By SCOTT NOVAK
Vigilant/Argus

NILES – A pair of first half goals was all host Niles needed to remain undefeated and keep Edwardsburg winless last Thursday.

The Vikings got a little assistance from the Eddies on the opening goal of the non-conference match.

Niles’ Alex McIntee fired a shot at the Edwardsburg goal in the 27th minute that bounded off her sister Ally McIntee of Edwardsburg and over the head of the Eddies’ goalkeeper Brittany Hurst.

That goal seemed to spark the Vikings, who scored nine minutes later off the foot of McIntee again, this time to her credit, off a corner kick from Ashley Allison.

After that, both teams seemed to settle down and the match was pretty evenly played with both teams creating solid scoring opportunities.

Good defense on both sides of the field and solid net minding from Hurst and Niles’ Catherine Butler kept the match scoreless the final 44 minutes.

“We’re still working on a lot of things,” Niles coach Jo Schau said. “Today was just a day of trying to get them focused before spring break. Some of them are already on spring break. We did a pretty decent job the last 20 minutes of the game. I thought we really fought hard.

“There were times I felt we were pretty lucky because we were getting hard pressure from Edwardsburg, but the defense held strong and our keeper held us in the game, so we were able persevere over that,” she added.

Edwardsburg coach Ryan Rosenkranz was not displeased with the way his team played, but was frustrated about its inability to put the ball in the back of the net.

“We had some opportunities, but we are 0-2 now and haven’t been able to score,” he said. “One of the toughest things, especially at the beginning of the season is to get that scoring touch. We were able to create some opportunities and that’s something we need to keep working on.”

The Vikings also won the junior varsity contest against the Eddies 3-1.

Scoring for Niles were Joselyn Dlouhy with a pair and Cortney Shirrell with the other.
Elizabeth Hein and Taylor Hess each had an assist. Sarah Smith was credited with five saves.

Edwardsburg…0
Niles…2
Halftime score
Niles 2, Edwardsburg 0

First half
N – Edwardsburg own goal 27th minute
N – Alex McIntee 36th minute (Ashley Allison assist)

Shots on Goal
Edwardsburg 11
Niles 11

Saves
Edwardsburg 10 (Brittany Hurst
Niles 7 (Catherine Butler)

Varsity records: Edwardsburg 0-2, Niles 3-0