An inexperienced Dowagiac soccer team was unable to protect an early lead against visiting Hartford in the season opener Friday.

After taking a 1-0 lead in the first half on a goal by Jorge Ruiz in the 10th minute, the Chieftains found themselves struggling to keep the Indians off the scoreboard.

Hartford, which has nine seniors on its roster, tied the match at 1-1 in the 47th minute as Mark Resenes scored the first of two goals. His second goal in the 70th minute turned out to be the game-winner.

Hartford kept the pressure on Dowagiac, which finally broke down when Resenes scored his second goal to give the Indians the lead.

The Chieftains allowed back-to-back goals in the 75th minute by Juan Quintana and Alex Rice.

Hartford held a slim 13-11 advantage in shots on goal. Dowagiac keeper Nate Stewart stopped nine of those shots.

“We were lucky the first half we didn’t get scored on,” Dowagiac coach Mike Williams said. “They were in our six and 18 several times. It was they were just unlucky getting goals and we were lucky and getting them out of there.

“The second half wasn’t like that. We were just not staying tight to our mark and breaking down and not being disciplined and confident enough. It was a domino effect. Then Nate misjudged one and that got him down a bit and all of a sudden played different.

“That is the inexperience we have. It’s not so much age inexperience, it’s just varsity soccer inexperience for some of them. We really only have five people who have been here for three years on the team right now. The rest of them are young.”

Dowagiac won’t have much time to regroup as it is back in action today when it hosts Vicksburg in a Wolverine Conference non-divisional match.

 

Hartford…4

Dowagiac…1

Halftime score

Dowagiac 1, Hartford 0

 

First half

D – Jorge Ruiz 10th minute

 

Second half

H – Mark Resenes 47th minute

H – Resenes 70th minute

H – Juan Quintana 75th minute

H – Alec Rice 75th minute

 

Shots on goal

Hartford 13

Dowagiac 11

 

Saves

Hartford 3

Dowagiac 13 (Nate Stewart)

 

Varsity record: Dowagiac 1-0