Dowagiac’s Joey Pasternak (4) defends Edwardsburg’s Any Boyles Thursday night. The Eddies defeated the Chieftains 4-2. (The Daily News/Scott Novak)

By SCOTT NOVAK

Dowagiac Daily News

EDWARDSBURG — Experience proved to be the difference Thursday night as the host Edwardsburg Eddies posted a 4-2 non-conference win over the Dowagiac soccer team.

The Eddies have more experienced players that were able to control the game at the start of both halves.

Edwardsburg (2-4) jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on a goal by Luke Rohrman off an assist from Alan Lopez.

Dowagiac would counter in the 13th minute as Hazen McMeekan scored the first of his two goals on the night.

Just before halftime, the Eddies were able to find the back of the net again to take the momentum into the break.

Jeff Roberson scored off an assist from Marcus Albrecht in the 32nd minute to give Edwardsburg a 2-1 advantage.

The Eddies came out and dominated the first 20 minutes of the second half and opened up a 4-1 advantage.

Andy Boyles opened the second half scoring in the 54th minute with an assist from Rohrman.

A penalty kick was awarded to the Eddies in the 67th minute and goalkeeper Dylan Nylund came on to take it. The kick was good and suddenly Edwardsburg had a three-goal advantage.

Dowagiac wasn’t done and finished strong over the final 10 minutes of the match.

McMeeken scored again in the 73rd minute off an indirect kick that caught the Eddies by surprise. He was assisted on the play by Craig Zebell.

Edwardsburg held a 26-17 advantage in shots on goal in the match.

The Chieftains’ Jason Turner was credited with eight saves and the Eddies’ Nylund 5.

“It’s their (Edwardsburg’) bench,” Dowagiac coach Mike Williams said. “We only had a couple of subs and they had 10. We know that we are light on the bench and that’s why the starters have to be able to run the whole game.

“It’s just experience. Our outside mids (midfielders) are young. They turn the ball into pressure and they kept trying to force the ball down the center instead of turning it out. In the second half down toward the end we did a better job of turning the ball out,” he added.

Edwardsburg coach Ryan Rosenkranz said that his team came into the match with a different mind set.

“We were 1-4 coming into tonight. We were beat by Bridgman on Tuesday night and we didn’t bring out ‘A’ game. The guys were definitely down after that game and I said there is nothing we can do about it now other than learn from our mistakes and move on,” he said. “They definitely brought a better game tonight.”

Dowagiac…2

Edwardsburg…4

Halftime score

Edwardsburg 2, Dowagiac 1

First half

E  – Luke Rohrman 6th minute (assist Alan Lopez)

D – Hazen McMeekan 13th minute

E – Jeff Roberson 32 minute (assist Marcus Abrecht)

Second half

E  – Andy Boyles 54th minute (assist Luke Rohrman)

E – Dylan Nylund 67 minute (penalty kick)

D – Hazen McMeekan 73 minute (assist Craig Zebell)

Shots on goal

Dowagiac 17

Edwardsburg 26

Saves

Dowagiac 8 (Jason Turner)

Edwardsburg 5 (Nylund)

Varsity records: Dowagiac 1-2, Edwardsburg 2-4

Dowagiac at South Haven

The Chieftains were blanked by the No. 1 team in the state Wednesday night, 5-0.

The Rams grabbed a 3-0 halftime lead on the strength of goals by Tony Canonie, Randy Batista and Josh Macyauski.

Canonie scored in the fourth minute and four minutes later Batista made it 2-0.

Macyauski completed the first half scoring with a goal in the 11th minute.

In the second half, Aaron Krieger scored in the 43rd minute and Batista netted his second goal in the 48th minute.

Dowagiac was outshot by South Haven 25-5.

“South Haven is a veteran team with a large bench,” Williams said. “We were outmatched, but fought hard throughout the game. We have been improving every day and the younger players are learning a lot and starting to contribute.”

The Rams improved to 7-0 overall and 1-0 in the Wolverine Conference.

Dowagiac is now 2-1 overall and 0-1 in league play.

Dowagiac will be hosting Coloma on Saturday at 10 a.m.

There will be Port-A-Pit available from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the high school.

Dowagiac…0

South Haven…5

Halftime score

South Haven 3, Dowagiac 0

First half

SH – Tony Canonie 4th minute

SH – Randy Batista 8th minute

SH – Josh Macyauski 11th minute

Second half

SH – Aaron Krieger 43rd minute

SH – Batista 48th minute

Shots on goal

Dowagiac 5

South Haven 25

Saves

Dowagiac 11 (Jason Turner)

South Haven 4 (Mitch Baker 2, Christian Davis 2)

Varsity records: Dowagiac 2-1, 0-1 Wolverine; South Haven 7-0, 1-0 Wolverine