Iron Mountain junior Gigi Sampoll (18) and Kingsford senior Megan Bittinger (4) race to the ball on Thursday at Mountaineer Stadium. The Flivvers rallied for a 2-1 win over the Mountaineers. (Sean Chase/Daily News photo)

IRON MOUNTAIN — After 40 minutes of scoreless play at Mountaineer Stadium on Thursday, the Iron Mountain girls varsity soccer team struck first in the second half against Kingsford.

However, the Flivvers rallied behind two late goals to pick up a 2-1 victory.

For head coach Jenette Gunville, Kingsford needs to focus on maintaining its energy throughout the game.

“We still need to keep up our intensity from the first half to the second half,” Gunville said. “They still get a little tired out. We’ve got to bring the same intensity to the second half.”

The last time these two teams faced off, Iron Mountain was without multiple players and Kingsford picked up an 8-0 win at Commemorative Field. That was April 19.

“Obviously, compared to our first match with them, it was exponentially better,” Mountaineers coach Carly Lambert said. “It was very exhilarating. They played their hearts out. We couldn’t have asked for more.”

After that game, Lambert praised her players for their improvement during a stressful week, featuring three games.

“Maybe it was to our advantage,” Lambert said. “It’s better for a team to learn how to work together in actual games. We can’t ever do a full scrimmage at practice, we don’t have enough people. So I actually think that was to their advantage.”

However, the Mountaineers were also motivated by something else. … a three-day weekend.

“To be fair, we told them they had (Friday) off, so they have a three-day weekend ahead of them,” IM coach Bethany Merrill said. “They’re really playing much better as a team versus individuals this week.

“We’ve been making nothing but improvement. I’m happy with all the girls.”

Neither team scored in the first half, however, the Flivvers had multiple chances. They just couldn’t get past the Mountaineers’ senior goalkeeper Emily Copley.

Copley stuffed multiple shots and sent the teams to half tied at zero.

In the second half, Iron Mountain turned up the intensity and less than three minutes into the frame, it broke through.

Junior Alexis Buchanan was the one to get it done as she found herself wide open in front of the Kingsford net. She booted the ball past Aliana Kowalski and into the left corner as the Mountaineers took a 1-0 lead.

The crowd erupted after the goal and the Flivvers faced an uphill battle at Mountaineer Stadium.

“It was really stressful,” Gunville said. “They passed really well and they played well.”

For the next 15 minutes both teams battled for positioning, yet no one could find the back of the net.

Then Kingsford senior Megan Bittinger began to take over.

She kept pushing the pace and with 23 minutes to play, Bittinger buried a right-footed shot and tied the game at one.

With three minutes left in the game, Bittinger sealed the deal for the Flivvers.

She slid into a shot that popped over the head of Copley and into the net. Kingsford suddenly held a 2-1 lead

“She did really well,” Gunville said. “She had a lot of shots on goal, so it’s good that she got some in.”

The Flivvers are back in action on Tuesday in Houghton at 4 p.m. Iron Mountain takes on Three Lakes at 6 p.m. in Mountaineer Stadium on Tuesday.

“It’s going to be a bummer to lose our seniors and we really only have three regular season games left,” Lambert said.