Eddies top Sturgis for Division 2 District championship

Published 10:27 am Friday, October 20, 2023

By Scott Novak

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STEVENSVILLE — Two things fueled the Edwardsburg soccer team in its quest for the Division 2 District Tournament championship Thursday night.

The memory of losing to St. Joseph 4-1 in last year’s championship match and its loss 4-1 loss to Sturgis in the Wolverine Conference match that gave the fifth-ranked Trojans the league title.

The Eddies avenged their loss to the Bears earlier this week with a 1-0 win in the semifinals.

Thursday night, Edwardsburg erased the other memory with a 5-1 win over Sturgis for the championship.

The win advances the Eddies to the Division 2 Regional semifinals against another Wolverine Conference opponent — Plainwell — at Gull Lake High School on Tuesday. DeWitt will face Holland Christian in the other semifinal. The regional championship match will be Thursday.

Plainwell upset defending Division 2 state champion Gull Lake 2-1 on Wednesday.

A pair of first-half goals would prove to be all the Eddies would need, but Edwardsburg sealed the victory with three second-half goals.

Dion Sokhadze got the Eddies on the board with an unassisted goal. Grayson Herbert would score the match-winner later in the half on penalty kick.

The Trojans would score late as Gavyn Moore found the back of the net to make it a one-goal contest. That would be as close as Sturgis would get.

Edwardsburg Coach Sean Jesse knew his team was focused and ready to take on the Trojans.

“Sturgis is a quality side, so this was a big win for us,” he said. “After they beat us two weeks ago on their way to winning the Wolverine Conference Championship, we really buckled down and began to focus in on what it would take to win a district title. We did not have an easy path, having to knock off Lakeshore, St. Joe, and Sturgis, but we believed we could and went out and did it.”

Any thoughts Sturgis had of making a second-half comeback ended on back-to-back goals by Owen Kertes to open the final 40 minutes. Dane and Daniel Bryant picked up the assists on the Kertes goals.

Annon Billingsley added a late goal to cap the victory.

“Today, the team played really well,” Jesse said. “And it was a total team effort. This senior class is special. Today, they accounted for all five goals. Owen Kertes in particular played a great game, keeping Sturgis off balance in their attack and beginning many of our own attacks.”

Jesse said that his team had been pointing toward winning a championship since losing in last year’s final.

“We had a goal of being district champs since losing the district championship last season,” he said. “This team has worked very hard and is hungry for more. They are certainly looking forward to the opportunity to keep playing in the regional tournament.”

 

 

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