Eddies fall to Bridgman in Lakeland title match

Published 7:57 am Thursday, October 19, 2006

By By JEFF FISHER / Vigilant/Argus
An occasional down-pour of rain, heavy wind gusts and a muddy sidelines with the players and coaches dressed like it was winter. That was the scene during Wednesday's boy's soccer match between Edwardsburg and Bridgman for the Lakeland Conference crown.
The Bees were able to weather a furious comeback by the Eddies in the second half, fueled by four goals by the Eddies' Jeremy Watkins, to capture the title, 5-4.
Prior to the tournament, Bridgman was in second place in the LAC behind the Eddies. By winning this game, the Bees will share the first-place spot. The Eddies defeated the Bees earlier in the season 2-1.
The Bees have now won back-to-back conference titles.
"They played hard all the way through. We got a little sloppy at the start of the second half. I don't know if the wind had any effect on it," Bees head coach Woody Woolery said. "Edwardsburg is an excellent team, well coached, every time we play them it is a close match."
The Bees took a 2-0 lead at halftime with a goal from David Englund at the 15:23 mark. Englund also assisted on the other Bees' goal from Justin DelBosque with 12 minutes to go.
The second half was the Eddies senior midfielder Watkins' show.
In less than a two-minute span the Eddies tied the contest up 2-2 with a Watkins shot, one of four on the day, that went over the head of the Bees goalkeeper. Treat assisted on the goal.
"He's been our offensive go-to guy. He has a scoring knack for in front of the goal, doesn't panic. A great player and leader," Eddies coach Ryan Rosenkranz said of Watkins play.
After that it was a see-saw event.
The Bees pulled ahead on a Todd Hendricks goal, Watkins followed again with two goals to put the Eddies up 4-3 with 23 minutes to go in the game.
A Bridgman own goal followed by another Englund goal proved to be the game winner.
"The first half kind us got us in trouble, they (Bridgman) dominated the first half, came out all fired up and wanted to win the game. Our team played a phenomenal second half," said Rosenkranz. "Great comeback by my kids, great hustle and never gave up. Bridgman is a great team."
Bridgman…5
Edwardsburg…4
Halftime score
Bridgman 2, Edwardsburg 0
First Half
B- Englund 15:23
B- DeBosque (Englund assist) 27:54
Second half
E- Watkins (Treat assist) 45:28
E- Watkins 47:49
B- Hendricks 48:05
E- Watkins (penalty kick) 49:38
E- Watkins (Treat assist) 56:20
B- Own goal
B- Englund 58:30