MARYSVILLE — It has been a bumpy road for the Tomahawk girls’ soccer team.

The young team’s season has had its ups and downs, wins, losses and three ties. But with a 3-0 win over Oak Harbor Oct. 21, the Tomahawk defense had its first shutout of the season and despite lagging in the standings, the girls are still in the hunt for a district playoff spot.

Even more remarkably, with the win, M-P has been undefeated at home for more than a month. After falling to Arlington at home Sept. 11, the Tomahawks tied conference leader Everett in front of a home crowd and beat Snohomish 3-2 at the end of September. The girls tied Stanwood, too, Oct. 11.

But M-P never played catch up against the Wildcats, looking poised as they avenged a Sept. 25 loss at Oak Harbor.

Senior forward Leslie James scored the first goal for Marysville despite nursing an injury. In the fourth minute, she drove at the goaltender having shed her own defender and beat Oak Harbor’s Hope Thompson in a one-on-one match-up in front of the goal.

James also had an assist as sophomore forward Danielle Norton got a second goal 10 minutes into the second half.

“She only played 15 minutes,” M-P coach Geoff Kittle said, blaming James’ injury for keeping her from playing more. “She maximized her time.”

Sophomore Krista Riozzi gave Marysville their third goal on a successful penalty kick with less than 18 minutes in the game.

Sophomore goalkeeper Lauren Schoonover recorded the shutout.

With Snohomish and Monroe still ahead on the calendar, M-P needs some wins and a little help, but their chance to compete in the postseason is still alive. With the improvements M-P has shown over the season, Kittle sounded optimistic.

“Our girls played with a lot of confidence tonight,” he said. “Now we’re going to play another team we think we can beat.”