Scoring an own goal in the opening minutes of its Sept. 21 match against Eastlake High School was not the way the Ballard High School girls soccer team wanted to start the KingCo season. But, the Beavers were able to recover in the second half on the way to a 5-4 loss.

After the own goal put Eastlake ahead 1-0, Ballard senior Maria Tsagalakis evened things up with a goal off an assist from senior Hannah Cross-Karras in the 10th minute.

One minute later, Eastlake took the lead again on the first of Jaclyn Softli's three first-half goals.

Senior Cricket Harber, who had sat out much of the nonconference season while recovering from a concussion, scored in the 13th minute to even the score at two apiece.

But, Eastlake ended the first half with three straight goals - two from Softli and one from Abby Frenkel- to take a 5-2 lead at the break.

Ballard coach Val Seid said he wasn't happy with the way his defensive line played in the first half. It was nice to have Harber, who will be playing for Gonzaga next season, back in the lineup, but because of her skill, the rest of the defense tended to rely on her instead of doing their part, he said.

Seid said he wants to see more communication and teamwork from that group.

The second half was a different story for the Beavers. Senior Jordan Travis scored twice, and the Ballard defense was able to shut down Softli.

"It was the type of play that is going to win games in KingCo," Seid said. "But, they have to want to play that way for 80 minutes, not just 40."

Ballard (0-1-0 KingCo, 0-4-3 overall) takes on Woodinville at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 23 at Woodinville High School.

Woodinville is 3-0-2 overall after a 3-3 tie against Roosevelt in its KingCo opener. The Beavers lost to Woodinville 2-0 during the 2009 KingCo season.