Dowagiac senior Ali Hess battles with a South Haven player for a ball Tuesday afternoon. (The Daily News/Scott Novak)

By SCOTT NOVAK

Dowagiac Daily News

Four first half goals proved to be too much for the Dowagiac varsity soccer team to overcome Tuesday night against visiting South Haven.

The Rams got four goals from Hannah Seiler en route to a 6-1 Wolverine Conference victory.

Seiler scored three of her goals in the opening 40 minutes and then added a fourth goal in the second half to give South Haven a 5-0 lead before the Chieftains got on the scoreboard.

The Rams’ Rachel Songerath opened the scoring in the 16^th minute.

Seiler score the first of her three first half goals two minutes later. She also scored in the 26^th and 31^st minutes of the match.

She opened the second half scoring in the 66^th minute to give the Rams a five-goal advantage.

Kelsie Primley averted the shut out for Dowagiac with a goal in the 68^th minute.

South Haven responded 11 minutes later with a goal from Tori Aldana.

“We did not cover inside and they took advantage every time,” Dowagiac coach Mike Williams said. “Second half we adjusted and played much better. As we get into conference games we must step up and pay attention to detail.”

The Dowagiac junior varsity soccer team finally got a match under its belt on Tuesday.

The Chieftains trailed 2-1 at halftime, knotted the score at 2-2, but fell to South Haven when Danielle Christian found the back of the net in the 63^rd minute.

The Rams grabbed a 2-0 lead in the opening half on goals by Christian in the 21^st and 30^th minutes.

The Chieftains cut the lead to 2-1 on a goal by Poloma Medina in the 31^st minute.

Alejandro Cano tied the score at 2-2 in the 58^th minute.

Dowagiac outshot South Haven 8-6.

“We put in a good performance for our first game,” Dowagiac coach Justin Rose said. “Our defense played well, and we outshot South Haven but just did not finish on enough of them. Katie Mitchell did a great job in goal with nine saves.”

South Haven…6

Dowagiac…1

Halftime score

South Haven 4, Dowagiac 0

First half

SH – Rachel Songerath 16th minute

SH – Hannah Seiler 18th minute

SH – Seiler 26th minute

SH – Seiler 31st minute

Second half

SH – Seiler at the 66th minute

D – Kelsie Primley at the 68th minute

SH – Tori Aldana at the 79th minute

Shots on goal

South Haven 14

Dowagiac 6