By By SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
EDWARDSBURG – The Dowagiac varsity soccer team went 1-1 to finish third on Saturday at the Edwardsburg Invitational.
Host Eddies defeated Sturgis 3-1 in the title game to win the tournament championship.
Edwardsburg opened up with a 3-0 win over Comstock, while Sturgis edged Dowagiac in a shootout after the two teams tied at 2-2 in regulation.
The Trojans outscored Dowagiac 5-4 in the shootout.
Dowagiac won the consolation match 6-0 over Wolverine Conference foe Comstock.
Dowagiac vs. Sturgis
Dowagiac led 1-0 and 2-1 in the first half before Sturgis tied it up at 2-2 in the 36th minute.
Tony Black scored both first half goals for the Chieftains at the fifth and 27th minutes.
Danny Reyes scored for Sturgis in the 13th minute of the match.
Marcus Gauthier knotted the score in the 36th minute to send the match into a shootout.
Dowagiac vs. Comstock
Black scored the first two goals of the match for the Chieftains, who also got a pair of first half goals from Efrain Soto to make it 4-0 at halftime.
Clay Hewitt scored both second half goals for Dowagiac.
Comstock cut the lead to 4-1 in the 45th minute as Andrew Kuivenhoven averted the shutout.
The Chieftains (2-2) outshot Comstock 15-7. Art Springsteen had six saves.
"I was happy with his performance," Dowagiac coach Mike Williams said of Springsteen. "We've got some areas to work on without a doubt. But I was pleased with our overall effort. Defensively we have some little things that we didn't do well and need to fix. Things we know we should be doing. We just need to be more confident. Someone needs to step up and be a leader out there."
The Chieftains will host Bridgman on Wednesday at 5 p.m. in another non-conference match.
First round
Dowagiac…2
Sturgis…3 (shootout)
First half
D – Tony Black 5th minute
S – Danny Reyes 13th minute
D – Black 27th minute
Second half
S – Marcus Gauthier 36th minute
(Sturgis wins shootout 5-4)
Edwardsburg…3
Comstock…0
Edwardsburg goals: Brent Gentry, Jeff Gowen, Gary Klann
Edwardsburg Assists: T.J. Treat (2), Jeremy Watkins
Finals
Edwardsburg…3
Sturgis…1
Edwardsburg goals: Watkins (3)
Edwardsburg assists: Treat, Ryan Wenrick, Tim Petersen
Consolation
Dowagiac…6
Comstock…1
First half
D – Black
D – Black
D – Efrain Soto
D – Efrain Soto
Second half
C – Andrew Kuivenhoven 45th minute
D – Clay Hewitt
D – Clay Hewitt
Shots on goal
Dowagiac 15, Comstock 7
Saves
Art Springsteen (D) 6