By By SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
The Dowagiac varsity soccer team advanced to the Division 3 District Soccer championship match with a 2-1 overtime victory over visiting Berrien Springs on Wednesday.
The Chieftains, who are hosting the district finals, will face Division 3 state runner-up South Haven at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
In a defensive struggle, neither team was able to score in the opening 40 minutes of play.
Dowagiac had several good opportunities to score as it dominated the first half.
The Chieftains were unable to find the back of the net, however, and had to settle for a scoreless tie at halftime.
Although Dowagiac had the wind advantage to start the second half, it was Berrien Springs that came out hot and scored with 22:42 remaining.
Emmanuel Phaeton's goal in the 57th minute looked like it was going to hold up until Dowagiac's Brandon Zachary finally solved the Shamrock defense and goalkeeper with 4:53 remaining in regulation.
Zachary's goal in the 75th minute tied the match and sent it into a 15-minute sudden-death overtime session.
Dowagiac needed just 59 seconds of overtime to win the match as Eddie Campbell scored.
Williams said he was pleased with the effort he got out of his squad Wednesday afternoon and that if the Chieftains play that well on Saturday, they have a good chance to bring home the district title.
Dowagiac outshot Berrien Springs 24-13. Davey Moran had 10 saves for the Chieftains.