LEBANON — Saturday’s defensive battle between the Lebanon High girls soccer team and visiting John Stark was headed for a scoreless draw when disaster struck for the hosts.

John Stark forward Madison Lamothe capitalized on poor defensive positioning by the Raiders and drove home an assist from forward Avery Pellerin to win the Division II matchup for the Generals, 1-0.

“A little disappointing,” Lebanon head coach Breck Taber said after the game. “I know our team can play better than they did. … We’ve got to play better as a team. We’ve got to play better individually, when the ball is on her feet.”

Lebanon (1-4-1) has been competitive in most contests, but the team has struggled to finish, with just three goals all season. Two of those tallies came in the Raiders’ lone win, 2-0 against Laconia High on Sept. 6. The team headed into Saturday coming off a 0-0 tie with the Kingswood Knights on Thursday.

“We need to build as an attacking unit,” Taber said on what the offense needs to improve on. “We can’t rely on two forwards trying to beat four defenders, so we need to get our midfield involved and attack as a body of five or six instead of two. But in order to do that, we have to transition better from defense.”

On Saturday, both teams limited scoring opportunities in the first half, but the game opened up after halftime, though neither team could find the back of the net.

Captain Brooke Walker was an aggressive force for Lebanon in the midfield. When it did have the chance the shoot, Lebanon’s squad sent balls sailing high or into the waiting arms of John Stark goalie Alexis Boudreau, who was able to make stops when called upon.

Goalkeeper Maezie Angles also stepped up big time for the Raiders in the second half, at one point deflecting a corner kick out of the air and following it up with a save.

But a defensive breakdown at an inopportune moment left Lamothe open to secure the winning goal with just seconds left on the clock.

“I wouldn’t put that shot on Maezie,” Taber said after the game.

“As far as that goal goes, we just got to mark up better.”

While the game came down to one defensive mistake, Lebanon squandered many opportunities to score when it did get the ball, missing shots high or taking shots into small windows that Boudreau was able to save.

Lebanon will stay at home this week to face off against the Kennett Eagles on Friday at 4 p.m.