EDWARDSBURG — Officials were busy in Wednesday’s boys soccer match between Edwardsburg and St. Joseph.

Physical play sparked emotions from both teams in a match won by the Eddies, 1-0. The winning goal came from Nick Karamalegos with 4:27 left in the match.

Before the lone goal in the contest, Edwardsburg was handed two yellow cards in the first half and St. Joseph was issued a red card in the first half and a yellow card in the second half.

“It definitely was a very physical game,” said first-year Edwardsburg boys soccer coach Sean Jesse, whose team improved to 3-1. “You don’t expect to see that many cards in a high school game. I think it definitely affected the play. Going down a man for them was a struggle. I’m not surprised by the cards that came out because I thought they were necessary but it made it a very interesting game.”

“It was not your typical August match,” said Karamalegos. “It was pretty brutal. There were some words exchanged on the field. We were just all battling. It was a good game.”

With the physical play came sticky defense from both teams as the two teams totaled only eight shots in the first half. An offsides call took away a St. Joseph goal from Thiago Pires with 9:01 left in the first half.

Defense continued to dominate to start the second half as there were only three shots on goal-all by the Eddies-in the first 26:40 of the second half.

The style of play then dramatically changed as the two teams combined for 10 shots on goal over the final 13:20.

“Tired legs,” Jesse said on why both teams’ got shots. “We were starting to get winded and (St. Joseph) being a man down created a lot of space and that opened things up and created a track meet.”

A hand ball call on St. Joseph gave Edwardsburg a great chance to break the scoreless tie with 8:22 left in the match. But the Eddies came up empty as Alan Lopez’s kick went high over the goal.

“I’ve got three or four (players) that I’m confident with,” Jesse said about the penalty kick. “We haven’t made one in a game yet so we’re spending a bit more time on that (in practice). But, it’s allright. We can get better in that area. It’s early in the season.”

Edwardsburg was eventually rewarded for the numerous scoring opportunities (9) in the second half. Karamalegos scored from 10 yards to give the Eddies a 1-0 lead in the closing minutes of the match. It’s the fourth goal of the year for the Edwardsburg sophomore.

“We play as a team,” Karamalegos said. “I couldn’t have scored without my teammates. As soon as I hit the ball I knew it was going far. I hit it with my left foot. I usually use my right foot, but I’ve been working on using my left.”

 

St. Joseph…0

Edwardsburg…1

Halftime score

Edwardsburg 0, St. Joseph 0

 

Seocnd half

E – Nick Karamalegos 4:27

 

Shots on goal

Edwardsburg 14, St. Joseph 7

 

Saves

Edwardsburg 1 (Patrick Harvey)

St. Joseph 6 (Nicholas Spearritt)

 

Corner kicks

Edwardsburg 2, St. Joseph 2

 

Records

Edwardsburg 3-1, St. Joseph 3-1-1