By Gene Helfman

Weekly contributor.

The Lobos girls’ soccer inaugural season has had its moments, and its heartbreaks.

With wins against Sedro-Woolley and Providence Classical Christian, the team hosted major rival Friday Harbor at the Lopez pitch on Oct. 14 amid high hopes and gray skies. The match started well as Lilly Nichols ran down the left side and placed the ball in the Wolverines’ net, just glancing the left post, 22 minutes into the period. Play was rough, with several players sprawled on the turf at various times. The half ended Lopez 1, Friday Harbor 0.

Friday Harbor evened the match in the second half with a goal in the 59th minute, then scored again in the 108th minute. The Wolverines went into defensive mode and the Lobos had difficulty penetrating a wall of defenders, several shots just going wide of the mark. The game ended Friday Harbor 2, Lopez 1.

Afterward, Coach Galen Westervelt gathered the team, the collective disappointment evident. He told his athletes he couldn’t have been prouder of the way they played, that several fouls were missed that could have made a difference. Afterward, he said, “Because of injuries, we had to move players around to positions they’ve never played, and we didn’t see a change in the level of our play. That’s really impressive. We look forward to playing them again.”

The Lobos girls have home matches Oct. 28 versus Sultan High and Oct. 30 versus LaConner.