While most students and faculty enjoyed their first week of spring break relaxing, the boys’ soccer team took on their biggest challenge of the year. The U17 and U19 teams traveled to Texas to compete in the Dallas Cup, the largest amateur club soccer tournament in the United States and the culminating tournament for the Northwood squads.   

Travel to Texas began early on Friday April 8th as the boys drove to Albany Airport. After a flight to Baltimore, the boys grabbed smoothies in the airport and got ready for their flight to Dallas. Upon arriving, each team went out for Tacos and got settled into their hotels.  

The first few days prior to the games were spent resting and having light tactical training. The tournament is set up with each team put into a group of four teams. To advance past the group stage a team must be one of the two best teams in the group.  

The U19s started the tournament playing Tuesday morning against a Mexican academy team. Unfortunately, the older boys lost the game but fought hard and had plenty of chances. This was a reoccurring theme for the older squad, and they did not get a win in the group stage. The remainder of their games they dominated in possession and chances but could not put the ball in the net.  

The younger squad started off the tournament positively with a 3-1 win on Thursday afternoon. This marked a strong start for the U17s which would have a highly anticipated night game on Thursday evening. However, the rest of the tournament did not bring success for the U17s either.  

Overall, this will be remembered as a learning experience by the players and coaches who hope to improve in the future.  

The team enjoying some free time in Las Vegas (Photo: BRFC).

Northwood’s soccer team recently traveled across the country to Las Vegas to compete in the Players’ College Showcase. Both teams had four games over the weekend, competing in front of some of the best colleges in the country.

After a long day of traveling, the Huskies arrived in Nevada late Tuesday night and had a team meeting covering the goals for the trip. For both teams, the goal for the showcase was to go 4-0.

Wednesday morning kicked off the preparations for the weekend with a hike that overlooked all of Las Vegas. The players spent the morning enjoying the sun before training that evening. Training included lots of passing and possessions drills to help the players focus after a long travel day. After dinner, the team went out to get some local Mexican food and enjoyed the hotel’s outdoor heated pool, which would later be used for recovery.

Thursday marked the final day before the games began Friday morning. Players woke up early for a tactical training session. The weather was very windy, which cut the training short, but nevertheless the team was ready for the upcoming matches.

The games would be 80 minutes long and take place on grass fields in the heart of Las Vegas. College coaches from all over would attend, including Stanford and UCLA, making this a huge occasional for Northwood’s uncommitted players.

The 2021-22 U19 Soccer Team in NYC in February, 2022. Photo: BRFC.

This past weekend the Northwood boys’ soccer program traveled to New York City to attend a college showcase. The tournament was put on by Manhattan Soccer Club and each game was played in Manhattan against solid opponents. The teams left on Thursday February 4th and traveled to Yonkers where they would stay the whole weekend. That Friday the team enjoyed a rest day full of healthy food and planning for the matches ahead.  

The U17s started the weekend positively with a 2-1 win against Amityville SC Cosmos. The U19s faced their first challenge, winning 3-0 over East Meadow U19s. Goals came from Kyumin Shin ‘22 and Liam Doyle ‘22. The younger Huskies were soon called back into action playing East Meadow U17s and coming out of the game with a tie at zero. The final match on Saturday was between Northwood’s U19s and Beachside FC. The Huskies finished the day with a decisive 3-0 keeping another clean sheet for the weekend. 

Sunday marked only one game for each of the Husky squads, but they were the marquee matches for both sides. The U17s would play Manhattan Soccer Clubs younger group who were highly ranked nationally. This matchup did not disappoint, as each team battled to create scoring opportunities. The match ended 2-1 in Northwood’s favor with goals from Jace Donowa ‘25 and Lakoah Paye ‘24. The U19s took on Manhattan SC’s older team, which was also unbeaten in the tournament. The first half was a deadlock with multiple chances from each team just missing their mark. It was not until Pablo Obrador ‘22 slotted the only goal in the game.  

This marked a great weekend for both teams that was celebrated with burgers and milkshakes on the way home.  

Graphic: Northwood Athletics

Two Northwood student competed in the Lake Placid Super Tour for Nordic skiing. Bella Wissler ’23 and Sophia Kelting ’23 skied against some of the top competition in the country recently. The first day of skiing incorporated sprints using the classic technique. Each skier would have to race in a heat and they only would advance if they were one of the top two skiers in that race. Kelting ’22 moved through her first heat and qualified for the quarterfinal. Unfortunately, that was as far as she made it, but considering her competition it was an outstanding result.

The second day of racing incorporated a different technique called skate skiing. This form of Nordic skiing is similar to ice skating but still with the use of poles and longer skis. The race was a 10 kilometer mass start, which means every racer starts at the same time. This form of racing can be more confusing and is more likely to result in exciting finishes. The Northwood girls represented the school well as Kelting finished 37^th and Bella Wissler finished 97^th overall. This rounded out an intense and challenging weekend for skiers of all ages.

Sophia K. ’23

Bella W. ’23