By By SCOTT NOVAK / Vigilant/Argus
Phillip Turner's goal with 19:44 remaining in the second half lifted the Edwardsburg Eddies to the Lakeland Conference soccer championship on Wednesday, Oct. 13.
Edwardsburg was the regular season champion after going 6-0-1. It's lone tie came against Bridgman.
Gary Klann assisted Turner on the goal.
The match was a complete defensive struggle as neither team reached double digits in shot attempts.
In the end, Edwardsburg outshot the Bees, 9-5.
Edwardsburg goalkeeper Josh Montgomery stopped three shots, while Bridgman keeper Matt Haughey stopped seven shots.
Division 3 Districts
Nearly a week after winning the Lakeland Conference championship the Edwardsburg Eddies and Bridgman Bees squared off in the opening round of the Division 3 Soccer Tournament.
The Eddies (15-2-2) edged the Bees 1-0 to win the Lakeland Conference championship on Wednesday, Oct. 13, but on Monday night, Bridgman turned the tables.
The Bees (13-6-2) blanked the Eddies 4-0 to advance to Wednesday's semifinal match against Brandywine, a 4-1 winner over Coloma.
In the other semifinal, host Dowagiac will take on River Valley, a 5-4 winner over Berrien Springs, today.
Cold, wet and windy conditions played a factor in the opening round of the Division 3 District Soccer tournament match between the Eddies and the Bees.
Dowagiac (8-9) escaped with a 2-1 victory to advance to Thursday's semifinal contest against River Valley, a 5-4 winner on Monday against Berrien Springs.
The championship match is scheduled for Saturday at 10 a.m.
Dowagiac grabbed a quick 1-0 lead as Alejandro Hernandez scored an unassisted goal in the eighth minute.
Buchanan (6-9-2) rallied to tie the score three minutes later as Doug Summers tallied in the 11th minute.
The two teams battled back and forth the remainder of the first half with both teams getting scoring opportunities which they did not convert on.
Dowagiac's best scoring chance came off the foot of Brian Edgerly, who hit the cross bar.
Dowagiac struck quickly in the second half as well, again with Hernandez scoring an unassisted goal in the 50th minute.
This time Dowagiac was able to make that goal stand up and escaped with the victory.
Dowagiac outshot Buchanan 12-6.
Chieftain goalkeeper Aaron Wilson had five saves. Buchanan keeper Tim Mosier had seven saves.
Coloma…1
Brandywine…4
Brandywine coach Jim McNamara couldn't help smiling after the Bobcats' soccer team beat Coloma 4-1 in Monday's first round of Districts. After all, his team hadn't won a district game in six years.
Not only did the Bobcats win, avenging a 3-2 loss to the Comets in the first game of Districts last year, but they won convincingly. Brandywine was able to fire shots at will and limit Coloma to very few attempts.
In the first half, however, it looked as though there would be little scoring. The first 40 minutes were played at a lethargic pace because of the cold, rainy weather and soggy playing field.
Eight minutes into the game, however, Brandywine's Matt Beaver was able to break free and score one of his two goals on the night. The goal gave the Bobcats a lead that it would not relinquish.
Coloma had no shots on goal in the first half, and the Bobcats were limited to very few.
The second half was a different story, as Brandywine came out attacking the goal and firing away.
Less than two minutes into the half, Kyle Low notched a goal with a soft touch that tucked the ball just out of the goal-keeper's reach.
Brandywine scored three goals in the half, two coming just one-minute apart late in the game.
After Beaver's second goal, Coloma made a run midway through the second half. Coloma's Diego Hernandez snuck a ball past Bobcat goalie Jake Harris with 17:55 remaining to pull within 2-1.
The goal got the Bobcats' attention. They responded with another goal from Beaver and one from Steve Smith just minutes later to put the game out of reach.
River Valley…5
Berrien Springs…4
Caleb Dryden and Ian Liess both scored two goals as River Valley advanced to the semifinals to face Dowagiac today.
The Mustangs trailed 3-2 in the second half before scoring three unanswered goals to take the lead.
Berrien Springs scored with five minutes remaining to cut the lead to 5-4, but was unable to tie the score.
Also scoring for River Valley was Jimmy Francis.
Berrien Springs' goals came from Agustus Sampah and Dowin Coffy.
Berrien Springs outshot River Valley, 22-18.