The last Friday’s scoreless tie between 4A East Chapel Hill and host 2A Carrboro seemed more than fitting for two young teams, whose respective head coaches seemed satisfied with the outcome.

"Any tie is frustrating, but this was our first really challenging game," Carrboro coach Robin Bulleri said. "And I thought the girls really rose to the challenge, especially in the second half, and did really well."

"Defensively, we played much better," said East Chapel Hill’s Mark Kadlecik. "That’s been a focus for us in training. We’ve just got to find a way to get a goal."

East Chapel Hill (1-2-1) has been out-scored 4-5 in its first four matches, with three of its four goals coming in a 3-2 win over West Johnston (3-2-0) last week. The Wildcats followed that with a 1-0 loss last Wednesday at East Forsyth (3-3-0) and last Friday’s scoreless tie.

Still, Kadlecik said, the Wildcats were "leaps and bounds" better than they were in week one.

Both teams had their chances Friday. The Wildcats came away without a shot on several balls across the six-yard-line, but they made more than a dozen runs into the box and got off four solid tries. One from just beyond the penalty spot by ninth-grader Emma Daum almost caught Carrboro keeper Halle Knowles off-line, forcing her to deflect the ball with a foot save.

Knowles and East’s sophomore keeper Blakeney Blair each finished with three saves.

"We’ve got to stay organized and stay focused and put some balls into the net," Kadlecik said. "That just comes from some awareness and being hungry in the box."

East had five corner kicks to three for Carrboro (1-0-1), but the Jaguars made better use of their set pieces, twice forcing saves by Blair.

Carrboro appeared to have scored in the 67th minute, after nifty pass forward from co-captain Samantha Burch to co-captain Kylie Tawney, who right-footed a ball inside the far post, but was called offside.

"We had a lot of opportunities," said Carrboro Coach Robin Bulleri. "I’m just looking to see some better communication between the girls. That’s to be expected with any new team."

After taking a 17-3-3 Carrboro team loaded with seniors to last year’s NCHSAA championship final, Bulleri is working with a 2012 team that has seven ninth-graders and five sophomores on its roster.

"We’re working with a new formation and a lot of new players, so we still have a lot of kinks to work out," she said. "But I think the girls did a good job tonight working together."

Carrboro sophomore Emma Houser said the game was fun, if for no loess a reason than it gave her a chance to play against her gym teacher. Kadlecik coaches at East in the spring, but teaches both semesters at Carrboro High, where he coaches the boys team in the fall.

"I always getup for East or Chapel Hill," Houser said. "It’s even more fun to play East because my gym teacher is their coach. It’s always great to do well against a teacher who works here, because then they can’t make fun of you."

Bulleri, who teaches science at Carrboro, admits "there might be a few more jabs in the hallway" after any Jaguar-Wildcat matchup, but it’s good-natured. “It’s just a game.”

And familiarity with each other doesn’t yield any extra advantages.

"Anytime you play a team in the school district, regardless how well we know the coach, the girls are all going to know each other from playing club ball," Bulleri said. "I coached some of his girls in Rainbow Soccer when they were little.

"There are no secrets in this town."