The Washington Hatchets broke open a tight game in the first half with four second half goals to down Princeton 5-1 in Big 8 Conference boys soccer action on Tuesday at the Gwaltney Sports Complex.

Washington (1-0, 1-0) held a slim one goal advantage at halftime thanks to an unassisted goal by junior Ethan Hunsinger, who collected a rebound in front of the Princeton (0-1, 0-1) goal and found the back of the Tiger net just 3:01 before the half.

That lead grew to 2-0 when Brandon Lee assisted on a header by Randy Marroquin in the 47th minute. Another unassisted goal by Hunsinger four minutes later moved that margin to 3-0 before Princeton got a goal back.

On a Princeton free kick just outside the Hatchet 18-yard line in the 62nd minute, Hunsinger appeared to soar above the Washington defensive wall to cleanly head the ball away from the WHS goal. A hand ball in the penalty area was called, however, and Princeton’s Chris Lasley converted the penalty kick, making the score 3-1.

Any chance of a Tiger comeback was extinguished by two more Washington goals, the first coming in the 73rd minute when Lance Davis redirected a cross from Marroquin, and the final score when senior Graham Singleton knocked in a shot from beyond the Tiger 18-yard line after taking a pass from Marroquin with :09 remaining.

While Hatchet coach Kevin Myers did see plenty of things his team needed to work on, he liked the intensity his players exhibited.

“If there was a positive in this, we did stay intense. We just didn’t make a lot of good decisions,” said Myers. “Maybe that will come with a few more games, we’ll see.”

As usual in the early going, Myers is searching for a starting lineup, and the veteran coach admits it may take some time for that process to play out, though he does like the potential he sees at times.

“It’s hard to be disappointed this early in the year. I think we’ve had a different lineup at every point in the season. This was a completely different one too,” said Myers. “As soon as we find 11 guys that can establish themselves as starters, we may have 11 starters. Right now, we’re rotating 16 guys through there.

“We have guys who were playing backup roles, and now it’s on there shoulders. It’ll take maybe two or three games to kind of establish a soccer thought plan,” said Myers. “Maybe we have a long way to go, but I’m encouraged because we can have some days where we just look like world beaters.”

Washington returns to action with a home match against Vincennes Lincoln on Tuesday.