The King’s Fork High School girls’ soccer team entered Wednesday’s big game against host Hickory High School with a major player sidelined due to injury. Then the Lady Bulldogs made a few mistakes early in the first half.

It was all the Lady Hawks needed to avenge their first loss to King’s Fork in school history last season and essentially shut the door to the Lady Bulldogs reaching a new milestone this year — winning the Southeastern District regular season title.

Hickory quickly went up 3-0 on Wednesday and held off King’s Fork for a 4-2 win.

“We had a few communications breakdowns, defensively, early in the game,” Lady Bulldogs coach Mike Marston said.

His team was without star sophomore center defender Skylar Wall, who injured her ankle during King’s Fork’s 1-0 victory over Western Branch High School on April 21.

“Skylar will definitely be back next week,” Marston said, noting she really wanted to get into Wednesday’s game. “She was politicking hard.”

Marston said there was no question had she been healthy that her presence on the field would have changed the outcome. He added that even at less than 100 percent, she could have helped the team’s communication, but he did not want to risk her health, so she did what she could.

“Skylar was coaching her rear end off from the sideline,” Marston said.

The Lady Bulldogs’ starting defensive lineup against Hickory had the struggles that led to the Lady Hawks’ first two goals.

A breakaway led to the third goal, making it 3-0 only 25 minutes into the contest.

He added that after the Lady Hawks gained this lead, “the referee was definitely allowing them to play over aggressive.”

Hickory’s goalkeeper was ruled to have been going for the ball when she collided with sophomore Cydney Nichols, who was looking to score. The collision broke Nichols’ glasses and forced her to leave the game for about 10 minutes.

Marston noted his team did not adapt quickly to the more physical nature of the game.

“The strikers and the center midfielders were definitely a little bit frustrated with all the clutching and grabbing, so they weren’t as impactful as they normally are,” he said.

When he moved freshman Ashley Bido to center defender, he said, the defense settled down a bit.

“She’s had a lot more club experience playing the back,” Marston said.

About five minutes before halftime, KF junior Logan Montel took a free kick which Nichols headed in to make it 3-1.

Nichols brought her team within one with about 10 minutes remaining in the second half. She scored on a penalty kick after a Hickory defender was called for a hand ball inside the penalty area.

“Hannah Washburn made a couple of fantastic saves when it was 3-2,” Marston said of his senior goalkeeper. “She had a phenomenal game.”

The Lady Hawks eventually sealed the win with a late goal.

In addition to praising Bido, Marston said his daughter, freshman defender Hannah Marston, “probably had her strongest game of the year.”

Coach Marston said that after the game, he told his players to remember the mistakes they had made and to learn from them to help the team tackle the challenges that lie ahead on the schedule.

“We have plenty still ahead of us,” he said, alluding to the remainder of the regular season and the conference tournament, as a well as the regional and state tournaments, if the team qualifies.

King’s Fork (9-2, 3-0) visits Heritage High School on Tuesday, beginning a stretch of three games in three days for the Lady Bulldogs. They visit Tabb High School on Wednesday and host Oscar Smith High School on Thursday.