably absent from the team's back line was injured Bush Yormie, the team's top defender, whose explosive speed and sweeping ability often saves the day.
The game's first goal came 20 minutes after kickoff when right wing/midfielder Max Amato crossed the ball into the box where striker Mario Ovalde finessed it by the host team's goalie. Ten minutes later Seneca Valley answered with a goal of its own, capitalizing on a defensive error that caught the Gladiator goalie off guard.
About 15 minutes into the second half, the Gladiators went up 2-1 by way of a beautiful combination that began with a throw-in by Aminzadeh to the Gladiators' top scorer Dennis Runikera, who relayed the ball to fellow striker Geovannny Villatoro. The latter finished off the play with a crowd-pleasing sliding kick.
It appeared that score might hold up until the final whistle, but with just four minutes left the Screaming Eagles converted a free kick from the far right side of the Gladiators' box, knotting the contest and forcing the Gladiators into their third overtime match of the 2009 season.
The Gladiators will face perhaps their most talented opponent on Monday night when they venture to Sherwood HS, rated No. 1 in the latest Washington Post poll, in the regular-season finale.
The team also will be awaiting word about where and whom the Glads will play in the first round of the West Region Class 3A tournament, unless they should surprisingly reap one of the top four seeds and earn a bye. The first-round matchups are expected to be issued on Monday or Tuesday. --- posted by jay p. goldman, 9:10 a.m., 10/24/09
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Game 12: Northwood 1, Poolesville 0
Northwood celebrated the 10 seniors on the varsity boys soccer team Wednesday night (Oct. 21), so it was only fitting that two of the evening's honorees figured in the lone goal of a 1-0 victory over visiting Poolesville HS.
With his teammates squandering several excellent goal-scoring opportunities, senior Daniel Caballero struck for the only tally 15 minutes into the contest. His short kick directly in front of the Falcons' net followed a deflection off the leg of his classmate, Bush Yormie, who had trouble settling a throw-in from junior Dallas Aminzadeh.
Poolesville, reeling now from three consecutive losses after opening the season unbeaten in seven games, pressured the ball during the game's first 12 minutes when Northwood Coach David Edlow opted to play a senior-only lineup. The Falcons also dominated with some excellent passing during a good portion of the second half, but it was the Gladiators who generated the best chances, albeit wasted.
During a three-minute stretch late in the opening 40-minute stanza, the Glads' top scorer, Dennis Runikera, failed on two excellent chances and Caballero's header was saved by the Poolesville goalie. Runikera also failed in the final minutes of the second half on three solid opportunities to extend the slim lead.
In unofficial statistics, Northwood outshot the Falcons 17-4, while Gladiator goalie Carlos Mendez picked up the shutout with five saves, all but one in the second half.
The victory raised the Gladiators' overall record to 7-5, just a few days after the team learned that its wild double overtime tie against Rockville HS two weeks earlier had been converted by county school officials to a forfeit loss. Under state rules, when a team's coach is ejected by a game official, that team must forfeit unless a certified coaching assistant is on hand to assume the duties. When Coach David Edlow was red-carded along with the Rockville coach in the late stages of the Oct. 5 bout, the host Rams had an assistant coach on the sidelines, but the Gladiators did not.
Honored in a brief Senior Night ceremony prior to kickoff were 10 Gladiator seniors. In addition to Caballero and Yormie, the seniors are Max Amato, Nahun Andrades, Alejando Izales, Chase Kea, Kevin Monroy, Mario Ovalle, Edgar Ramirez and Steven Santos.
Northwood plays at Seneca Valley on Friday afternoon, then closes out the 2009 regular season next Monday night at Sherwood HS, in what should be one of the sternest tests of the fall. The Gazette rates the Warriors (10-1 entering this week) as the top public high school team in Montgomery County.
The state's West Region knockout tournament begins on Friday, Oct. 30. The Gladiators, competing in Class 3A, had hoped to draw a first-round bye, meaning they would not play until Tuesday, Nov. 3 in the regional quarterfinals, but the forfeit now puts a high seeding and a bye in serious doubt. -- posted by jay p. goldman, 9:55 p.m., 10/21/09
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Game 11: Watkins Mill 3, Northwood 2 (OT)
The word on the field before the game was that Northwood's varsity soccer match at Watkins Mill HS on Monday night (Oct. 12) would be a tough one, which it was, and the Gladiators learned you don't always get want you want.
