By By ADAM FISHER / Vigilant/Argus
BUCHANAN - Niles' boys' soccer team opened its season Saturday with a pair of shutout victories to win Buchanan's Phil Vandenburg Tournament.
Passing and defense were keys for the Vikings, as Niles moved to 2-0 early in the season.
Niles started the four-team tournament with a 6-0 victory over Brandywine. The Vikings dominated the Bobcats, out-shooting Brandywine 20-0 in shots on goal.
The first half went scoreless until a Colin Smith goal with 5:24 remaining gave Niles the only score it would need. Michael Tanke assisted on the goal.
Tanke assisted Brian Coulston on another score less than a minute later to give the Vikings a 2-0 lead at halftime.
Tanke, Nick Sharkey, Maurico Terra and Danny Rodts all notched goals in the second half to round out the scoring for Niles. C.J. Rumpf, Tanke and Terra assisted on the goals.
Buchanan beat Cass in its first game to set up a Bucks-Vikings final in the tournament.
Niles again dominated offensively and defensively, holding Buchanan to 0 shots on goal, while getting 16 of their own, en route to a 3-0 victory.
Like the first game, the first half remained scoreless until late, when Niles' Cody Riggenbach scored with four minutes left.
Rumpf added two goals in the second half, both assisted by Jerred Rockafellow, to give the Vikings the final 3-0 margin.
The Dowagiac junior varsity soccer team opened up its 2004 season on Tuesday against Cassopolis.
Dowagiac trailed 1-0, but rallied for a 3-1 victory in a match that was halted with six minutes remaining due to thunder.
Cassopolis grabbed a 1-0 lead just nine minutes into the match, however, Jason Tabbert tied the score in the 30th minute.
Neither team scored the remainder of the first half.
In the second half, Corey Wright tallied in the 44th minute, while Braxton Hunsberger scored in the 61th minute to wrap up the Dowagiac offense.
The Chieftains (1-0) outshot Cassopolis, 13-8. Dowagiac finished with nine saves and Cassopolis 3 saves.