By DON EDEN
Vigilant/Argus

PAW PAW – An overwhelming group of underclassmen from Paw Paw kicked Edwardsburg out of the Division 3 girls’ soccer tournament Saturday with a 4-1 triumph on its home field.
“This team has really progressed throughout the year and I am really proud of this group,” said Paw Paw coach Brian Clements. “We have a lot of young girls who are really stepping up right now and are definitely on track with better things to come.”
A starting lineup with only two juniors and no seniors completely controlled the early portion of the contest with Edwardsburg freshman goalkeeper Brittany Hurst keeping the visitors close with a couple nice saves.
With just over 17 minutes of play left in the first half though, a World Cup stopper couldn’t prevent sophomore Taylor Underhill from denting the upper right corner of the net after a perfect crossing pass from classmate Desirae Humphrey.
“Paw Paw has a very good, well disciplined team with all the players talented with the ball,” noted Edwardsburg coach Ryan Rosenkranz. “Our girls played well, but they took advantage of chances when they had them.”
Edwardsburg was fortunate to be behind by only the single digit at half as its first shot didn’t happen until 15 minutes were left on the scoreboard.
Despite that, it had a chance to deadlock the contest after a corner kick with 11:45 remaining, but was denied twice by sophomore keeper Natalie Kmet.
Hurst duplicated Kmet’s stops with a pair of saves to begin the second half before Underhill again found the upper right corner unstoppable with a 25-yard strike with 31:15 left to play.
A hat trick by Underhill was averted 15 minutes later by the post.
“Underhill (Taylor) played well and is very strong to handle, but Edwardsburg was impressive by really working real hard and they don’t stop which is a credit to their coach,” concluded Clements.
Not stopping prevailed for Edwardsburg frosh Jennifer Sporleder, who converted in consecutive district games after receiving a pass from junior Aly Mooth to avoid the shutout and narrow the deficit to one with just under 22 minutes left.
“By far this is the best freshmen group to come up to help the program and we were very fortunate because of the senior losses from last year,” remarked Rosenkranz.
The one goal margin lasted for one minute as sophomores Selena Martinez and Elena Olivares found the net with the former touching a nice pass to the latter.
Senior Haleigh Yerrick scored her first goal of the year to seal the victory with just under 12 minutes left as a save from a Edwardsburg defender after a corner kick found the graduate open to kick the game away.
“I love Paw Paw soccer and so happy to be on this team,” proudly put Yerrick afterward. “The goal came at a great time and it was very exciting because I came close a couple times earlier this season, but this was my last chance at home and in a district.”
Hurst equaled her teammates total shots with 12 saves as Paw Paw doubled the attempts by Edwardsburg with corner kicks going to the victors by a 3-2 margin.
“This group of seniors were great and a pleasure to coach with Chambers (Ashlyn) and Boyles (Leslie) being leaders both on and off the field,” stated Rosenkranz. “This was the first time the girls made it to the district final and our young kids will benefit from this.”
Chambers and Boyles are contemplating continuing their soccer careers together by walking on at Ferris State University where both have been accepted to the honors program.
Syna Lace, Valerie Garcia, Kaley Vance and Bridget Teter were the other senior players for Edwardsburg.
Edwardsburg reached the finals with a 2-1 win over Lakeland Conference foe Buchanan.
The Bucks grabbed a 1-0 lead just two minutes into the match on a goal by Amanda Wynn.
The Eddies tied the score at 1-1 in the 37th minute on a goal by Samantha Smous.
Sporleder scored the game-winner in the 47th minute.

Scoring Summary
First Half
PP – Taylor Underhill 23rd minute Desirae Humphrey assist
Shots: Edwardsburg 4; Paw Paw 9
Saves: Brittany Hurst (ED) 6; Natalie Kmet (PP) 2

Second Half
PP – Underhill 49th minute
ED – Jennifer Sporleder 59th minute Aly Mooth assist
PP – Elena Olivares 60th minute Selena Martinez assist
PP – Haleigh Yerrick 71st minute
Shots: Edwardsburg 8 (12); Paw Paw 15 (24)
Saves: Hurst 6 (12); Kmet 3 (5)
Corner kicks: Edwardsburg 1 (2); Paw Paw 2 (3)
Records: Edwardsburg 13-7-1; Paw Paw 13-5

Semifinals
Edwardsburg…2
Buchanan…1
Halftime score
Edwardsburg 1, Buchanan 1

First half
B – Amanda Wynn 2nd minute
E – Samantha Smous – 37th min

Second half
E- Jennifer Sporleder – 47th min