The Wayland girls’ varsity soccer team suffered  a 5-1 defeat on a night that field conditions at home forced them to travel to Zeeland West for a non-conference matchup with the Dux.

Coach Ben Sleeman said the game was a tale of two halves and ultimately was decided in the second 40 minutes.

Brinley Nieuwenhuis scored first on an assist from Ali Cutler at the 28-minute mark of the first half and the Wildcats were carrying much of the play to that point. However, a mistake in the box saw a ball floated into the back post for the home team and the score was tied 1-1 going into halftime.

The second half saw the Dux come out with more pressure and they were able to find the back of the net early into the second half. However, the Wildcats continued to pressure and came very close to tying the score, but were unsuccessful in beating the Zeeland West keeper.

“Unfortunately, a string of mistakes in the Wildcat midfield led to multiple Zeeland West goals and stretched the score out of reach for the visitors as the final horn sounded,” Sleeman commented.

Lady Wildcat goalie Paxton Granger made 10 saves on 15 shots in the loss.