By TOM NYHUIS
Niles Daily Star

EDWARDSBURG – A goal early in the first half by Edwardsburg’s Aly Mooth was all the the Eddies needed to get the nervousness out in a game that paired two teams fighting it out for the Lakeland Conference league lead in girls varsity soccer action on a cloudy and wet Tuesday afternoon.

“Any time you can get an early goal it definitely helps out,” Edwardsburg coach Ryan Rosenkranz said. “It calms the girls down a little bit. As soon as you get that first goal you tend to let up a little bit but the girls kept plugging away.

“We have stressed that we have been up in the past that we have been up before and we have actually let team back into it before and we have learned from that a little bit.”
In the end it was Edwardsburg taking the win shutting out Buchanan 3-0 and improving their league mark to 6-0-1 and 7-6-1 on the season to stay in contention of the league crown with three conference games remaining. The Eddies have to face Cassopolis at home and then hit the road for their final two league games against Bridgman and Brandywine.

Mooth’s first goal came after breaking free from her defender placing the ball in the right corner just out of the reach of Buchanan goalie Shelby Welbaum out stretched hand.

The Eddies second goal of the game came from a Buchanan own goal. Welbaum came out to make a stop and the ball deflected to her right.

The Lady Buck defense scrambled to clear the ball but it found its way into the net to give the Eddies a 2-0 lead with two minutes to play in the first half.

“The girls played hard and the conditions had some effect on the game,” Buchanan coach Brian Pruett said following the loss. “But it wasn’t the lack of effort. Being down 2-0 at the half they came out strong in the second half and we had some good opportunities. It was just our unlucky night. They had a real good first goal and the other two were off crashes where the girls were crashing in and had some unlucky touches. We had our opportunities, we played had it just didn’t go our way tonight. We just have to move on and realize that this game is just going to make us better and hope we continue going in the right direction.”

Mooth added her second goal of the game in the second half to seal the victory for the Eddies.

Edwardsburg out shot the Bucks 22-13 as Edwardsburg freshman Brittany Hurst came up big in the net making seven saves to keep the Lady Bucks off the score board.

Welbaum finished the night with 15 saves for Buchanan which drops to 4-1-2 in the league and 6-6-3 overall.

Buchanan…0
Edwardsburg…3
Halftime score
Edwardsburg 2, Buchanan 0

First half
E – Aly Mooth
E – Buchanan own goal
Second half
E – Mooth

Shots on goal
Buchanan 13
Edwardsburg 22

Saves
Buchanan 15
Edwardsburg 7
Varsity records: Buchanan 6-6-3, 4-1-2 Lakeland; Edwardsburg 7-6-1, 6-0-1 Lakeland