POULSBO — Lessons learned.

The Capital Lady Cougars stormed into Poulsbo Monday under clear skies to steal a non-league win from the Lady Vikings, but it is possible that North’s potential hasn’t reached the surface yet.

“We got a better team than we’re playing right now, there’s no doubt about it,” said head coach Dan Kolda. “I know what (the team) is capable of and if they move forward, then they are going to find their groove.”

One positive North picked up from Monday’s game was the ability to dig in and fight back in the face of a daunting deficit.

In the top of the sixth inning, the Lady Vikes were one out away from a trip to the batters’ box when Captial’s Lindsey Kanda ripped an RBI single to the gap in left center, putting the Cougars up 5-0.

An inning earlier, Cougs hurler Krista Shannon had belted a solo homerun out of North’s yard, but in the bottom sixth the Vikes snapped their elasticity.

A leadoff walk for NK was followed by a high fly ball to short left that landed Rachel Kramer on base and Jenna Jewett in scoring position. In the next at bat, Josie Ball ripped an RBI double that scored Jewett and Kramer for the only purple runs of the game.

“The goal for us is take every at bat and every play and analyze it and get a little better,” Kolda said of the preseason mentality. “And you see us start to breakout there at the end. That was a good sign for me.”

However, a hitting slump is proving to be a bad sign. In the contest, North collected just three hits from three different players. In the team’s prior loss to Bainbridge, the Vikes only hit two.

Kolda expects to make changes in the Viking batting order in hopes of bolstering the purple offense by bringing experience to the top of the rotation.

Along with the dismal three-hit offensive attack, North’s defensive performance in the third inning which Kolda called “a gift” was the other ingredient to their poison. Fueled by NK errors, the Cougars jumped out first to a 3-0 lead and commanded the game.

“Take this performance here and learn from it and make some adjustments, then this is not a bad loss,” Kolda said of the game against Capital. “There’s nothing but games in front of us.”

After a trip to Olympia today with the first pitch set for 3:30 p.m., the Lady Vikes will open Narrows League action in Silverdale, facing Central Kitsap at 3:30 p.m. March 24.