Dowagiac's Craig Zebell had three assists in the Chieftains' 6-5 win over Paw Paw Wednesday night. (The Daily News/File)

By SCOTT NOVAK

 

Dowagiac Daily News

A second half scoring spree helped the Dowagiac soccer team head into the post season with a two-match winning streak.

The Chieftains outscored visiting Paw Paw 6-4 in the second half to earn a hard-fought 6-5 Wolverine Conference victory.

The Redskins grabbed a 1-0 halftime lead, but just five minutes into the second half, Dowagiac erased that advantage and took a 2-1 lead on back-to-back goals.

Ryan Barnas got the 10-goal second half started in the 42nd minute off an assist from Craig Zebell.

Hazen McMeeken followed with a goal three minutes later off an assist from Brad Hornburg on a play where Paw Paw would lose its starting goalkeeper for the rest of  the match.

On the play, the keeper dove at the ball and made contact with McMeeken’s knee. After a 30-minute delay, the match resumed with a wild final 35 minutes.

Paw Paw tied the match at 2-2 on a penalty kick.

Dowagiac reclaimed the lead in the 55th minute as McMeeken scored his second goal off an assist from Zebell.

The Redskins once again knotted the match, but McMeeken and Zebell teamed up again in the 76th minute to make it a 4-3 advantage for the Chieftains.

Following a Paw Paw score, Alvero Scherer scored off a corner kick to give the lead back to Dowagiac at 5-4.

Once again the Redskins came storming back and forced the final tie at 5-5 with just under 13 minutes remaining.

In the 78th minute, McMeeken picked up his fourth goal of the evening off an assist by Barnas and the two teams traded several quality scoring chances over the final two minutes of the match.

The Chieftains outshot Paw Paw 20-17 with Dowagiac keeper Jason Turner getting credit for 13 saves.

“Offensively it was awesome,” Dowagiac coach Mike Williams said. “We were making runs just like we have been in practice. Defensively we were crowding Jason too much and he couldn’t move to the ball. It was nice to get two tough wins heading into districts.”

Dowagiac, the Division 3 district host, will open up play at home on Monday against Bangor. The match is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m

Paw Paw…5

Dowagiac…6

Halftime score

Paw Paw 1, Dowagiac 1

First half

PP – N/A

Second half

D – Ryan Barnas 42nd minute (Craig Zebell assist)

D – Hazen McMeeken 45th minute (Brad Hornburg assist)

PP – penalty kick 46th minute

D – McMeeken 55th minute (Zebell assist)

PP – N/A

D – McMeeken 76th minute (Zebell assist)

PP – N/A

D – Alvero Scherer 77th minute

D – McMeeken 78th minute (Barnas assist)

PP – N/A

Shots on goal

Paw Paw 17

Dowagiac 20

Saves

Dowagiac 13 (Jason Turner)