NorthWood’s Sebastian Guillen, right, and Plymouth’s Erick Zelaya battle for possession in a Northern Lakes Conference game in Nappanee Tuesday night. (Photos by James Costello)

NAPPANEE — NorthWood soccer coach Brad Duerksen was looking for something a little more substantial than a moral victory against Indiana Soccer Coaches Association 3-A No. 14 Plymouth Tuesday.

Well, the Panthers didn’t get the win, but they did play pretty evenly with the unbeaten Rockies for about three-fourths of the way and, if nothing else, that was an encouraging sign with sectionals on the horizon.

Plymouth put away two goals over the final 17 minutes to make a competitive game look more lopsided than it really was, and the Rockies claimed a 4-1 Northern Lakes Conference win over host NorthWood on senior night in Nappanee.

“We were talking at the end of the game, and I told the guys ‘Four-one is not indicative of this game,’” Duerksen said. “But we don’t take moral victories. Who cares about moral victories? But all we’ve talked about is we want to play well for 80 minutes, and I thought tonight we saw almost 80 minutes of good soccer from our guys. That’s what is key.”

NorthWood went into the intermission trailing its guests by a slim 1-0 margin — and after the two teams traded goals in the 47th and 54th minutes — was still within a single score of the Rockies with less than 20 minutes remaining. Jorge Calix finished off his second goal of the evening beating NorthWood back Jadon Steinmetz on a run up the middle to give Plymouth some insurance midway through the 63rd minute, then celebrated with a Usain Bolt-style pose as teammates gathered to congratulate him. With under two minutes on the clock, Wyatt Howard provided the backbreaker on a penalty kick off the outside of his foot, and the Rockies left Nappanee with a win.

They stay unbeaten on the year at 12-0-3.

“I think these kids are pretty proud,” said Plymouth head coach Josh Martin of his team’s unbeaten streak. “We’ve set some goals like that, and I think they’ve shocked themselves a little bit. They’re a little surprised, but I think they knew all along they could be this kind of team. Every game, game in and game out, they’re finding a way. Pretty proud of them.”

It was Calix’s first goal of the night that gave the Rockies all the offense they would ultimately need.

Plymouth played patiently at the start, establishing possession and spreading NorthWood out over the first 20 minutes. The Rockies found the back of the net on their very first shot on goal when Jesus Jiminez played a ball wide to Austin Arriaga, who one-touched it past scrambling Panthers keeper Micah Pippenger early in the 17th minute. The visitors held that tentative advantage until Calix scored on a breakaway in the 47th minute, maintaining possession even after making contact with a diving Pippenger, then shuffling the ball into the net with the back of his foot in a nifty finish in Nappanee.

“That’s showing Jorge evolving over the season because five games ago he might have tried to shoot that with the keeper right on top of him and might’ve put that right at the keeper. We’ve been talking about breakaways and there are multiple decisions you can make,” explained Martin. “The fact that under that kind of pressure — they had some pretty physical backs — that he could muscle around them, get around the keeper and still get a touch on it and still get it in back of the net, that was a big time goal.”

NorthWood’s Lukas Aukerman is tripped up vying for possession with Plymouth’s Abdon Ortiz.

On senior night, NorthWood senior Juan Pantoja gave the Panthers new life with a goal on a counter and long chip shot in the 54th minute, then made the sign of the cross on his way back to midfield. It was a gutsy game by the NorthWood upperclassman, who played physically even with his brow bandaged up much of the night.

“His work rate tonight was phenomenal. He’s going to need stitches on his eye. He got a little bang, but he wouldn’t stay out,” said Duerksen of Pantoja. “He kept heading the ball, and our trainer is over here saying ‘You can’t head the ball.’ I love the fact that he just worked hard and didn’t give up. He doesn’t really know a slow speed; he goes pretty much 100 percent the whole time.”

Pantoja’s goal energized the Panthers, and they kept the pressure on over the next few minutes. Rockie keeper Colin Harding’s diving save of a low Brock Hilty drive in the 56th minute kept Plymouth ahead on the scoreboard, however, and Calix’s second strike in the 63rd minute settled play down.

Stat-wise, the Panthers registered seven shots on goal compared to nine by their guests as Pippenger finished with five saves versus six by Harding.

Plymouth closes out NLC play at Wawasee Thursday. With a win there, the Rockies will finish in second place behind Goshen in the final conference standings despite a win over the RedHawks as both of Plymouth’s two ties have come in NLC play.

NorthWood, which moves to 8-7 with a 1-6 NLC finish, closes the year at Bethany Christian Thursday before opening the Wawasee Sectional against West Noble next Monday. Tuesday’s game with the Rockies was a heartening sign in the homestretch of the year.

“No excuses, they’re a good team, a very good team,” said Duerksen. “I was proud of the way we played. I thought we played very, very well for about 60 minutes of the game, and it kind of got away from us at the end but some of that is we’ve got some injuries.”

NorthWood’s Landon Parker has a go while Larry Dragani winces.