Nearly halfway into the first half of Thursday’s match against Dunham, Episcopal lost starting goalkeeper Luke Stelly with a broken nose.
It was the only setback the Knights suffered on their way to the District 5-IV championship.
Midfielder Luke Mendoza produced a hat trick and David Olinde added two goals, powering Episcopal past Dunham 6-0 at Episcopal’s Memorial Stadium.
“Every season, January is the time where you want to hit your stride,” said Episcopal coach Kiran Booluck, whose team had 16 of its 20 shots on goal. “This is a young team. We don’t have a lot of experience back from last year. We’re still young, we still make mistakes that come with the territory. I think we’re hitting our stride right now. No disrespect to Dunham or any other team we’ve played. We know there’s going to be tougher opponents in the playoffs.”
Episcopal, rated no. 5 in the unofficial Division IV LHSAA power ratings, finished the regular season 11-4-3 and 2-0 in district play. The Knights are 10-0-1 in their past 11 games, including a 4-0 stretch since a 3-3 tie with St. Michael on Jan. 9 in which they outscored their opponents 22-2.
Mendoza scored twice in the opening half, giving Episcopal an early lead five minutes into the match with a shot in the air that beat Dunham’s goalkeeper Lucas Hahn into the left corner.
Stelly later came off his line to retrieve a ball against a hard-charging Hayden Harman of Dunham with the two colliding, sending Stelly to the turf with a bloody nose.
Nathan Gibson moved from center back to goalie for the remaining 66 minutes and Episcopal finished with its third shutout of the season. The Knights’ backline of Ahebwa Muhumuza, Ryan Richard, Austin Ray and Aldon Romano were also key to limiting the Tigers (5-9-1, 1-1) to two shots with neither on goal.
Mendoza made it 2-0 with a 25-yard ground shot into the left corner in the 18th minute and Jacob Berg went through the middle of Dunham’s defense for a goal into the left corner in the 36th minute.
Olinde added goals in the 49th and 64th minutes — the second on an assist from Yaseen Zaid — and Mendoza capped his evening with a third goal after rebounding Berg’s shot in the 70th minute.
“About 50% of our lineup is young,” said Dunham coach Paul Fletcher, who played four freshmen and four eighth graders. “But that’s no excuse because they were part of our wins. But I expected my seniors to provide a spark, especially when our shots and passing may be off. We better be able to defend, and we didn’t. They did a great job of making us pay for our mistakes.”
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