EDWARDSBURG — Before getting into Wolverine Conference play, the Dowagiac and Edwardsburg soccer teams had much different results with its non-league opponents.

The Chieftains were scoring at will and winning all but one of their games. Dowagiac had 67 goals heading into conference play.

The Eddies meanwhile, were struggling, especially in the second half of matches and had a losing record against those opponents.

But things have flipped for the two schools since conference action started last week.

Edwardsburg improved to 3-1 with a 3-2 victory over the Chieftains, who dropped to 1-2 with the loss.

Both coaches knew things were about to change for their teams.

Edwardsburg coach Sean Jesse is still trying to figure out how to keep his team focused for the final 40 minutes of each match. The Eddies can be dominant in the open half, but tend to come out flat for the opening 15 to 20 minutes of the second half.

“I think we are so content with successes in the first half that we rest on what we have already built on in the second half,” he said. “Teams make adjustments at half time and always come out with greater intensity. We lack the instinct to put games out of reach and are slow to match the increased intensity of our opponents.”

Monday night, the Eddies did the same thing, Edwardsburg led Dowagiac 2-1 at halftime as Aaron Toms score on a penalty kick in the seventh minute and Juve Soto scored in the 18th minute off an assist from Anthony Castelucci.

The Chieftains’ lone goal came off the foot of Ethan Hannapel who took a pass from Cristian Wilson and beat Edwardsburg keeper Zach Stryker in the 27th minute.

Dowagiac came out on fire to start the second half. Wilson tied the match at 2-2 just nine minutes in.

The match would remain deadlocked until Castelucci scored with 3:33 remaining to give the Eddies the win.

“The extra spark in the last 15 minutes came from a will, desire to not lose,” Jesse said. “And, there is a belief that we are a strong team as shown in the first half of the game. The combinations of which pushed the team into more substantial attacks in the attacking third.”

Dowagiac coach Mike Williams said that the younger players on his team still need to learn how to play through the end of the match. He also noted that a couple of defensive breakdowns gave the Eddies opportunities that they were able to capitalize on.

“We have a lot of sophomores who are still trying to get up to that level of physicality and endurance,” he said. “They need to learn how to last that long. There is no quit in them, that is not it. Just some minor mistakes defensively. A young defender gets beat, turns and kicks the kid and get the penalty kick. That is how it all started. Another was a miscommunication with the keeper. Our keeper is a sophomore, so it is the same thing.”

Some of the toughest opponents in the Wolverine Conference are still awaiting both Edwardsburg and Dowagiac. Both Jesse and Williams know that if they are going to compete for a conference championship, they must fix some of the early-season shortcomings.

“The biggest way to overcome the slow second-half starts that have plagued us during the season is to understand every team makes adjustments at half time and will come out in the second half with greater intensity,” Jesse said. “We have to make our own adjustment and match the increased intensity. It is also an attitude that the boys are still trying to master. A desire to finish teams and not allow them to gain a foothold in the game.”

Dowagiac’s next challenge is Plainwell tonight. Williams said his team will embrace the challenge.

“We do not want easier going through the rest of the season,” he said. “I knew it was coming. It is going to be one-goal games the rest of the way out. We just want to be on the other end of those, especially working as hard as they have.”

Williams knows the Trojans will be tough to beat, but he feels as the rest of the league schedule presents itself, the Chieftains will be able to have an advantage over some of those teams.

Edwardsburg is back on the pitch tonight as it travels to South Haven.