NILES — It was supposed to be a match that host Niles would be competitive in.

What it turned out to be is a lopsided loss to visiting Battle Creek Lakeview on Niles senior night.

Led by a hat trick from junior Ajaysia Hacker, Lakeview blanked the Vikings 8- 0 in the SMAC non-divisional match that ended on Hacker’s third goal in the 54th minute.

“It was tough to get beat on senior night,” said Niles coach Abel Fonseca. “We have a good group of seniors that have worked hard all season and had put in the time in the offseason. Not to get a victory at home for them really hurts.”

The Niles senior class consists of Marisa Kerr, Ashley Park, Tionge Kamanga, Taylor Haboush, Carrie Couch, Amaya Jacobs and Tressy Mazumder.

The bigger and faster Lakeview was able to use its physical abilities to wear down a Niles team that has lacked numbers all season.

Battle Creek led 3-0 for much of the first half, but Niles ran out of gas in the final seven minutes of the half and gave up two quick goals at the end, which spelled the end for the Vikings.

Niles honored its senior class during halftime, which did not allow most of the team to get the much-needed rest during the 10-minute respite.

Lakeview immediately went to work on pressuring the Vikings in their half of the field in the second half.

Battle Creek needed just 14 minutes to score two goals, which ended the match via the mercy rule.

Dowagiac soccer

Visiting Dowagiac was shut out by Plainwell 4-0 in a Wolverine Conference match Wednesday.

The Chieftains, who were coming off their first league victory against Edwardsburg Monday night, managed just two shots against the Trojans.

Goalkeeper Jenna Davis was credited with 28 saves.

“We had a tough one tonight, but we knew it was going to be a defensive of battle,” said Dowagiac coach Chad Davis. “The girls played their hearts out, so that’s all I can ask for. We tried our best to slow down Plainwell’s aggressive offense, which I thought the girls did a nice job, but we struggle getting out in transition to play our own offense.”

Edwardsburg soccer

Hannah Coles scored all five goals as the Eddies snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 5-3 Wolverine Conference victory over visiting South Haven.

Jaleigh Walker and Shelby Ison picked up assists on Cole’s first and third goals.