NorthWood’s Andre DeFreitas gets congratulations from assistant coach Egbert Dijkstra after scoring his record-setting 24th goal of the season Tuesday night against Plymouth. (Photos by Mike Deak)

NAPPANEE – A goal scorer tends to have a flair for the dramatic. Andre DeFreitas certainly knows how to make it interesting.

The junior scored two goals Tuesday night to become the NorthWood all-time leader in goals scored in a season as the Panthers knocked off Plymouth, 4-2, at Wellfield Park.

A calm tuckaway by DeFreitas off a nice individual effort and cross from Sebastian Guillen in the 50th minute was the moment of the match for the Panthers. The goal was the 24th DeFreitas scored this season, his seventh in just over 24 hours after netting five against John Glenn Monday.

Jerson Sanchez uncorks his second goal of the match in the first half.

His first of the night was a back breaker for Plymouth, where Chandler Bontrager slotted a through ball to a wide open DeFreitas on the left edge of the penalty area. Plymouth keeper Nate Hutsell had no shot as DeFreitas smashed the winner home right corner with just 19 seconds left on the clock in the half.

“I couldn’t have done this without my teammates and I’m super thankful for the opportunity,” said DeFreitas, who dodged a full Gatorade bucket bath by inches. “I think my teammates were trying to help me break the record and I am thankful for that. I’m just trying to get as many goals as I can before the end of the season.”

Added NorthWood head coach Brad Duerksen of the historical goal, “He’s been phenomenal. He’s really clinical on the ball and it’s not just piling up goals against bad teams. He’s been doing it all season. He had a hat trick against Concord, scored against Memorial, had the big goal for us against Goshen. He’s played really well here at the end of the season, and he has a lot of assists, so he’s showing he’s a team player as well.”

A three-minute stretch to open the match gave NorthWood quite a cushion. Jerson Sanchez took the first shot of the game, collecting a long pass through the Plymouth defense and tipping the ball to himself past a diving Hutsell and into the net. After Trent Edwards nearly made it 2-0 after two shots from close range were blocked, Sanchez let a shot rip from 18 yards out that handcuffed Hutsell. At the six-minute mark, NorthWood had a 2-0 lead.

The barrage, however, wasn’t indicative of the pace of the match. Plymouth laid claim to a majority of the possession in the match, close to three-fours of the control, and would actually outshoot NorthWood 17-14, putting 11 shots on target. Brian Licona and Enzo Kain both scored for the Rockies, the Kain goal coming just seconds after Sanchez took a shot on the other end of the field.

Trent Edwards defends against Adrian Cardona.

The sporadic midfield play by NorthWood was concerning for Duerksen, who begged and pleaded with his unit to reshape on multiple occasions while Plymouth controlled the pace of play.

“We are definitely a counter-possessing team, there’s no secret to that,” offered Duerksen. “Getting those two early goals really killed our possession, though. That was disappointing. Guys were out of position, playing too far forward, not marking who we should be marking. That almost came back to bite us, but luckily, we’ve got some really talented players that were able to put the ball in the back of the net. Ugly win, but sometimes you just take an ugly win and move on.”

The Panthers would take 14 shots in the match and put 13 on target, to which Hutsell made nine saves. On the other end, Andrew Graber stopped eight shots to get the win in net.

The win was historical for more than the DeFreitas note. The Panthers move to 13-2 on the season and wrap up 5-2 in the Northern Lakes Conference. Both the 13 overall wins and five NLC tallies are program bests, each topping previous bests. NorthWood, ranked No. 10 in Class 2-A, assures itself a top-three finish in the NLC.

“It’s been a good run for us,” Duerksen said. “The two things we wanted to accomplish tonight were to get the most wins in team history, at 13, and also get the most for NorthWood in the conference, and we did that with five. This needs to go to the leadership of the seniors and our captains. They keep us grounded, they keep us focused. Their leadership has been incredible – Skyler Duerksen, Trent Edwards and Sebastian Guillen – they have done a phenomenal job leading us.”

NorthWood wraps up its regular season Thursday at Class 1-A No. 4 Bethany Christian.

Panther goalkeeper Andrew Graber covers up as Plymouth’s Manny Baca closes in Tuesday night.