With a record of 1-2-2 in league play so far, the Inglemoor Vikings’ soccer season hasn’t quite gone the way head coach Bryan McNiel had hoped.

But for a moment last Tuesday against the Lake Washington Kangaroos in a 4A KingCo Crown Division match at Pop Keeney Stadium, the girls had reason to celebrate.

The Viknigs defeated Lake Washington 1-0 with a last-minute goal by Lacey London.

In the game between two young, rebuilding and evenly-matched teams seeking their first league win, both squads had trouble controlling the ball in the first half, leading to lots of turnovers and few scoring opportunities.

“We didn’t execute that well in the first half,” McNiel said. “We’re kind of matched with them in terms of…ability, so it was going to come down to who came out with the most heart, the most composure, and we lacked that in the first half.”

The Vikings received a scare when a untimely foul led to a Lake Washington penalty kick that clanged off the top of the goalpost and was saved by Inglemoor goalkeeper Erin Bankaitis.

Inglemoor was called on numerous fouls early on, which is something McNiel says he will address with certain players.

“They werent bad fouls, there werent any cards issued or anything like that, but there were some arms in the back,” he said. “I will address a couple of defenders, because were giving up some (needless) free kicks. We dont want to give up opportunities like that.”

Luckily, the Kangaroos were only about to get one shot on goal during the first 40 minutes of play, after which McNiel used the vital halftime break to settle his players down and get them to focus on passing the ball cleanly.

“The second half we created more chances,” noted McNiel. “The ball was settled down more…that created more chances for us.”

The anxious Inglemoor crowd on hand watched as Viking strikers Amanda Hall and Angela Fatigati, among others, shot near miss after near miss in an effort to break the 0-0 tie. As the minutes wound down, the Vikings had taken no fewer than 10 shots on goal in the second half, with nothing to show for it.

When it looked assured that the game would continue into overtime, the Vikings came up with lightning in a bottle.

Just as the final minute of play began, the Vikings were the beneficiary of a corner kick on the right side of the Lake Washington goal. Forward Arielle Dorman kicked it in strongly in front of a mass of Vikings jockeying for position in front of the goal, and London headed it in to give Inglemoor the 1-0 victory. Bankaitis earned the shutout, her third of the season.

“I was like, ‘Yes, we won this!’” said London of her reaction when her header found the back of the net. “We had a lot of chances, and when I finished it, it was just an amazing feeling.”

With the win, the Vikings are incredibly in second place in the division with five overall points, due to the fact that three of the other teams (Lake Washington, Bothell and Roosevelt) have not won a conference game.

Still, it will be a tall task for the Vikings to sneak into postseason play with Kingco powerhouses Eastlake (5-1-0), Skyline (5-1-0), and Issaquah (4-1-1) all having outstanding seasons. McNiel estimates that his team will have to win at least three or four out of their six remaining contests to have a chance.

“We’re just looking to eke our way into the playoffsthatll require a good second half of the season, because theres six games left and theres some tough teams we have yet to play,” said the seven-year Inglemoor coach. “We’ve got our work cut out…its an uphill battle for us, but were up to the challenge.”