The Wildcats' lack of experience was exposed in Oak Harbor's season-opening 4-0 loss in soccer at Arlington Tuesday, March 16.

Oak Harbor assistant coach Jeff Laiblin said, "Lack of experience in certain positions hurt us badly last night. Four horrible mistakes led to four goals in the first 30 minutes. We knew experience could be an issue, but the mistakes that were made, partially because of nerves, just shouldn’t have happened."

Laiblin said that once the Wildcats made some adjustments "we played them straight up the rest of the match."

He added, "I am impressed with how we played the final 50 minutes of the match. Hopefully the players learn from the early mistakes and play the next game like we played the last 50 minutes because the score does not represent the outcome they are capable of producing."

David Lopez recorded a hat-trick for the Eagles.

Oak Harbor entertains Stanwood Thursday, March 18, at 7:30 at Wildcat Memorial Stadium.

Contact Whidbey News Times Sports editor Jim Waller at jwaller@whidbeynewsgroup.com or 360-675-6611 ext. 5060.

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