The Oak Harbor High School soccer team put in a strong second-half performance in a 3-1 nonleague loss to Mount Vernon Saturday, Sept. 8, at Wildcat Memorial Stadium.

The Bulldogs, the defending Northwest Conference champions, used their size and speed to jump to a 2-0 halftime lead, according to OHHS coach Jeff Laiblin.

He said, “Once we asserted ourselves with a greater confidence we handled them.”

Mount Vernon (1-1) scored a wind-aided third goal before Lauryn Plush scored for Oak Harbor with 20 minutes left. It was Plush’s third goal in three matches this season.

Laiblin said, “We, everyone, played a really good game.  This was the first game that we played Mckenzie Schneider and Haley Lundstrom together in the center midfield and Nalani Gabbert with Chelsea Atkinson together in center defense.

“As the game progressed both pairs played stronger together showing great promise for the future. We ran a rotation of Lauryn Plush, Suzanne Kaltenbach, Jember Jansen up front which resulted in offensive pressure and smart runs all night.”

Laiblin said although it was his team’s first loss, it was the Wildcats’ strongest effort of the season as they played with “confidence, running successful rotations all over the field.”

Oak Harbor (1-1-1) begins league play at Marysville-Pilchuck (0-2) at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 13.