After a successful preseason and a championship in the Warwick Vets Fall Soccer Tournament, the Pilgrim girls’ soccer team didn’t exactly pick up where it left off in the first few minutes of Tuesday’s season opener.

But it didn’t take long to change that.

After giving up a few golden opportunities to Westerly in the early going, Pilgrim flipped the field and exploded for three goals in a three-minute span. They added three more before halftime and coasted to a 6-1 victory.

“They were pressing us and they were running an offside trap on us, so it took us some time to figure things out,” said Pilgrim head coach Tom Flanders. “Once we saw what they were doing, we made a couple of adjustments and it started clicking.”

The result was the kind of start Pilgrim was looking for. The Patriots are coming off a Division II semifinal appearance last season and have another squad that’s poised to contend. The preseason offered some validation, and the Pats confirmed it again Tuesday.

Emma Reilly scored two goals, and Katelyn Vieira, Kendra Tantimonico, Molly Lynch and Maddy Almonte tallied one apiece. Vieira had two assists, while Tantimonico, Lynch and Alexia Martins each had one.

A year ago, Pilgrim played to a 1-1 draw in its season opener, but this year’s installment was a different story.

“We played some very good teams in the preseason and I think it kind of toughened them up,” Flanders said. “They’re ready to run. If they get free, they’re going to finish. They’re talented, there’s no doubt about that.”

Westerly was on the attack in the first few minutes, hitting the side of the net on a close-range shot, missing just wide on another good look and watching Pilgrim goalie Hannah Page make a key save.

But as soon as the Pats pushed the other way and got their attack in gear, there was no slowing them down.

In the ninth minute, Vieira slipped a perfect through pass to Tantimonico, who had a step on the defense and ended up one-on-one with Westerly goalie Emily Sullivan. Tantimonico juked past her then took her time and buried an easy shot for the 1-0 lead.

On Pilgrim’s ensuing possession, Vieira struck. She won a battle for possession on the right wing and dribbled into the box ahead of two defenders. She beat Sullivan with a hard shot to make it 2-0.

In the next minute, Pilgrim scored again. Lynch lofted a pass from the right side to the middle of the box, where Reilly controlled the ball between a pair of defenders and muscled the ball into the right corner of the net.

Three minutes, three goals.

“A couple of substitutions, a couple of adjustments, and we were in good shape,” Flanders said. “We did real well. They were getting in behind them, good passes. A lot of nice stuff. I was happy with it.”

Pilgrim obviously couldn’t keep up that scoring rate, but it didn’t fall too far off the pace anyway. In the 16th minute, Reilly found herself wide open behind the defense and drilled the shot. In the 36th minute, Maddy Almonte touched in a shot on a high-arcing crossing pass from Vieira. Just before halftime, Lynch cleaned up a rebound to make it 6-0.

Amid Pilgrim’s onslaught, Westerly never again threatened like it did in the first few minutes, as defenders Haley Buco, Sophia DeLuca, Emily Fluette and Erin Plowman clamped down.

“They play fantastically well together and Hannah Page in net is like playing with a back five, because she’s so talented with her feet on top of her hands,” Flanders said. “They’re doing well.”

Armed with the big lead, Pilgrim put it on cruise control in the second half and used the frame as a chance to get playing time for everybody on the roster. Westerly scored a late goal for the final margin.

All in all, it was about as strong a start as the Pats could have asked for, but it’s still only a start.

There’s room for improvement.

“We need to do a better job recognizing what teams are doing to us tactically in the beginning,” Flanders said. “That first 10 minutes, they could have punched in three goals and made this a completely different game. That’s what we’re going to stress in practice, just recognizing what other teams are doing, give them ideas to deal with whatever we’re facing.”

That’s all part of the process. Pilgrim expects to keep playing well, and wants to play even better.

“We just have to hope they keep their feet on the ground and keep playing hard,” Flanders said.

Pilgrim will return to action today for a 6 p.m. game at Chariho.