By By DAN WEISS / Niles Daily Star
NILES -- For the second time this season the Brandywine varsity soccer team beat Niles.
The Bobcats overcame an early 1-0 deficit to beat the visiting Vikings 3-2 Thursday night, giving head coach Jim McNamara a pleasant 32nd birthday.
It was the third win of the week for Brandywine, which improved to 5-2-2 overall. Niles dropped to 3-7-2 on the season.
McNamara, in his first season at the helm of the Bobcats, already knows the significance of games between these two teams.
Kyle Kidwell scored the first goal of the game on a breakaway, giving Niles a 1-0 lead 13 minutes into the contest.
The first of two losses came for Niles just four minutes later when freshman midfielder Michael Tanke was assessed a red card and ejected from the game. Niles coach Jerry Holtgren was also assessed a yellow card for his argument of the official's ruling.
The Bobcats capitalized on the shorthanded Vikings and Andy Low tied the game with an unassisted goal in the 27th minute.
Following the halftime break, Low struck again 19 minutes into the second half. This time he scored on another unassisted goal with a shot from about 25 yards away.
Niles' second loss of the game happened with 18:04 remaining when senior forward Evan McCullough went down following a collision. McCullough suffered an injury to his knee and was taken away in an ambulance. Niles coach Jerry Holtgren accompanied him to the hospital.
Low scored his third goal of the game five minutes after play resumed following his own indirect kick. Garrett Semrinec shot the ball but was stopped by Niles goalkeeper Cory Coquillard. Low recovered the rebound and scored.
Niles managed to score once more when Colin Smith took a throw-in from Kyle Kidwell and beat Brandywine keeper Kyle Perry with 4:30 left in the game.
Brandywine outshot Niles 10-7 in the game. Coquillard had four saves and Perry had six saves for the Bobcats.
Brandywine hosts Edwardsburg Monday while Niles travels to Sturgis Tuesday.