With less than 13 minutes gone by, the Catamounts had already built a 2-0 lead after midfielder Alyssa Bearden’s shot from the left side flew behind the Lee keeper to give the Catamounts their second goal of the night.

Later in the half, Panther Creek’s Katelyn Reeve took a pass from Chrissy Hillman in the middle of the box and sailed it over the keeper’s head to make it 3-0.

In the second half, however, the Catamounts didn’t seem to have the same level of relentlessness, coach Todd Schuler said.

“We weren’t very creative in our offense. … We didn’t have a sense of urgency in the way we played,” Schuler said. “I think we had a letdown in intensity. I ended up making some lineup changes just to see if we could get a spark.”

Toward the end of the game, the Catamounts did turn it up a notch. Kate Northington added a goal with two minutes left to make it 4-0.

As a second-year program with a heavy concentration of freshmen and sophomores, Panther Creek has some growing pains to get through. But Schuler is excited about the group’s potential and feels he has some juniors returning who can provide steady leadership.

“We have a very talented ninth- and 10th-grade class. We’re probably as well skilled in that class as any school around,” Schuler said. “We’ve got some smart veterans that will have to work with the younger players and get them mentally prepared.”

Veterans like Bearden, a team captain, said they’re trying to instill leadership in some of the underclassmen.

“When you play, leave it all on the field,” Bearden said. “We try to show them you’ve got to work as a team to be successful.”

So far, so good. Heading into this week, the Catamounts were undefeated at 3-0.

But as Panther Creek gets into Tri-Eight play, the challenges increase. Panther Creek faced Fuquay-Varina on Monday and will meet Green Hope tonight (Wednesday).

“We’ll have to step it up in intensity next week,” Schuler said.