A serious injury overshadowed Monday’s girls soccer match between Dowagiac and Edwardsburg.

A match won by the Eddies, 8-0.

With 30:40 left in the second half, Dowagiac freshman Katlyn Briney went down with an injury and an ambulance had to be called to transport her to a hospital.

“It looks like she has a broken femur,” said Chieftains coach Ryan Haines. “It’s going to be awhile until she comes back. It’s definitely a big loss. We now have only 13 girls healthy.”

There was an hour delay because of the injury. Edwardsburg owned a 5-0 lead at the time of the stoppage.

The Eddies got goals from Brittany Udell, Becky Oppman and Alyssa Heminger over the final 23:42 to get a mercy-rule win.

The victory clinched the Wolverine Conference West Division title for the Eddies, who improved to 4-0 in the division and 9-2-1 overall.

Paige Szlanfucht, Makayla Shaw, Anna Roberts, Sarah Ward and Noelle Kraus added goals for the Eddies, who had 32 of the 33 shots in the match.

“We’re a team,” said Edwardsburg coach Brett Harring. “That’s the biggest difference between this year and last year. Even Paige (Szlanfucht) towards the end of the game, inside the 18 (of the goalie box), kept trying to find her fellow seniors to try to get them a goal. The girls want each other to do well.”

It was the second win in three days by Edwardsburg over Dowagaic. The Eddies beat the Chieftains, 3-0, at the Edwardsburg Tournament on Saturday.

The difference on Monday was that Dowagiac was playing without starting goalie Grace Younger, who suffered facial injuries in the match on Saturday against the Eddies.

“It’s a big loss,” Haines said about losing his starting goalie. “When we played Edwardsburg on Saturday she was doing some really good things then she got the knee to the face 25 minutes into the first half. I had to change some things around tonight and it made things more difficult for us.”

 

Dowagiac – 0

Edwardsburg – 8

Halftime score

Edwarddsburg 3, Dowagiac 0

 

First half

E – Paige Szlanfucht 34:04

E – Makayla Shaw 20:29

E – Anna Roberts 9:47

 

Second half

E – Sarah Ward 36:29

E – Noelle Kraus 31:28

E – Brittany Udell 23:42

E – Becky Oppman 3:24

E – Alyssa Heminger 2:12

 

Shots on goal

Dowagiac 1

Edwardsburg 32

 

Saves

Dowagiac 12 (Mara Nelson)

Edwardsburg 1 (Samantha)

 

Corner kicks

Dowagiac 0

Edwardsburg 12

 

Varsity records: Dowagiac 2-13, 2-3 Wolverine West; Edwardsburg 9-2-1, 4-0 Wolverine West