Win by an inch, win by a mile. It wasn’t exactly a stellar performance from North Kitsap, but the team played well enough to capture a win. And that’s all that counts.

North scored three second half goals, propelling itself to a 3-1 victory against Bremerton High School on a chilly overcast Tuesday night at Viking Stadium. It was the Vikings third consecutive win.

“It was an ugly game,” NKHS coach Chris May conceded. “Sometimes you don’t play well, but you get the result you wanted. That’s the sign of a good team.”

Throughout the first half, the Vikings’ offensive arsenal peppered Bremerton’s goalie with shot after shot. At halftime, NK had 12 shots on goal but still only had a goose egg on the scoreboard to show for it.

“We let them hang around. We had a lot of chances to score in the first half but we didn’t convert those opportunities,” May said. “When we didn’t score after having all of those shots on goal. It gave Bremerton confidence.”

Bremerton’s confidence translated into a few scoring opportunities in the first half. Bremerton forward Francisco Garcia had two one on one breakaways toward the goal but was denied by Viking goalie Devin Langaker on each attempt.

“Our defense and particularly our goalie kept us in it in the first half,” May said. “We’re a bend but don’t break kind of defense.”

At halftime, the game was scoreless. May wasn’t thrilled with his team’s effort at the break.

“We weren’t mentally prepared at the start of the game,” he said. “We had played so well in the last few games that we kind of had a let down. I had some words for them at halftime. We didn’t have that extra step at the beginning.”

May’s squad responded in the second half, when Josh Gilson scored to put the Vikings on the board in the 50th minute. Gilson stole the ball from the defense and proceeded to fight through two defenders and Bremerton’s goalie before putting the ball into the net.

Bremerton tied the game at one apiece on a goal from freshman Matt Olson during the 52nd minute.

NK forward Zach Sampson put the Vikings ahead for good, when he dribbled around the outside of the Knights left defender and delivered a line drive shot into the right side of the net, giving the Vikings a 2-1 lead.

Sam Mouser scored the Vikings third and final goal of the night in the 60th minute.

NK puts its 6-3-2 overall record on the line this Thursday against one of the top teams in the Narrows League, South Kitsap.

“I hope we can learn from a game like this,” May said. “Maybe this will help us be more prepared when we play South (Kitsap) this Thursday.”