The North Moore girls’ soccer team lost to Gray Stone 2-0 in a game that featured two of the top teams in the Yadkin Valley Conference in Robbins Wednesday.

North Moore was fresh off a 1-0 loss to East Montgomery Tuesday, and was facing another tough opponent for the second straight game.

Early in the match, both teams were aggressive in attacking the opposing goal, but both defenses were able to stop any scoring chances for the opposition.

North Moore’s main scoring opportunity in the first half came when Abigail Avalos took the ball down the sideline and took a shot on goal that was just off the mark.

Gray Stone countered after that miss, putting back-to-back shots on goal, but Mustang goalkeeper Dara Forrest stopped both to keep the game scoreless for the first half.

Forrest tallied six saves for the game.

At the opening of the second half, both offenses did the same as in the first half as they attacked the goal very aggressively. Just like in the first half, the defenses came up with key stops.

Five minutes into the second half, North Moore came close to scoring as Leslie Castrejon sent a pass off a free kick for Jamie Garner, but Garner’s header sailed away from the goal.

Castrejon would set up another possible NM goal as she passed the ball again to Garner near the goal, but her header was stopped by a Gray Stone defender short of the net.

Midway through the second half, Gray Stone had a few scoring chances but they were stopped once again by the Mustang defense.

With 10 minutes to go in the game, Amber Watkins took the ball deep into Mustang territory and passed the ball to her teammate Maggie Habeeb, who put the ball into the net for the Knights and broke the stalemate.

Two minutes later, Watkins struck again as she dribbled past the Mustang defenders and scored, making the Gray Stone lead 2-0.

Refusing to give up, North Moore tried to put a goal on the board by the end of the game, but every opportunity it had at scoring was stopped by the Knights’ defense.

“They did all they could but put the ball in the net tonight,” said coach James Horwath of his team’s effort. “We are looking forward to the rest of the season.”

North Moore (3-2-1) will play at O’Neal this afternoon at 4:30.

Jonathan Bym is a senior at North Moore High School. For a recap of Tuesday’s game against East Montgomery, see thepilot.com.