POULSBO — An injury-laden yet resilient Viking soccer team fell prey to the early Narrows Bridge favorites, the Gig Harbor Tides, Thursday night — but only by a single tally.

One header by the Tides’ Allie Branham off a corner kick from Elizabeth Betterbed was all Gig Harbor needed to win the team’s third game of the year and remain atop the Bridge Division.

Still, there is hope in the Viking camp that if North can continue playing at an intensity that rivals teams like the Tides, NK will find itself knocking off the Bridge’s best when its line-up is healthy.

“It’s heartbreaking to put it all out here and lose, one-nothing,” said speedy sophomore midfielder Stephanie Skelly. “But we’ve had a lot of injuries, and with what we have, we’re doing really well. The team play is awesome. I’m excited for what we can do the rest of the season.”

“We played really hard tonight and were really pumped up,” added senior team captain Kari Shawcroft. “Hopefully we can keep that up this season.”

Three NK seniors are out with injuries and alternate goalie Laurel Patton went down with a broken thumb last week against Central Kitsap.

On the night, Gig Harbor (3-0-1) certainly out-shot the Vikings: the Tides put 32 shots on goal where North only found 13 tries. NK goalie Kelsey Krasas often provided acrobatic saves to keep the game one-nil and give the Vikings a fighting chance.

“It was neck and neck,” Skelly said. “But they definitely had a lot more chances, and we weren’t getting the ball to the feet enough.”

The two Narrows’ Bridge Division rivals utilize similar styles of play, opting for short, touch passes to move the ball upfield instead of long ball play where scoring occurs if the forward beats the defender to the ball.

In the end, North coach Pat Stickney felt that Gig Harbor was just a little faster, a little more on their feet.

“They were just a step ahead of us for most of the game,” Stickney said. “And our touch was just slightly off.”

Tides coach Todd Nordstrom said when North goes to Gig Harbor Oct. 18 for a rematch, his team will have to be prepared for a marquee match-up.

“We have to tip our hat to North Kitsap,” Nordstrom said. “They’ve got a lot of injuries, but tonight, they came to play.”

Stickney said despite the loss, North Kitsap will rebound from the loss — and be better for it.

“I’m pleased,” Stickney said. “I like where we’re at and I like where we’re going.”

North Kitsap (2-1-1) will go to Shelton next Tuesday.