Brandywine’s Jordan Hatch gets off a shot against Berrien Springs on Monday afternoon. The Bobcats were edged by the Shamrocks 2-1 in a Lakeland Conference match. (Daily Star photo/RON HARNER)

By DON EDEN

Niles Daily Star

Brandywine needed a win for morale, but Lakeland Conference rival Berrien Springs came away with a 2-1 victory Tuesday in soccer.

The Bobcats capitalized just before the 16 minute mark with a nice play, which started with a redirection header pass from senior Jacob Wieger and ended as junior Jordan Hatch took a pass from another senior (Matthew Liebetrau) to dent the net from 16 yards out.

Brandywine (2-4, 0-2) almost scored again a couple minutes later when Wieger fired a 30-yard missile that bounced off the crossbar to a teammate, who found the goalie instead of pay dirt.

“Wieger’s (Jacob) shot would have been huge to give us a two-goal lead as momentum completely changes and we probably win,” said Bradywine coach Evan Winkler. “We need to believe in ourselves to build some confidence.”

The two-goal lead would have been matched by Berrien Springs (2-4-1, 1-0-1) as junior Enoch Tsibu-Beckson played like Pele with a pair of goals midway through the first half.

Enoch made a stop-and-go move on a defender to free himself and his speed showed with a breakaway shot in the low left corner with the only senior starter (Douglass Nyabidge) providing the assist.  Almost nine minutes later he juked by two defenseless defenders on the opposite side of the net to finish with a low right shot to give the Shamrocks the lead that stood.

“Enoch is very skilled and works hard with the ball as he is our only returning starter back from last year, so this is a rebuilding year for us,” stated Berrien Springs coach Nick Lesch. “Brandywine always has a good team with solid players as this was a great game and a very competitive match.”

A pair of potential hat trick goals were averted as Tsibu-Beckson hit the crossbar just two minutes into the second half and Bobcat senior stopper Jason Andrews dove to stop a breakaway, but it was to no avail as Brandywine’s offense lacked success.

“We wanted better ball possession in the second half and that was the difference as our young defense played well,” said Lesch “These kids are a lot of joy to have in practice, work real hard, hustle and listen very well.”

The Bobcats had a chance for a well-deserve tie with 20 seconds left, but a shot decided to go left of a wide open net.

“We are a lot better than we are showing,” concluded Winkler. “The first half, we played not to lose instead of to win and played much harder in the second half, but we still need to pass better.”

Senior captain Brian Exner suffered a concussion against Bridgman last week and might miss another two weeks for Brandywine.

Berrien Springs…2

Brandywine…1

Halftime score

Berrien Springs 2, Brandywine 1

First Half

BR – Jordan Hatch 16th minute Matthew Liebetrau assist

BS – Enoch Tsibu-Beckson 26th minute Douglas Nyabidge assist

BS – Tsibu-Beckson 35th minute

Shots – Brandywine 10, Berrien Springs 8

Saves – Jason Andrews (BR) 2, Christian Haack (BS) 4

Corner kicks — Brandywine 2, Berrien Springs 4

Second Half

Shots – Brandywine 10 (20), Berrien Springs 8 (16)

Saves – Andrews (BR) 4 (6), Haack (BS) 4 (8)

Corner kicks – Brandywine 5 (7), Berrien Springs 3 (7)

Varsity records: Brandywine 2-4, 0-2 Lakeland; Berrien Springs 2-4-1, 1-0-1 Lakeland