ALLEGAN – The Dowagiac varsity soccer team gave a much better effort Wednesday night in its Wolverine Conference match against host Allegan.

The Chieftains still wound up on the wrong end of a 3-0 decision against the Tigers, but Dowagiac coach Mike Williams was pleased with how the team played.

“Much improvement over Monday night,” he said. “Our positioning was much better. We stayed inside and contained against a good team.”

Allegan led 2-0 at halftime as Shelby Hayes scored in the fourth minute and Melissa Jennings scored the first of two goals in the seventh minute.

After that opening flurry, the Chieftains settled down and played well against Allegan.

Williams gave credit to goalkeeper Jo Jo Pickar, who had 15 saves in the game.

“She did a real nice job in goal,” he said.

Jennings capped the scoring in the 78th minute.

Allegan held a 20-10 advantage in shots on goal in the match.

Dowagiac also lost the junior varsity match 3-0.

Katie Mitchell had 16 saves as the Tigers got off 20 shots compared to 12 for the Chieftains.

“We worked hard defensively and we had some good offensive attacks,” Dowagiac coach Justin Rose said. “We just couldn’t connect on anything.”

Dowagiac…0
Allegan…3
Halftime score
Allegan 2, Dowagiac 0

First half
A – Shelby Hayes 4th minute
A – Melissa Jennings 7th minute

Second half
A – Jennings 78th minute

Shots on goal
Dowagiac 10
Allegan 20

Saves
Dowagiac 15 (Jo Jo Pickar)