They call themselves “The Squad.” On Friday, they delivered, and the entire Warwick Vets boys’ soccer squad opened the season with a victory.

Midfielders Nikone Soupharath, Josiah Enos and Dan Lobato use that nickname for the three of them, and they accounted for all four goals in the ’Canes’ 4-3 victory over Masters.

Enos led the way with a pair of goals, while Soupharath had a highlight reel first-half goal and Lobato also knocked one in during the second half.

“We call it ‘The Squad,’” Enos said. “It’s me, Nikone and Danny. In practice we run the triangle up the field. It’s kind of funny because we’re all Asian, the three of us, and it always ends up being the three of us in the middle.”

The victory to begin the season was certainly a nice way to start for Vets, even if it wasn’t perfect. The score was 1-1 at halftime, the ’Canes took a 4-1 advantage in the second half but then had to hold on late as Masters rallied and nearly came all the way back.

Yet, perfect isn’t too common right from the start, and head coach Mike Kenney will take the win and the way his team played at this juncture.

“It was a nice way to start,” Kenney said. “It was a good game. It wasn’t perfect by any stretch, but they were incorporating things that we’ve been working on and I was happy with it.”

The ’Canes also got a pair of assists from Adam Dorsey and one from Andrew LeBlanc. Ryan Costa made 15 saves in his debut in net.

“It was good,” Enos said. “It was a good game for the team. We came out a little bit rusty, but as the game went on we really got together and got the ball moving as a unit.”

For a program that had its best win-loss record in a decade last season but suffered heavy graduation losses heading into this year, Vets came out strong, and Soupharath – a key figure on last year’s team as well – gave his team its first lead of the season just five minutes in.

Dorsey took a throw in down in the Masters side of the field, and it skirted past two players to the feet of Soupharath near the 18-yard box. With three players around him, he somehow freed himself up only a few yards in front of the net and easily beat Masters’ keeper John Henry into the left side for a 1-0 advantage.

“Nikone is extremely talented,” Kenney said. “He’s got great footwork, great vision. He plays real well with Josiah and his wings. I can’t say enough about Nikone.”

Masters struck back three minutes later on an odd play, as Ryan Whaley sent a free kick toward Vets’ goal from behind midfield, and Kyle Martins got a head on it. Costa rushed out of net but misjudged the bounce, and it took off over his head and into the net to tie the score.

“That first goal was a freak goal, and you never know how they’re going to react to that,” Kenney said. “Funny bounce, with the wind.”

For the rest of the half, the game was even, but early in the second half Vets started flashing its potential and played its best soccer of the day.

After threatening a few times early, Vets broke the deadlock in the 54th minute when Dorsey carried the ball from midfield all the way up the right side and into the box, before lofting it over Henry’s head to the other side of the box. Lobato was there to head it down and hard, into the net.

Ahead again, Vets wasted little time extending its lead. Eleven minutes later, LeBlanc slipped a pass from the 18 to Enos just left of the goal in the box. Enos controlled the ball and connected on a shot into the short, left-side of the goal to make it 3-1.

Three minutes after that, Vets made it 4-1when Dorsey found Enos in the right corner, and Enos dribbled hard into the box and put a left-footed shot past Henry.

“The key to us is that we’re not deep, so they’re not going to get a lot of rest,” Kenney said. “They have to learn to conserve and play smart, using the open space instead of trying to push everything. They did that at the beginning of the second half.”

With a three-goal lead, Vets slipped up some down the stretch, as Masters’ Owen Gallagher hit a shot off a Vets player in the 69th minute that found the back of the net, before Austen Toye scored on a penalty kick in the 74th minute – which Costa stopped, but the ball just slipped over the line – to make it 4-3. In the 80th minute, Toye put another shot on net that could have tied the score, but Costa smothered it. Vets held on from there for the win.

“I’ve been preaching that since last year before the playoffs,” Kenney said. “It’s not over. In a high school game, it’s not over until it’s over. You’ve got to play smart when you’ve got a tie or a lead going.”

Next up for the ’Canes are a pair of games later this week. On Wednesday, they host Johnston at 3:30 p.m., and on Friday they host PCD at 4 p.m.

They also hope to get senior captain Jonathon Hunt back soon. Hunt had to miss the Masters game with a concussion.

“It was a good effort, a good first game,” Kenney said. “Masters is much improved from last year.”