Gabi Fonseca scored two goals and Hailee Hebard earned the shutout in goal as Edwardsburg beat visiting Dowagiac 3-0 in Wolverine Conference girls soccer Monday.

The Eddies (5-3-2, 1-3 Wolverine South) scored all of its goals on the Chieftains (2-8-2, 0-5 Wolverine South) in the first half.

Fonseca converted a pass from Olivia Freshour in the sixth minute and a feed from Makayla Shaw in the 37th minute.

Shaw netted Edwardsburg’s second goal on a pass from Autumn Axline in the 22nd minute.

Dowagiac goalkeeper Grace Younger made 14 saves, pushing her season total to 162.

“We worked hard,” Edwardsburg coach Brett Harring said. “The biggest thing about our team is coming out and putting in work. I know we’re not going to be the fastest team or the team with the best touch. But when we come out with that workmen’s mentality and run hard, we usually fare pretty well.”

The Eddies had 18 shots on goal and three of those — the by Makayla Metcalf in the second minute — hit the crossbar or the side pipe.

Edwardsburg has played without striker Noelle Kraus (ACL injury) since the second game and has been looking for its offensive identity.

“We’ve been reshuffling and redefining what our team’s going to be,” Harring said. “We’ve hit a lot of posts this year. Our first three games, we probably hit 10 posts. It’s kind of tough.

“We’ve been a little bit better kind of moving in the box and creating those opportunities we weren’t necessarily creating before.”

Monday’s second half was played in a steady drizzle. It also marked a rise in Dowagiac’s play. The Chieftains had their two corner kicks and one shot on goal in the final 40 minutes.

“The girls are starting to understand it more,” Dowagiac coach Ryan Haines said. “They have to understand that you have to play for the full 80 minutes. You have to play your heart out and run-and-gun completely.

“We’re getting girls playing travel ball and playing in the off-season and that’s positive right there. We’re getting there. It’s just a matter of working that much harder to get what you want.”

The Eddies and Chieftains are both on the road Wednesday, May 11. Edwardsburg goes to South Haven and Dowagiac visits Plainwell.

A complete box score is available at www.leaderpub.com.

 

EDWARDSBURG 3, DOWAGIAC 0

At Edwardsburg

Halftime score

Edwardsburg 3, Dowagiac 0

 

First half

E – Gabi Fonseca (Olivia Freshour assist) 6th minute.

E – Shaw (Autumn Axline) 22nd.

E – Fonseca (Shaw) 37th.

 

Shots on goal

Edwardsburg 18

Dowagiac 1

 

Saves

Edwardsburg 1 (Hailee Hebard).

Dowagiac 14 (Grace Younger).

 

Corner Kicks

Edwardsburg 5.

Dowagiac 2.

Varsity records: Edwardsburg 5-3-2, 1-3 Wolverine; Dowagiac 2-8-2, 0-5 Wolverine.