Dowagiac advances to district championship

Published 9:34 am Friday, October 19, 2018

BERRIEN SPRINGS — Visiting Dowagiac scored three first half goals to secure a spot in the Division 3 district championship game at Berrien Springs on Saturday.

The Chieftains got a pair of goals from Cristian Wilson, along with a goal and an assist by Cole Parker to defeat the host Shamrocks 4-0 Wednesday afternoon.

Dowagiac advances to the 11 a.m. championship game at Berrien Springs to face Schoolcraft, a 4-0 winner of Constantine in the other semifinal Wednesday.

“The difference between today and Monday was patience,” said Dowagiac coach Mike Williams. “We didn’t force the attacks and did a nice job feeding through gaps.”

The district champion will advance to the Division 3 regional at Otsego High School Oct. 24.

Wyoming Lee and Hudsonville Unity Christian are playing for the district title at Grand Rapids South Christian. The winner takes on the Berrien Spring district winner at 7:30 p.m.

Division 4

Dylan Jergens scored a pair of goals as Howardsville Christian eliminated Cassopolis from the Division 4 district tournament 3-1 at Marcellus Wednesday night.

The Rangers led 1-0 on a goal by Brett Williams in the opening minute, but trailed 2-1 at halftime following goals by Joshua Parks and Jergens.

Jergens scored the lone goal of the second half.

“This was a heartbreaking loss for our team,” said Cassopolis coach Austin Francis. “We scored really early on with a great strike from Brett and continued to have good shots throughout the game. Credit to Howardsville as they never stop attacking or putting pressure on the ball. Both teams played very tough.”

Cassopolis outshot Howardsville Christian 14-7.

Jason Sopaseuth had four saves for the Rangers, while Zachary Grandlinard had 13 saves for Howardsville, who will face Lake Michigan Catholic at 1 p.m. at Marcellus High School on Saturday.