SILVERDALE — The Central Lady Cougars shutout the Lady Vikes of North by a count of 3-0 Tuesday night under the lights of Silverdale Stadium.

“Our team played with a sense of urgency that I haven’t seen until now,” said CK Coach Vicky Webb of her squad. Last time the teams met, it ended in a 4-4 tie.

Under a hazed October moon, the girls kicked around through a fairly non-eventful first half. NK looked to be the aggressor in the early stages of the game, highlighted by feisty keeper Kelsey Krasas.

Both defenses played stoutly as the teams battled scoreless with few shot attempts at either end.

In the latter part of the first half, CK ended the shutout as Brandi Hamre knocked in a corner kick set-up by Malia Speck.

The Lady Vikes rushed to catch-up, however, impatience wouldn’t allow a solid shot attempt and the ball was soon back in CK’s favor. The Cougar offense fed off Hamre’s goal and another cross was barely stopped by the palms of Krasas.

As the Cougars revitalized, NK’s aggression faded and soon CK started getting to the ball quickly.

As the Cougar crowd started to get rowdy, the CK offense intensified, but another goal was out of reach before halftime.

The Lady Vikes spent the better part of the last five minutes eyeing the CK goal but couldn’t manage an angle for the score.

“They were tentative and uncreative,” said NK Coach Pat Stickney of the sluggish offense. Central outshot North 20-8.

Stickney also mentioned that the Lady Vikes were physically outmatched. NK continues to be affected by the loss of center midfielder Stephanie Skelly. After suffering a bad tackle in an earlier game against Shelton, the sophomore is lost for the season.

In the second half, the NK absence in the middle was clear and the Cougars exploited it with steals.

CK’s quickness pushed them both up and down the field ahead of the Vikings, however Central’s ball control suffered somewhat as a result of the breakaways.

On the other end, North was strategic and controlled but often lost the ball to the quick feet of the Cougars.

The Vikings’ sails were deflated when energizer Brenna Lander was taken out of the game following a yellow card midway through the second half. Hamre took advantage and took off on a breakaway, but hit the post from just under 10 yards out.

None the less, CK fed off each missed shot. North’s advances were stopped without a shot; Central’s shots were stopped by Krasas.

The second goal of the came off a Chanel Williams corner cross as Allissa Russell punched it in during the 66th minute.

The dagger came 10 minutes later when Williams set up Russell for the last goal of the game again.

“No excuses, it’s just the nature of the game,” Stickney said of the loss. “They were a better team this time.”

The Lady Vikes stepped it up Thursday night and avoided a loss with an Amber Grable penalty kick to tie Bremerton 2-2 on the NK field.

The playoff picture stays relatively positive for the Vikings, who sit at third place in the division. The second Gig Harbor and South Kitsap games await NK in the next two weeks along with Shelton and Olympic.