On the scoreboard, Warren Central’s 3-0 loss to Northwest Rankin didn’t look like progress.

But in the topsy-turvy early part of the season against top-flight competition, the Lady Vikings made serious progress for division battles in January.

Like in Tuesday’s loss at Madison Central, a slow start was fatal.

The Lady Cougars used a triangle method of quick passes to find vulnerabilities in WC’s defense and allow their quick forwards operating room up top in the first half.

The Lady Vikes (5-2) couldn’t overcome a two-goal deficit at the half, as forward Lindsey Stephenson, an eighth-grader, hit a goal in the 10th minute off an assist by Lauren Smith. Payton Coulson found Stephenson for her second goal of the half at the 20th minute.

The second half was a different story, as the Lady Vikes held Northwest Rankin to Alexa Johnston’s goal at the 50th minute and took away the triangles.

“We came out and played a great second half,” WC coach Trey Banks said. “We did a great job of cutting out how Northwest Rankin was playing us. We were able to explain what they were doing and we did a good job of shadowing and taking away those chances from them.”

Offensively, the Lady Vikes had a few opportunities, but passes went awry and opportunities appeared mirage-like for a second before vanishing.

“We had some good chances on goal, but it seemed like we a little too hesitant on our opportunities,” Banks said. “We rushed it or we were a second late on finding it. We were a second late on finding that third pass. Maybe we’re taking one too many touches. It’s the seventh game of the season and we’ve got district play starting in January, so we’ve got time to fix these things and work on them.”

The Lady Vikes will take a week off before resuming play on Nov. 27 at Ridgeland.

(B) NW Rankin 5, Warren Central 1

Nick Wright scored the lone goal for the Vikings (3-4) in a loss to Northwest Rankin. The Cougars outshot the Vikings 14-7 and led 1-0 at the half before breaking open the game with four goals in the second half.