By DON EDEN
Dowagiac Daily News

EDWARDSBURG – Top seed Edwardsburg hosted Berrien Springs in a semifinal Lakeland Conference Tournament soccer game Monday and advanced to the championship with a 4-1 triumph over the Shamrocks.

Berrien Springs (6-8-2) stopped the Eddies’ scoreless streak by conference foes this year by scoring with 24:10 showing on the scoreboard as Shamrock senior Oluwaseunt Idowu was open after a throw-in to take advantage on a 10-yard left foot well-placed shot.

A penalty kick by classmate Dustin Bushouse went over the top bar nearly two minutes earlier.

“Berrien Springs played us tough the entire game and took advantage of a good opportunity to lose our shutout streak by burying the shot to keep it close at halftime,” noted Edwardsburg coach Ryan Rosenkranz.

Scoring and showing the proper way to convert a penalty kick was Edwardsburg junior Andy Boyles, who capitalized  after just over three minutes of play with a low left bottom corner shot past senior goal keeper David Walter to give the Eddies an early advantage.
The final tally of the first half came near the halfway point as Boyles passed to classmate Marcus Albrecht in stride for a short missile to dent the net.

It took the Eddies 35 minutes to increase their one goal lead as two seniors named Dan scored on a direct kick as Lauten found Holston in front to redirect the ball past the net line for a 3-1 score.

An excellent corner kick goal concluded the scoring with 3:46 remaining as seniors Dominic Catanzarite and Trent Bybee connected with the latter heading the ball from in front to secure the victory.

Edwardsburg (13-2-0) had 15 shots in each half with Walter making 15 saves altogether and also had 11 corner kicks to two for the visitors.

The Eddies will face conference nemesis Bridgman Wednesday to attempt to win both the regular season and tournament titles and then will travel to Benton Harbor for the Division 2 tournament next week with the winner facing Niles.

Edwardsburg won the Division 3 District last year where Berrien Springs will compete as they travel to South Haven next Monday.

“We have good senior leadership on this team and will be ready for the tournament giving our best effort,” conclude Lesch.

Berrien Springs…1
Edwardsburg…4
Halftime score
Edwardsburg 2, Berrien Springs 1

First Half
ED – Andy Boyles penalty kick (4th minute)
BS – Oluwaseunt Idowu (16th minute)
ED – Marcus Albrecht (20th minute) Boyles assist

Second Half
ED – Dan Holston (55th minuite) Dan Lauten assist
ED – Trent Bybee (77th minute) Dominic Catanzarite assist

Shots on goal
Berrien Springs 3-2  (5)
Edwardsburg 15-15 (30)