On this cold damp night in Gaithersburg, the host school broke a 2-2 regulation draw with a tiebreaking goal 3:10 into overtime for the upset win.
As they have shown over and over this fall, the Gladiators worked together to create plenty of opportunities, and with about 18 minutes to go in the first half, they finally got the result they were looking for. That's when junior midfielder Dallas Aminzadeh, just back from a red card sit-out following the head-shaking Rockville match a week ago, fed a ball to defender Bush Yormie, who scored the only goal of the first half.
It would take less than five minutes into the second half for Northwood to score another goal, this time in a combination that began with a free kick by Taylor D�Ottavi from 30 yards out on the right into the top of the box where striker Julian Saldana ended up dishing it back out to Aminzadeh. The latter drove the ball into the upper part of the Wolverines' net with a perfectly placed shot from slightly more than 20 yards out for the score.
Just two minutes later, however, the Watkins Mill squad, undeterred by their two-goal deficit, began to turn the momentum their way. The first goal started with a long feed from the left corner of the field to the far post of the Gladiators' goal where a Watkins Mill player put a quick foot out to meet the ball just right to get it past goalie Carlos Mendez.
Then with just under 18 minutes to go in the match, the Wolverines evened the score at 2-2, sending the Gladiators once again into a sudden death overtime contest. With 3:10 to go in the first of what could have been two 10-minute overtime sessions, Watkins Mill broke through the Northwood defensive line and scored the death-dealing goal.
"It was a tough way to lose," said Coach David Edlow, who also returned to the sideline from his own red card timeout. "We had our opportunities." Among the best chances that were squandered were two long, threatening and ultimately heartbreaking shots by D'Ottavi, both of which were rejected by the metal crossbar of the opponents' goal.
Northwood piled up 17 shots with Mendez making four saves, while the Wolverines took 11 shots. Their goalie had to work hard, tallying a dozen saves.
The Glad boys will have a long time to lick their wounds, an odd 9-day layoff late in the season before resuming play on Oct. 21 when the team hosts Poolesville. The team's seniors will be honored just prior to the 7 p.m. kickoff.
The Gladiators remain alone in first place in the county's Class 3A/2A East Division with a 4-0-1 record (6-4-1 overall). -- posted by jay p. goldman with reporting by ivan amato, 11 p.m., 10/12/09
Game 10: Northwood 3, Einstein 1
With a model of the atom on the front of their red shirts and the famous equation e = mc2 on the back, Einstein High School's varsity boys soccer team, the Titans, brought the idea of power to Northwood on Thursday night (Oct. 9). But the only goal the visiting Titans managed to push past goalie Carlos Mendez, who tallied 8 saves, was due to a defensive misstep.
Meanwhile, the Gladiators' offense powered 3 of its 17 shots into the back of the Titans' net. With the 3-1 victory, the Gladiators solidified their hold on first place in the county's Class 3A/2A East Division with a 4-0-1 record (6-3-1 overall) this fall.
The scoring began with 11:45 left in the first half when Einstein capitalized on a failed effort by Northwood's defense to clear the ball from its box, giving the visitors a short-lived and surprising 1-0 lead.
If the goal was intended as a wakeup, it did just that. Only 2 minutes later, Northwood defender Taylor D'Ottavi popped a free kick into the Titans' penalty box from 45 yards away, setting up a fine finish by fellow defender Bush Yormie, who has overlapped from his center back spot.
With the game tied 1-1 at the interval, the game remained for the taking by either team. It was Northwood who grabbed for the gusto, first with a goal that came from a run up the middle and a goal-scoring finish by Mario Ovalle, his first on the season. Then, with only two minutes left in the contest, Northwood put an insurance goal into the bank. It was D'Ottavi again who played the catalyst, sending a long ball from his own half of the pitch into a perfect spot for Dennis Runikera, Northwood's leading scorer with 7 goals, to head the ball over the Titans' goalie. The latter lost on his risky bid to confront Runikera while ranging a fair distance outside of the box.
Special thanks go to Carlos Montalvan, coach of Northwood's girls varsity soccer team, for standing in as the sideline coach for Coach David Edlow. The latter was forced to watch his team from the Northwood bleachers due to a red card he received during the game against Rockville HS three days earlier.
