“I thought we had most of the possession and we kind of did what we wanted to do,” Bulldogs coach Nicholas Facciolo said. “We had two little let ups there and they put them in the back of the net. They had two shots on goal and they had two goals so good for them. Other than that, I was impressed with my team, I’m happy with them.”

Despite the loss, Niles assistant coach Sam Reigle, who was filling in as the head coach, had nothing but good things to say about his team.

“I thought our guys battled,” Reigle said. “We played very hard, we showed no quit and we kept fighting. It was nice to see us get a couple nice finishes in the second half. We made a game of it in the middle of the half, we got our first goal, down 3-1, and it was at that point, we had a spark and it looked like it could be anybody’s match.

“Lakeview composed themselves and they got a couple more finishes. We had a nice goal late. I was pleased with our effort and our play against a very good Lakeview team, and it’s something to build off as we continue into the season down the stretch and get ready for the tournament.”

Staff photo / Brian Yauger

Bulldogs senior Ryan Carnahan makes a move upfield while being defended by Mike Sovacool of Niles.

Midway through the first half, the Bulldogs struck first. Jake Busefink scored off a redirected shot to get on the board.

Reigle also praised the finishing ability of Lakeview.

“I tip my hat to Lakeview,” he said. “They played a very good match. They controlled a lot of a match and they finished the opportunities they had to finish. They’re a well-coached team and they were district runners-up last year for a reason.”

Right before the half. The Bulldogs struck again with Brendon Kilpatrick beating Niles goalkeeper Trent Boyle off a header.

The Red Dragons had success scoring after the break with Ty Richardson putting Niles on the scoresheet early. In the waning minutes of the game, sophomore Thomas Rossi hit the back of the net to make the score 5-2.

Staff photo / Brian Yauger

Brier Roper, left, of Lakeview, passes the ball to a teammate as Gavin Shura of Niles swoops in to try and intercept it.

The second half of the match the Bulldogs moved players around the field. They had success with the new formation, tallying three more goals. Nick Dorma, Ryan Carnahan and Kilpatrick all got on the board.

“We tried a couple of different things there in the second half, just to get looks for tournaments,” Facciolo said. “We were moving different people around in all different positioning and whatnot.”

In addition to a solid offense, Lakeview’s defensive core was rock solid. Due to their experience, Facciolo says he’s been able to really trust them this season.

“I’m proud of those guys, I know them, I trust them,” he said. “They’re all seniors. They’ve been starting since they were sophomores so I trust them.”

The Bulldogs (6-4) take on South Range in another tough Northeast-8 battle Tuesday. The last time those teams met, it ended in a 1-0 score in favor of Lakeview.

“South Range is a quality team,” Facciolo said. “It was a 1-0 game last time we were down there. Now we play them at home. We’ll see what we can do.”

Niles ends the regular season with four straight road games. First up is a trip down to Beloit to take on West Branch on Saturday.

“In the last couple years we’ve played them pretty even, with tight matches in the regular season and the tournament, so we look forward to a good match with West Branch,” Reigle said. “They’re also well-coached and I expect it to be a good match.”