A cascade of second-half goals helped the Oak Harbor High School soccer team win its season opener as the Wildcats ripped host Lakewood 5-1 Tuesday, Sept. 8.

Lydia Peplinski recorded a hat trick to spark the Oak Harbor attack.

The Wildcats led only 1-0 at the break but were “a lot more physical” in the second half, according to coach Mike Lonborg.

“We started off OK in the first half, but we had issues with the grass field and were not getting great touches on the ball with our passes,” Lonborg said. “The second half we came out better and stopped holding the ball and started connecting our passes and out-possessed Lakewood and wore them down.”

Peplinski scored the first-half goal, tucking the ball in the back corner with a left-footed shot.

She scored again in the second half off a pass from Courtney Coker. A cross from Suzanne Kaltenbach led to a Lakewood own goal and the Wildcats led 3-0.

After the Cougars scored their only goal, Peplinski countered with her third score with an assist from Malia Hansen.

Ally Henry finished the scoring “off a great one-touch ball on the right side passed from Caylie Etherington,” Lonborg said.

“It’s a good start, but we still need to build on the win,” Lonborg said. “The road gets harder each and every game.”

Oak Harbor (1-0) plays at Ferndale (1-0-1) at noon Saturday, Sept. 12.