The Edwardsburg Eddies hosted the rival Rangers of Cassopolis in a girls varsity soccer contest on Monday afternoon with first place in the Lakeland Conference on the line.

Both teams came into the match undefeated in conference play with 4-0 records and sharing the top spot in the league.

After 80 minutes of soccer it was the Eddies who came away with the 3-0 victory, and the top spot in the conference.

Cassopolis managed to push the ball deep into the Edwardsburg zone early on but great play by the Eddie defense, and goal keeper Sophie Devenney denied the Rangers from finding the back of the net.

The other end of the field was much of the same story as some great saves from Molly Moroz of the Rangers kept the score knotted at 0-0 for nearly 30 minutes.

With just over 11 minutes remaining in the first half of the game, Edwardsburg’s Aly Mooth got a breakaway and finally managed to get one past Moroz and into the back of the net giving the home team the 1-0 lead.

Moments later the Rangers got one of their best opportunities of the night as Meagan Ruff was heading into the Edwardsburg zone, and as she was challenged by Devenney she managed to get the ball by the goal keeper, but before the ball could roll across the goal line Edwardsburgs’ Kristine Handy stepped in and kicked the ball away to keep the lead at 1-0 heading to the break.

“Our defense did a great job of making adjustments and knowing that the ball was going to go to 10 (Bjargey Olafsson) and seven (Ruff), and they knew that if we pressured them it would keep them out of their attack,” said Edwardsburg coach Brett Harring.

The Eddies controlled the second half with their midfield play, and their relentless pressure on the Cassopolis zone.

“They dominated the midfield play,” said Cassopolis coach Oli Olafsson. “We could not get our midfield to gel today and we couldn’t get them to hustle for the ball, and it made all the difference in the world.”

Just before the midway point of the second half Macy Stevenson found Mooth streaking through the zone and once again the senior forward beat Moroz to increase the lead to 2-0.

Brittany Minix would find Paige Szlanfucht with 6:33 remaining to put Edwardsburg on the scoreboard for the final time bringing the final score to 3-0.

Edwardsburg, who lost its first game of the season to Sturgis, has now won six straight to improve to 6-1, 5-0 in conference play. They will play next at Buchanan on Thursday night.

The Rangers drop to 5-3-1 overall, and 4-1 in conference play, and they will travel to Coloma on Thursday.

Cassopolis…0

Edwardsburg…3

Halftime score

Edwardsburg 1, Cassopolis 0

First half

E – Aly Mooth 28:52

Second half

E – Mooth 19:36  (Macy Stevenson assist)

E – Paige Szlanfucht 33:27 (Brittany Minix assist)

Shots on goal

Edwardsburg 17 Cassopolis 3

Saves

Sophie Devenney (Edwardsburg) 2

Molly Moroz (Cass) 9