The Bishop Hendricken boys soccer team continued its impressive start to the regular season, topping visiting Shea 4-1 last week to improve to 5-0-1 on the season.

The Hawks controlled the pace from the shoot while playing stifling defense throughout the contest. Shea finished the game with just one shot on goal in total.

“The first half we played very well and then in the second Shea came at us. They threw everything but the kitchen sink at us but I thought it was a good test for us because that’s what it’s going to be like in the playoffs. Tonight was like playoff soccer in the second half and we kept them out, I can’t complain,” said Hendricken coach Mickey Rooney after the win.

Hendricken jumped out to a quick lead in the first half when Anthony Lazzareschi scored 13 minutes into play to make it 1-0. Kevin Torreco would later double the Hendricken lead with a goal of his own to make it 2-0 midway through the first half.

Shea did not go down easily though, getting a goal less than a minute later to make it 2-1 by the halftime break.

However, the Hawks came out strong in the second half and cruised the rest of the way.

Torreco would net his second of the game on a penalty shot 11 minutes into the second. Lazzeresch would then add his second with six minutes remaining to set the score to 4-1 and secure the win.

The Hawks faced a tough Shea team, which led to a scrappy match throughout the second half.

“They handled (the physicality) well. That is what happens sometimes, Shea feel behind and had to push forward and I think their coach told them to be a little bit more physical, go right at us and see what happens,” said Rooney.

Rooney was also pleased with his team’s offensive performance, but hopes to see it continue to grow as the season progresses.

“The first half we had three shots on goal and two scores so that’s a great percentage. We did miss a few opportunities, there were times that we could have done better, but it’s early in the season so we just need to chalk it out,” said Rooney.

The Hawks jumped out to a solid 5-0-1 record with the win and maintained their spot atop the conference. Rooney hopes to see his team continue to play strong as it enters the midseason grind.

“The schedule has been good to us, now we’re going into the meat of it so we’ll see what happens. We got off to a slow start with the heat and the rain, we missed so many practices. We still have a long way to go, on that scale for where I want us to be we are way far down,” said Rooney. “We’ll get better as the year goes on, I think the competition will get better, hopefully we’ll just keep chugging along.”