Edlow will return to the bench for the Gladiators' 11th game, slated for Monday at Watkins Mill HS in Gaithersburg. -- posted by jay p. goldman with reporting by ivan amato, 10:40 p.m., 10/9/09
The Northwood Gladiators --First place in the county's Class 3A/2A East Division with a 4-0-1 record!!!
The beginning of a long night of card dealing as Dallas is issued a yellow then a red card. Game photos here.
Game 9: Northwood 1, Rockville 1 (2OT)
This was more a game of cards than a soccer match with some rather bizarre developments.
Officially, the boys varsity soccer teams from Northwood and Rockville played to a 1-1 draw on Monday night (Oct. 5) following two scoreless overtimes. But that result doesn't reveal the full story line of this tightly contested match, which included the following:
* Both teams' coaches were shown red cards, leaving assistants in charge;
* Players on both sides tallied up a veritable deck of their own reds and yellows;
* An apparent game-winning Northwood goal from a free kick was deemed invalid because it went straight into the goal without touching another player (indirect free kicks must touch another player before a goal can be scored); and
* A referee made a phone call during one of the several excruciatingly long and quixotic stoppages of play during which the referees seemed to discuss every rule in the FIFA handbook.
In regulation time, the Gladiators scored their one goal with 1:25 left in the first half when striker Daniel Caballero crossed the ball to midfielder Max Amato, who fed the ball right to defender Taylor D'Ottavi. The latter chipped the ball to midfielder Dallas Aminzadeh, who used his head in the box to strike the ball into the goal.
Rockville's Rams even the count with 4:24 to go in the second half. The hosts capitalized on a free kick from about 25 yards out that deflected into a grounder that got beyond the otherwise flawless goaltending of Northwood's Carlos Mendez.
By the time the second overtime had expired, Northwood chalked up more than a dozen shots on goal and Mendez had stopped at least a half dozen on-target Rockville shots, including the deft execution of a number of game-saving punchouts.
The Gladiators played most of the second overtime session short-staffed after a flurry of cards ended up with the ejection of Northwood player Chase Kea.
With the referees dealing a bizarre hand, no one left the Rockville stadium feeling as if they had watched a healthy game of soccer.
The Glads (6-3 overall, 3-0-1 in their division) host Einstein HS at 7 p.m. on Thursday. -- posted by jay p. goldman with reporting by ivan amato, 11:50 p.m.
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Game 8: Northwood 2, Wheaton 0
Chalking up its fifth shutout of the season, Northwood's varsity boys soccer squad handily dispatched Wheaton HS, 2-0, on Wednesday afternoon (Sept. 30) on the Gladiators' pitch.
With another iron curtain performance, Northwood's defense made certain that even a single goal by the home side would stand the test for this victory, the team's 5th win in eight outings overall this fall. In the Class 3A/2A East Division in Montgomery County, the Glads pushed their record to 3-0 atop the standings. Wheaton, the only other unbeaten team in Northwood's class, fell to 1-1 in the division.
The Glads' first goal came about about 17 minutes into the game. Midfielder Julian Saldana, a junior midfielder, crossed the ball to Mario Ovalde, who finished the task. Five minutes later, forward Daniel Caballero, another junior, served one to Saldana, who converted the opportunity for a 2-0 lead.
The visiting Knights placed only two challenging shots on goal against Northwood's sturdy netminder Carlos Mendez, who otherwise registered easy saves.
Although his team converted a higher percentage than usual of its seven shots on goal along with two corner kicks, Coach David Edlow wants to see even more from his forces. "We played well, but we have to capitalize on more of the opportunities that we get," Edlow said after the game, adding that "it's hard to complain about another shutout."
Saldana offered a suggestion that might help the team convert more of the many opportunities it generates. "We can work better at using the width of the field and putting the space to use," he said.
The Glads will try to apply Saldana's personal strategy to use when the team visits Rockville HS on Monday for a 7 p.m. kickoff. The Rams were 1-5 overall heading into today's play. -- posted by jay p. goldman with reporting by ivan amato, 8:05 p.m., 9/30/09
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Game 7: Northwood 1, Kennedy 0
Sometimes in soccer, a single tally makes all the difference, and that was the case for Northwood's boys soccer team on Saturday morning (Sept. 26).
One goal on the road against the Kennedy Cavaliers stood the tide as the Gladiators pushed up their overall won-loss mark to 4-3 with the victory.
