KINGSFORD — Houghton’s girls scored a pair of late goals and blanked Kingsford 3-0 in UP Soccer Conference play at Commemorative Field.

The Gremlins scored three times in the second half, two from Joslyn Perala and the other from Maria Lorenzetti.

Kingsford had several chances early but did not capitalize.

“I thought we were pretty much in control,” Flivvers coach Jon Lorenzoni said of the match’s early stages. “We could have seized momentum and just didn’t put the ball in the net. We allowed them to hang around and gain confidence.”

Perala scored at about the 24-minute mark of the second half.

“She made a great one-on-one move around the outside,” Lorenzoni said. “We fought back. We had some fire after that and had sustained pressure for about a 10 to 15-minute stretch.”

Liz Penegor had “several beautiful corner kicks, two in that stretch that we couldn’t get the right touch on,” according to Lorenzoni.

Houghton’s keeper also blocked a penalty shot by Carly Schneider.

“She guessed right and made a terrific save on Carly’s shot,” Lorenzoni said.

The Flivvers, 0-2 in the conference and overall, face Iron Mountain on Tuesday and host Three Lakes, Wis., at 4:30 p.m. Friday in a rescheduled match.

Kingsford started the season Tuesday with a 2-1 loss to Marquette.

“I know it sounds crazy after losing by three goals, but we’re close,” Lorenzoni said. “For whatever reason, maybe a bit of a letdown after Tuesday or whatever, we just didn’t have that killer instinct. We didn’t pressure the ball well.

“We’ll work on some stuff and get better. We have to. It doesn’t get any easier next week. Credit Houghton for making plays and playing hard.”