Although his club tied visiting Jackson 1-1 Tuesday, March 14, Oak Harbor High School soccer coach Jeff Laiblin was more pleased with its play than in the Wildcats’ 2-1 win over South Whidbey the previous Saturday.

“That was fun,” Laiblin said after the Jackson match. “I thought we did a much better job today.

“They were fast, but we were able to handle their speed. And, our goal was a good response to theirs.”

Jackson is a 4A school, larger than 3A Oak Harbor. South Whidbey is a member of the 1A classification.

The Timberwolves scored 16 minutes into the match on a 25-yard shot that tipped off the hands of Wildcat keeper Jared Hoyt.

Oak Harbor countered within four minutes. Kurtis Zylstra rammed home a goal off a rebound from Chaz Purdy’s corner kick.

From that point, both teams produced numerous scoring opportunities but couldn’t finish.

Not being able to finish is one of the areas the Wildcats need to work on, Laiblin said.

“We are still chasing, too,” he said. “We need to fix that.”

Laiblin said he liked the overall performance of his team, adding, “The system is working; when we get used to it, we will see more scoring.”

One strong point, Laiblin said, was that Oak Harbor “closed really well.”

The T-Wolves attacked the final 10 minutes but the Wildcat defense and goalkeeper Austin Moncada handled the onslaught.

Oak Harbor (1-0-1) travels to Mount Vernon (1-0) for a 7 p.m. match Friday, March 17.

Oak Harbor’s Kegan Snell runs down the ball during the Jackson match. (Photo by John Fisken)

Nathan Merrill gains control for Oak Harbor against Jackson. (Photo by John Fisken)

Seth Gluth passes for the Wildcats in Tuesday’s match. (Photo by John Fisken)