"It wasn't pretty," Coach David Edlow said after the game" but we got the result we wanted."
The decisive moment came about 20 minutes into the first half when the team's top goal-scorer, junior Dennis Runikera, fed the ball to Geovanny Villatoro, one of two freshmen on the Gladiator roster, on the left side of the Cavaliers' defense. Villatoro then chipped the ball beyond the reach of the goalie into the net.
That was enough to allow the Gladiators to walk away with the day's bragging rights and their second successive triumph. What wasn't so pretty was the unroyal flush of yellow cards that the referees liberally distributed by the end of the game, only one of them against the Cavs.
Serving up a heavy dose of disappointment to the Kennedy partisans was the defensive blockade of the Glads, with tenacious Taylor D'Ottoavi and turbo-charged Bush Yormie contributing to goalie Carlos Mendez's shutout performance.
Northwood returns home for what it hopes will be its win No. 5 on Wednesday afternoon against Wheaton HS. -- posted by jay p. goldman with reporting by ivan amato, 8:45 p.m., 9/26/09
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Game 6: Northwood 4, Blake 0
Traveling to Northwood's home turf in search of their first win of the fall season, the Blake High School Bengals left disappointed by a relentless Gladiator offense and an iron curtain defense on Monday afternoon (Sept. 21).
Outshooting the visitors 20 to 4, the Northwood boys shut out their opponents, 4-0, for their 3rd victory of the season in six outings.
The Gladiators first reached the scoreboard with about 17 minutes left in the first half. Daniel Caballero finally converted an opportunity for the hosts, scoring on a header off of a long throw-in by junior Dallas Aminzadeh. In a similar setup by Aminzadeh 12 minutes into the second half, Dennis Runikera headed in the Gladiators' second goal.
Cabellero and Runikera then traded honors with the third and fourth goals, respectively, the last one from the penalty spot with seven minutes left in the match. Just two minutes earlier, Taylor D'Ottavi offered a helping foot in the third goal.
Carlos Mendez made four saves in goal in securing the shutout for Northwood.
"It was good to rebound," remarked Coach David Edlow, referring to the Gladiators 1-0 loss against Clarksburg on Sept. 15.
The Northwood boys varsity (2-2 in county play, 3-3 overall) next face Kennedy HS on the latter�s home field on Saturday morning. -- posted by jay p. goldman with reporting by ivan amato, 9:55 p.m., 9/21/09
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Game 5: Clarksburg 1, Northwood 0
The boys varsity soccer team dropped a 1-0 decision to Clarksburg under the lights on the Gladiators' home field Tuesday (Sept. 15).
For full game details, see the story that appeared in the Silver Spring Gazette
here.
The setback dropped first-year Coach David Edlow's charges to 2-3 overall in 2009. Next up will be Blake HS at 5 p.m. next Monday on the Northwood field. -- posted by jay p. goldman at 10:40 p.m., 9/15/09
Game photos by Gazette.
Game 3: Wilde Lake 2, Northwood 1
Game 4: Northwood 4, Winters Mill 1
On a cloudy and blustery Saturday (Sept. 13) with the feel of fall in the air, Northwood HS hosted a compact tournament with three other Maryland teams that they would not otherwise meet during the regular season.
The Gladiators experienced mixed results, losing their opening contest to Howard County's Wilde Lake High School and winning a consolation match against Winters Mill High School, a small high school in Westminster, Md. (Carroll County). Winters Mill lost its match to Fallston High School, another Howard County team.
The Gladiators' combination of a loss and a win earned the team third place in the tournament.
The varsity boys had plenty of scoring opportunities in their first game, but they made only one count. In one frustrating but exciting sequence, two Northwood shots hit the crossbar but bounded away. With 9 minutes left in the first half, however, junior midfielder Dallas Aminzadeh stung Wilde Lake with a long free kick that took a favorable deflection off the top bar to score the game's first goal.
However, the lead was short-lived. A few minutes later, as time was expiring in the first half, the Wildcats answered with two goals in quick succession, clipping the Gladiators' momentum.
In the second half, the Northwood boys were unable to convert several offensive pushes, but the defense, anchored by Bush Yormie in the stopper role d and goalie Carlos Mendez, thwarted all of Wilde Lake's attacks.
It was evident in their game against Winters Mill that Northwood wanted to leave the tournament with at least one victory. Dominating throughout, the Gladiators put their first of four goals into the Falcons' net after about 14 minutes of play.
