NILES — At some point during the first half, Niles goalkeeper Drew Gourlay had to begin to feel like he was one of those clay targets at a carnival shooting gallery.

Visiting Edwardsburg was throwing everything it could at Gourlay and the Vikings’ defense, and although it bent, it never broke in a 1-0 victory over the Eddies Tuesday night.

The two teams played a scoreless 40 minutes with much of it being played at the Niles end. Edwardsburg was unable to finish on 20 shots on goal.

“Our defense played really well and shifted over at the right time,” Gourlay said. “They got a lot of shots off, but they were either deflected or a low percentage.”

Niles came out and notched the match’s only goal in the 58th minute, which left plenty of time for the Eddies to get the equalizer. Unfortunately for Edwardsburg, it was unable to get the ball past Gourlay and the Niles defense.

“They had a lot of opportunities,” said Niles coach Abel Fonseca. “I would say he was the MVP for sure. He made a lot of saves and had to keep his composure. Edwardsburg did a good job moving it around. Drew was talking and trying to get us in the right position.”

The Eddies were also unfortunate a couple of times as the ball bounced off the crossbar during the final 15 minutes of the non-conference match.

The game-winning goal was scored after the Eddies turned the ball over in the midfield, and it was recovered by Andrew Boling, who was able to get the ball to Jackson Shields for the score.

“That goal was huge,” Gourlay said. “That gave us some comfort. It made us relax a little bit and play more simple. Even though we wanted to, we knew we did not have to score again.”

For Edwardsburg, which is learning a new offensive system, getting the ball into the net has been a challenge so far in the young season.

“We had ample opportunities,” said Edwardsburg coach Sean Jesse. “I thought we controlled the whole game. We possessed well. We are just not really creative in the final third yet. We stand around. Anthony [Castelluci] and Nate [Bessinger] are gifted players. I think sometimes we stand around and watch. We are waiting for them to do something.”

Niles was right back on the pitch Wednesday as it hosted Kalamazoo Loy Norrix. The Eddies return to action at Allegan on Sept. 4 in their Wolverine Conference opener.