EDWARDSBURG — On a cold, spring Thursday afternoon that felt more like fall, the Edwardsburg girls’ soccer team scored a 3-1 victory over the Vikings of Niles in a non-conference contest.

In the second game of the season for both teams, goals were at a premium in the first half as the two teams battled to a 0-0 tie at the break.

“All we talked about at halftime was keeping patient if that goal doesn’t come. Just keep patient. As long as we’re playing the way we were playing and moving the ball well, there was nothing for us to be upset about at halftime,” first-year Edwardsburg coach Brett Harring said.

That patience paid off as just over seven minutes into the second half. Jennifer Sporleder put the home team on the scoreboard as she raced down the field on a breakaway and got a shot past Niles goalkeeper Sarah Smith and into the left corner of the net giving the Eddies the 1-0 advantage.

“I plan on Jen scoring goals for us this year” Harring said. “She is very aggressive up top and she doesn’t give up on the ball. So every ball is pressured from her.”

It looked as if the Edwardsburg goal was going to hold up as the only goal of the day as the two teams battled back and forth over the next 25 minutes of scoreless play.

Then with just under eight minutes left in the contest, the Vikings’ Lexi Arnold was pushing the ball upfield to the right corner of the zone where McKayla Book headed her centering pass into the net, beating Edwardsburg goalie Sophie Devenney and tying the match at 1-1.

“It’s always interesting to see how your team will respond when you get down a goal,” said Niles coach Joe Schau. “I was really proud of the girls for tying it back up.”

Less than a minute later as the Eddies were attacking the Niles defensive end of the field, Sporleder once again found the back of the net and the Eddies were back in front 2-1.

As time was winding down with just over a minute left to play, Macy Stevenson added another goal for the Eddies bringing the final tally to 3-1.

“I think we are still working at trying to make opportunities happen,” said Schau. “We only have two seniors on the roster and we don’t have a lot of experience. We are still trying to get things clicking. We just have to keep working together to get better.”

Both teams are off until after spring break. Edwardsburg will next host Buchanan on Tuesday, April 12.

Niles will be off until Saturday, April 16 when it will travel to Dowagiac for the Chieftain Invitational.