The Dowagiac boys soccer team booted 43 shots on goal in its 7-1 Wolverine Conference win over Comstock Wednesday.

The first Chieftains’ shot was the most impressive as Adrian Martinez scored 11 seconds into the match.

“That’s the quickest that I’ve seen a goal scored in a match,” said 12th-year Dowagiac coach Mike Williams, whose team improved to 2-4 overall and 1-0 in the conference. “I’m pretty sure it’s a Dowagiac record and it ranks up there with the state records too. That’s quick. He took (the ball) and dribbled it all the way into the goal.”

Martinez’s shot came at the top of the goal box from 15 yards.

Dowagiac’s offensive fireworks were just beginning as the Chieftains had 12 shots in the first 10 minutes. Jorge Ruiz scored from five yards to give the hosts a 2-0 lead with 33:56 left in the first half and Ruiz scored again from 10 yards with 31:11 left in the first half.

Ruiz finished the night with a hat trick. It’s the second career hat trick for the Dowagiac sophomore, who also played on the varsity as a freshman.

“I had a volley shot (Wednesday on his second goal) and last year I never had one,” said Ruiz. On a volley shot the ball is hit in the air and never hits the ground.

Ruiz’s third goal came in the second half with 36:57 left in the match. He now has four goals on the season.

“Nate Michael passed the ball to me and the ball went into the corner and the goalie couldn’t reach it,” Ruiz said. “The ball went in really slow.”

Along with that assist to Ruiz, Michael scored twice. Martinez also scored twice with his second goal coming from five yards with 24:05 left in the match.

Williams was asked if his team’s strong performance on Wednesday gives his player’s a confidence boost.

“We haven’t played bad this year,” the Chieftains coach said. “The only game that we haven’t played well in was (Tuesday) against Hartford (a 4-0 Dowagiac loss).

“As far as confidence, this does help our team because they know they have the soccer ability to move the ball around the field and possess the ball because we possessed the ball (against Comstock) for 20 minutes in the first half. That is what I wanted us to do after we lost to Hartford. Our goal is to possess the ball and we did a great job of that.”

A big lead gave Williams the chance to substitute freely and evaluate players.

“It was good to give some people that don’t get to play a lot some playing time,” Williams said.

Comstock’s first shot on goal came with 34:14 left in the match when Ulises Del Moral scored on a penalty kick. The Colts finished with three shots — all in the second half.

“(The Comstock player) tripped and Joey fell on top of him,” Williams said about the penalty kick. “It’s a questionable call. It can go either way.”

The loss dropped Comstock to 0-8 overall and 0-2 in the Wolverine.

 

Comstock…1

Dowagiac…7

Halftime score

Dowagiac 4, Comstock 0

 

First half

D – Adrian Martinez 39:49

D – Jorge Ruiz 33:56

D – Ruiz 31:11

D – Nate Michael 19:41

 

Second half

D – Ruiz (Michael) 36:57

C – Ulises Del Moral (penalty kick) 34:14

D – Michael 30:12

D – Martinez 24:05

 

Shots on goal

Dowagiac 43, Comstock 3

 

Saves

Comstock 15 (Riley Tucker)

Dowagiac 0 (Paul Lamphere, Nate Stewart)

 

Corner kicks

Dowagiac 6, Comstock 4

 

Records

Dowagiac 2-4, 1-0 Wolverine Conference; Comstock 0-8, 0-2 Wolverine Conference