By By SCOTT NOVAK / Vigilant/Argus
Jeremy Watkins scored on a breakaway goal in the 74th minute Monday afternoon to lift the host Edwardsburg Eddies to a 3-2 victory over Bridgman in a Lakeland Conference showdown.
Edwardsburg raced out to a 2-0 halftime lead only to have Bridgman, which the Eddies defeated for the league championship in 2004, rally to tie the match with a pair of second half goals.
Watkins' winning goal came off an assist from Ryan Wenrick.
Mike Rangel got the Eddies on the board first with a goal in the 15th minute off an assist from Josh Marschke.
The Eddies (6-2 overall, 4-0 LAC) made it 2-0 when Marschke scored off an assist from Watkins in the 33rd minute.
Bridgman (5-3-1, 3-1) opened the second half scoring in the 49th minute as Justin Del Bosque scored an unassisted goal to cut the Eddies' lead to 2-1.
Matt Carlson then tied the match in the 72nd minute off an assist from David Herrera.
Bridgman outshot Edwardsburg 19-9, however, Eddies goalkeeper Brandon Muszynski did a wonderful job stopping 12 shots.
Bees' goalkeeper Matt Keller finished with four saves.
Edwardsburg will be back in action on Thursday when it travels to Niles for a non-conference match scheduled to begin at 5:45 p.m.
Eddies vs. New Buffalo
The Edwardsburg varsity soccer team picked up a lopsided 11-1 non-conference victory over visiting New Buffalo on Wednesday, Sept. 14..
The Eddies scored five goals in the opening half and then added six goals in the second half.
Philip Turner opened the scoring with a goal off an assist from Brent Shuttleworth.
Jeremy Watkins made it 2-0 with an assist from Shuttleworth, while Josh Getz and Josh Marschke made it 4-0. Marschke assisted on Getz's goal.
Getz completed the first half scoring with his second goal.
In the second half, Ryan McCance scored New Buffalo's lone goal to open up play.
Scoring for the Eddies in the second half were Tudor Gadjeu, Garry Klann, Ryan Wenrick (2), Watkins, Jeff Gowen and Tim Holston.
Assisting on second half goals were Turner (4) and Mike Rangel.
The Eddies are back in action on Monday when they host Bridgman at 5 p.m.