ST. JOSEPH — The toughest opponent Wednesday for the Niles and Vicksburg boys soccer teams in their Division 2 district semifinal match was the weather.

In the second half, the Bulldogs found a way to generate some offense in the cold rain, wind and mud as Vicksburg posted a 2-0 win at Upton Middle School.

“I thought we coped with the weather as well as Vicksburg did,” said Niles coach Jerry Holtgren, whose team finishes at 10-10-2. “The conditions were tough. We missed a couple backside goals that would have been easy goals on a dry day. I thought we did as well as we could have.”

On a night when the first goal would be critical, Vicksburg got that key score after Cody Getsinger scored from five yards out of Jesse Boulnemour’s corner kick.

Almost 12 minutes later, Boulnemour used some nifty footwork and scored from five yards to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead.

Niles’ first shot on the goal in the second half didn’t come until 14:30 showed on the clock. Cicone Palmore’s shot from 15 yards went wide right.

The Vikings’ other shot on goal in the second half came in the final minute from Christian Rackley from about 20 yards. Rackley was in position to get a shot two minutes into the second half when he had possession of the ball in front of the goal. But, instead of a shot, Rackley slipped and could get only a small piece of the ball.

“I loved how we were carrying that ball down on the wing, right down the line, and serving it up in the middle,” Holtgren said. “That’s exactly what we wanted to do. We were just slipping and couldn’t finish.”

Niles was outshot, 11-6, in a scoreless first half. Palmore had a shot from five yards go high and wide and a header from 10 yards stopped by Vicksburg goalie Matt Lowes. Lowes had four of his five saves in the first half.

“We had so many opportunities in that first half,” Holtgren said. “We just couldn’t finish. I thought finishing was everything. If we could have gotten a couple goals and gotten some momentum it could have been a different story.”

Holtgren got great play from its goalies. Starter Derek Arguello had 11 saves and Ryan Casey relieved Arguello with 15:36 left in the match and had two saves.

“Both did a great job,” Holtgren said about his goalie play. “Derek, our senior, had some great saves and provided some great leadership.

“I was pretty happy all around, except for the outcome.”

Vicksburg…2

Niles…0

At St. Joseph

Halftime score

Niles 0, Vicksburg 0

Second half

V – Cody Getsinger (Jesse Boulnemour) 29:12

V – Boulnemour 17:28

Shots on goal

Niles 8, Vicksburg 23

Saves

Derek Arguello (N) 11, Ryan Casey (N) 2, Matt Lowes (V) 5

Corner kicks

Niles 2, Vicksburg 7