DOWAGIAC — Defenseman Brooke Parritt ripped a shot into the upper left corner in the 57th minute Thursday afternoon to advance Dowagiac to the Division 3 District finals on Saturday.

Parritt’s goal broke a 2-2 tie as the Chieftains edged visiting Comstock 3-2.

The win also avenged a 2-0 loss to the Colts earlier in the season.

Most of the scoring came early and often as the two schools combined for four goals in the first 17 minutes of the district semifinal.

Dowagiac opened the scoring in the seventh minute as Lauren Krueger dented the back of the net with an assist from Kelsey Bannow.

Comstock quickly tied the score at 1-1 two minutes later as Mikayla Hicks got one past Chieftain keeper Alyssa Fritz.

The Colts made it 2-1 four minutes later as Melisa Kokales scored in the 13th minute on a ball that bounced over the top of Fritz and just under the crossbar.

Having recovered from that goal, Bre Williams squared the match once again as she beat a Comstock defender and ripped one past a diving keeper in the 17th minute to make it 2-2.

The match would remain tied for the remainder of the open 40 minutes of play, although Dowagiac certainly had the better of the scoring opportunities.

It took 17 minutes into the final half before the Chieftains were able to get another ball into the net, with what turned out to be the match-winner.

Dowagiac continued to have scoring chances, while defensively, the Chieftains were able to contain Comstock pretty much the entire second half.

But in the final 10 seconds of the match, the Colts put together a charge, which ended up with a direct kick with only three seconds showing on the clock.

The official reset the Dowagiac wall and put two seconds back on the clock.

The kick was true and Fritz, who only had to make two official saves the entire match, snared the rocket-like shot to preserve the victory.

The Chieftains finished with 11 shots on goal compared to just six for Comstock.

“It came down to our defense making runs and supporting us from the back,” Dowagiac coach Mike Williams said. “That was obvious because Brooke scored for us. That was our whole goal. To bring our defense more into it like we did at the beginning of the year when we won seven in a row.

“We got the win and we are happy, but we have a big challenge on Saturday.”

Dowagiac will play Paw Paw, a 2-0 winner over South Haven in the second semifinal.

Comstock…2

Dowagiac…3

Halftime score

Comstock 2, Dowagiac 2

First half

D – Lauren Krueger 7th minute (Kelsey Bannow assist)

C – Mikayla Hicks 9th minute

C – Melisa Kokales 13th minute

D – Bre Williams 17th minute

Second half

D – Brooke Parritt 57th minute (Williams assist)

Shots on goal

Comstock 6

Dowagiac 11

Saves

Comstock 7

Dowagiac 2 (Alyssa Fritz)

Division 2

STEVENSVILLE — Sturgis scored a goal in each half to eliminate Edwardsburg from the Division 2 District Soccer Tournament on Thursday.

Lauren Kellogg scored with 21:47 remaining in the first half and Mikayla Kunce scored with 24 minutes left in the match to lead the Trojans to a 2-0 victory over the Eddies, who finish the year at 15-4-1.

Sturgis held a 15-4 advantage in shots on goal. Sophie Devenney had four saves for Edwardsburg.

Sturgis…2

Edwardsburg…0

Halftime score

Sturgis 1, Edwardsburg 0

First Half

S — Lauren Kellogg 21:47

Second half

S — Mikayla Kunce 24:00

Shots on goal

Sturgis 15, Edwardsburg 4

Saves

Sturgis 2 (Caroline Kirsch)

Edwardsburg 4 (Sophie Devenney)

Records: Sturgis 9-8-3, Edwardsburg 15-4-1