WASHINGTON — After defeating Greene Central in penalty kicks on Monday, North Lenoir looked for early control of the Eastern Carolina 2A conference against Washington on Wednesday.

Unfortunately for the Hawks, it wasn’t meant to be. 

Despite a spirited second half effort, the Hawks (3-3-1, 1-1 ECC) couldn’t complete their comeback attempt in a 3-1 road loss to the Pam Pack (5-0-2, 2-0).

“We struggled to possess the ball in the first half,” North Lenoir coach Chris Evans said. “Against Greene Central, they were dominant against us, but we had some breaks go our way. Tonight, we didn’t have as many of those and that’s how soccer is sometimes. In the end, we have to start faster than we did tonight, but I thought we played a lot better in the second half.”

North Lenoir had a bit of misfortune 15 minutes into the match. A throw in near the six-yard box was accidentally tapped into the net by Justin Hernandez for an own goal as the Pam Pack took the early lead. Washington would tack on another goal after another throw-in fell to the feet of Elvin Elizalde who made it 2-0 at halftime.

The Hawks started to attack more in the second half. A free kick taken by Hawks senior midfielder Luis Henriquez at the top of the box was tipped off the post by Washington goalkeeper Will Crisp, but senior defender Jose Sanchez was able to score off the rebound to give the Hawks some hope with less than 10 minutes left in the match.

Although the Hawks fought valiantly, a goal with nine seconds left in the match by senior forward Michael Reid put the game away.

“We’ll go back to the drawing board,” Evans said. “This conference is tough and Washington is an excellent team. Our seniors have to come together and be better leaders for our team, but we still have 10 conference games left to play. I think this game well help us improve on a few things and I think we’ll be able to bounce back.”

North Lenoir travels to face Pikeville C.B. Aycock on Monday before hosting West Craven next Wednesday in their next conference match.