Niles soccer coach Dave Jacobs came into the new 2013-14 campaign with the intent of making sure his team “understands the game” and “greatly improves in all areas” in his second season at the helm of the Vikings’ program.

With his team’s performance in the annual VanDenBerg Invitational; it was clear that his team is well on its way to attaining (and possibly exceeding), the coach’s goals and expectations.

In the championship game against the Cassopolis Rangers, the Vikings wasted no time in jumping all over Cass by scoring three goals in the game’s first six minutes en route to an 8-0 victory and a fourth consecutive tournament title.

The Vikings dominated the game by moving the ball almost effortlessly all around the field, winning nearly every battle to loose balls, and playing the swarming style of defense that their coach often lauds about whenever he has a chance.
Niles only surrendered six shots throughout the entire tournament.

“It all starts in back for us, our defenders work and communicate so well with one another that I believe it will be pretty tough for teams to get by them,” Jacobs said.

“We’ve got this thing going in the right direction, winning the VanDenBerg means a lot to me personally as Phil (VanDenBerg) was a close personal friend of mine, and you could see that it really meant a lot to our guys as well, we learned some things about ourselves today and I believe we’re right where we need to be going ahead.”

The Vikings will have a challenging trio of games to open up conference play as they face perennial powerhouses Mattawan, Lakeshore and Portage Northern in their next three matches.

They travel to Mattawan on Wednesday to take on the Wildcats at 6:45 p.m. at the high school.

The Rangers advanced to the finals with a 4-1 over Brandywine, while Niles blanked Buchanan 5-0.

Buchanan defeated Brandywine 4-1 in the consolation match.

Championship Game
Niles… 8
Cassopolis… 0
Halftime score
Niles 5, Cassopolis 0

First half
N – Kai VanAmtwerp 2nd minute
N – Sam Rodts 3rd minute
N – VanAmtwerp 6th minute
N –Justin Kindig 27th minute
N – Sheldon Mudd – 29th minute

Second half
N – Mudd – 50th minute
N – Nick Suckle – 56th minute
N – Nick Knoll – 59th minute

Shots on goal
Niles 13
Cass 2