-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Ava Sells of Fort Dodge dribble down the field against Des Moines Lincoln on Tuesday

The season opener didn’t go the way the Fort Dodge girls soccer team had hoped on Tuesday, but head coach G Myers saw a lot of good things in the process.

The Dodgers (0-1 overall) fell to Des Moines Lincoln (1-2) by a final of 5-0.

“Our girls played hard,” Myers said. “The upperclassmen and younger players were able to find success together.”

The Railsplitter built a 2-0 lead at halftime and closed out the contest with three goals in the second half.

“I’m proud of the girls with the way they are learning a lot of new things,” Myers said. “They went out and competed hard, and there were a lot of people who stepped up in new roles.”

The Dodgers had five shots on goal in the contest.

“Now it’s back to the drawing board,” Myers said. “We had good energy. The girls never got down and kept competing.”

With the cold temperatures a lot of younger players were put into action and were learning on the fly.

“(Freshman) Addie (Lentsch) jumped right in and came out and was physical,” Myers said. “She did a great job of getting to the ball.

“(Freshman) Ella (Johnson) came out of her shell. The plan was for her and (freshman) Anna (Fritts) to spend some time working together on JV, but things happened sooner than later with the injuries. Ella showed me a lot as did (freshman) Evie (Heldorfer). She took some risks back there and that’s what we needed.”

The Dodgers are back in action on Friday at home against Marshalltown. Junior varsity action begins at 6 p.m. with varsity to follow at 7:30 p.m.