En route to a playoff berth, the men’s soccer team left no outcome to the imagination as they crushed the St. Lawrence Vikings 7-0 to close out their undefeated season on Oct. 21.
And it didn’t take much to get them started.
Right out of the gate, the thunder drove through the Viking’s back line after an interception and striker Marco Natali tucked the ball into the far corner at the 52-second mark.
“My teammates put the ball in good places for me and all I had to do was finish them,” Natali said. “It’s definitely one of the fastest I’ve scored, I can’t think of one quicker at the moment.”
This would be the first goal of Natali’s hat trick.
“We were ok tonight,” coach Mike Gagliano said. “Ball movement was good, finishing is lacking a little bit so there’s some things we have to work on which we identified tonight.”
Despite Gagliano’s modesty, the Thunder’s one-sided affair spoke volumes.
And with 16 shots on target versus the visiting team’s four, the outcome might as well have been set in stone.
“They’re a good team, they always come out and give us a physical challenge but our team always brings a lot of technical skill which I think is unparalleled around the league,” said second-year midfielder Lucas Blain. “It’s always a challenge physically, but for the most part we always come out on top against them.”
Blain was in top form during the showing, firing several on-target shots and putting in two highlight-reel goals in the second half.
One of these came in the form of a chip shot from 35 metres out.
“The keeper accidently threw it to me and I saw him off his line,” Blain said. “I just looked and I chose to hit it over him and it tucked in.”
With the Thunder controlling the possession throughout the game, St. Lawrence tried to find a fire within and went on the attack in the closing minutes of the first half and earned their first two corners.
The attempts came to no avail.
“Today we were good, we put up seven but we could’ve put up 12 or 13,” coach Gagliano said. “Playoff prep starts tonight.”
Gagliano and his coaching staff will be assessing roster and injury situations in the few days prior to the opening match, which is set on Oct. 29.
“We’ve been improving progressively throughout the season,” Blain said. “I think we’re at a point right now where we want to be.”
“We gotta win it all,” he finished. “We have to.”