POULSBO — Just when you thought the Kitsap girls’ lacrosse team was going to continually pound other squads by at least a 15 goal margin, they win a close one.

Well, close by their standards at least.

Kitsap beat Lake Samamish Tuesday by a 19-10 count, in a game that featured an anomaly for the Poulsbo club — playing a team that could score goals on them.

“They were defensively a challenge,” said Kitsap’s Amanda Diviak who scored three goals in the game. “We weren’t expecting it.”

Going into the half with Kitsap up 8-5, coach Val Torrens and her team regrouped for the second.

“After halftime we just got our heads back into the game,” said Kitsap’s Katie Younger. “We went back to the basics.”

“It took them a little while,” said coach Torrens. “They just needed time to figure it out.”

What Kitsap figured out was that Samamish was a team on wheels — faster than most squads it is used to playing against.

“They were a really fast team and we just weren’t able to control them,” said Kitsap’s Aime Wistrand.

But Wistrand noted that once it calmed down on both offense and defense, Kitsap was able to settle into a groove, outscoring Lake Sam 11-5 in the second half.

“We got worked up and that impaired us,” Wistrand said. “And when we weren’t riled up, we were able to control the possessions.”

Kitsap (11-0) plays second place Bainbridge at 5:30 p.m. May 10 at Strawberry Field and closes the regular season at Curtis May 13.

“We have a big reputation to keep up,” Younger said. “We have to keep playing our game.”