POULSBO — Mount Tahoma’s Ashley Dendrock shocked fans at North Kitsap Stadium when she uncorked a shot that found the back of the net in the 11th minute of play, giving MT an early 1-0 lead against the North Kitsap Vikings soccer squad Tuesday night.

What followed was clearly a defining moment for the Vikings.

The Vikings weren’t rattled. In fact, MT’s score awoke North from its sleepy start in the opening 10 minutes of play.

NK scored seven unanswered goals, cruising to a 7-1 victory in a Narrows League loser-out contest against Mount Tahoma to advance to a winner-to-state contest against Gig Harbor that took place Wednesday night.

Stephanie Skelly scored a team-high two goals and Siara Byers, Alyssa Walker, Alyssa Wilder, Maddy Taylor and Laura Haelsig chipped in a goal apiece as well.

Vikings coach Pat Stickney said Mount Tahoma’s first goal was a wake up call for his squad.

“We went into the game too loose,” he said. “I think the goal they scored woke us up. We controlled the whole midfield and put them under pressure the entire game.”

The passing on the offensive end proved to be unstoppable, Stickney said.

“We really played quite well. The touch we had on the ball was incredible,” he said. “Every player was working together and the combinations were working.”

Vikings stopper Karina Hoogstede was responsible for shutting down Mount Tahoma’s best player. The speedy Dendrock was the Thunderbirds primary offensive weapon.

“She was fast but our whole defense did a good job of keeping our shape,” Hoogstede said. “Everyone had each other’s back. Winning this game is very satisfying. It is always good to start off the postseason with a win.”

Skelly said she was encouraged by her team’s performance.

“We played a nice all around game. It was good to see everything kind of come together tonight,” she said. “We stepped up our level of play and we’re going to have to keep that up the rest of the playoffs.”

Vikings falls

against Tides

GIG HARBOR — Unfortunately the Vikings couldn’t keep its momentum going, as the Gig Harbor Tides conquered the Vikings 3-0 Wednesday night. GH clinched a berth in the state playoffs with the victory.

“They scored all of their goals in the first 20 minutes,” Stickney said. “We prevented them from scoring the rest of the game. We didn’t start out the game well. I can’t account for why that happened.”

He said Gig Harbor is definitely a more formidable opponent than the Mount Tahoma squad they faced Tuesday night.

“They (Gig Harbor) are so much better than Mount Tahoma,” he said. “I don’t think the Mount Tahoma game prepared us for Gig Harbor’s level of play.”

The Vikings face Central Kitsap in a loser-out game at 11:30 a.m. today at Stadium High School in Tacoma.

Stickney will employ starting lineup missing the presence of four regular starters. Thirty-seven percent of North’s starting lineup is missing the game in order to take the ACT college entrance exam. The players signed up for the test several months ago.

“It’s a must win game for our season to go on,” he said. “I want our team to compete with them. Other players are going to have to step up for us.”