A long throw-in from Aminzadeh ended with a score by Dennis Runikera, who is proving to be a consistent threat for the Gladiators. Aminzedah got the game's second goal with a well-placed feed from striker Julian Saldana. Just four minutes into the second half, Northwood chalked up its third goal with a cross from Saldana that striker Daniel Caballero headed into the net.
The Falcons closed the gap to 3-1 before Northwood answered toward the end of the game with a nail-in-the-coffin goal by Geovanny Villlatoro. Saldana was in on that score too, registering his third assist.
Coach David Edlow was measured in his assessment of the boys' performance. "The team needs to finish on its opportunities, and our mistakes were costly," he said, referring mostly to the first game. All in all, the first-year coach said, "It wasn't a bad effort," noting that the team (2-2 overall) would be gearing up for Tuesday's home match under the lights against a strong Clarksburg team. -- posted by jay p. goldman with reporting by ivan amato, 11:50 p.m., 9/13/09
Game 2: Blair 3, Northwood 2
In this year's edition of the �Battle of the (University) Boulevard� in varsity boys soccer, one side dominated the run of play, but the other came away with the upperhand on the scoreboard.
The one-goal loss on Wednesday (Sept. 9) poses a temporary, early-season disappointment for the Northwood booters, who made what will be their shortest road trip of the 2009 campaign a few blocks down the street to take on archrival Montgomery Blair HS. Under the lights on the hosts' newly installed turf field, the Gladiators dominated most of the 80 minutes of action but could manage to put only 2 of 18 shots into the back of the opponents' nets.
Blair took about half as many shots, but made 3 of them count, the second one with just 2 seconds left before intermission.
Northwood junior Dennis Runikera twice brought his side back to tie Blair with goals in each half. The first goal was set up with a free kick by defender Bush Yormie; the second goal followed a scramble amid a mass of players. But Blair erased those gains with a decisive mark 9 minutes from the end.
In the process, the Blazers will get to keep neighborhood bragging rights for one more year. The eagerly awaited contest drew a fine turnout on on both sides of the bleachers. A huge contingent of Northwood football players joined other Northwood partisans in a strong showing of school spirit.
"We have to capitalize on our chances," said Northwood's first-year head coach, David Edlow. "We have to be better. And we will."
The Gladiators (1-1) return to varsity action on Saturday in a one-day tournament on their home field starting at 9 a.m. -- story posted by jay p. goldman and ivan amato, 10:50 p.m., 9/9/09
Game 1: Northwood 3, Magruder 0
Expectations already are running high for the Northwood varsity boys soccer team in 2009, and in its opening match the team has started to deliver on what is counted on to be a splendid fall season.
Playing on the road under the lights on a perfect late summer evening Sept. 5, the Gladiators decisively shut out a Magruder team that has been one of the county's stronger sides in recent years, 3-0.
Play was even until the second to the last minute of the first half when Northwood's Julian Saldana put the first goal on the scoreboard with a chip shot over the Magruder goalie from the top of the box. This shifted the momentum in favor of the visitors.
Playing with more confidence, Coach David Edlow's Gladiators dominated the second half. With about 16 minutes left, a combination that began with a shot on goal from Dallas Aminazadeh ended with teammate Geovanny Villatoro putting a final touch on the ball to score Northwood's second goal. With nine minutes to go, Dennis Runikera dribbled in to score the third against the Colonels.
The Gladiators' defensive line operated like an iron curtain, holding Magruder to handful of shots on goal. Whenever a Colonel player did break through, Northwood goalie Carlos Mendez handily took care of the matter.
The match represented Northwood's first in Class 3A, a move up in competition stemming from the school's enrollment growth. Northwood, now with more than 1,400 students, had competed against mostly smaller schools in Class 2A since regaining varsity status three years ago.
The Gladiators (1-0) will be fighting for neighborhood bragging rights in their next outing -- a match at Montgomery Blair HS at 7 p.m. on Wed., Sept. 9. -- story updated by jay p. goldman and ivan amato at 8 a.m., 9/6/09.
Chris Rossi/The Gazette
Despite a move up in classification,
Northwood is optimistic about its
chances for its best season since the
school reopened four years ago,
thanks to players like Bush Yormie
Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2009 -The Gazette
Read the Gazette Article here.
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