For 40 minutes, things went well for the South Whidbey girls soccer team.

Then Cedarcrest found its rhythm and wore down South Whidbey’s defense in a 3-2 rally on Tuesday.

Playing through an unusually chilly night game, South Whidbey came out hot as it pressed Cedarcrest through the opening half. South Whidbey’s midfielders booted the ball down the sidelines for the Falcon forwards trying to beat the Red Wolves defenders.

Eventually, it worked, and in a hurry. South Whidbey notched its first goal in the 11th minute on a cross into the box by Falcon junior Olivia Bolding. Her pass found junior Samantha Baldwin, who knocked it in past the keeper, senior Bailey Parish.

Cedarcrest tried to counter with a few runs of its own toward the end of the first half. South Whidbey’s senior-laden defense, led by Katie Sibley and Maia Sparkman, held the Red Wolves scoreless for the first 40 minutes.

By the second half, the game changed. Cedarcrest seized momentum and scored three goals, while South Whidbey mustered only one more score.

Even in the loss, it was a major turnaround from being shut out earlier by Cedarcrest, which won 6-0 on Sept. 19.

On Thursday, South Whidbey lost at home to Granite Falls in a close 1-0 contest. It was the fourth conference loss of the season for South Whidbey (2-4-0 league, 2-6-0 overall). South Whidbey made a change in its lineup, playing junior Grace Stringer as goalkeeper.

South Whidbey faces a grueling stretch against King’s and Archbishop Murphy, twice, in the next two weeks.