Liberty’s boys soccer team bombarded Stroudsburg with a 5-0 victory over the Mountaineers on Sept. 3 at Liberty.

“In the first half, once we adjusted to their formation, we were able to take over the midfield and really move the ball, and that took a lot of pressure off the guys in the back,” said Liberty head coach Jason Horvath.

The Hurricanes scored all five goals in the first half, the most exciting in the final minutes on a play by Gio Piccini, Deklan McCane, and Murilo Santana.

“Our coaches, earlier in the half, told me to stay behind their last defender at the 50, so I had to stay onside, and then, when I got the ball, just run with it, find someone, and keep the attack going,” Piccini said.

Piccini found McCane.

“I was running up with him, and he saw me, and I kept going, and he got me the ball,” said McCane. “Probably at the 30, I cut it back and played it back to Gio.”

Said Piccini, “I took a look over my shoulder, and Murilo was in the middle, so I tried to send it and find his head. We played that ball how [Coach Horvath] wanted. It was good.”

Santana took the header for the Hurricanes’ fifth goal.

“It was a great pass by [Gio], so I just headed it into the goal,” Santana said. “It was just me and the goal.”

Horvath was thrilled with the sequence.

“It was probably the best goal this program has scored in a long time just because of the way it was created, the teamwork involved, and really, it was a relatively simple finish because he was in a really good spot,” Horvath said. “What I’m most proud of is we had four different guys score and four different guys get assists. That means we’re starting to realize how to move the ball, how to play, how to create opportunities. This is a group that hasn’t been together that long...so it’s a matter of getting everybody acclimated, finding where people fit, and we’re starting to figure that out.”

Santana scored a few minutes earlier on a pass from Chris Santos.

“It came from the right side,” said Santana. “It was the same thing, just me and the goal.”

Liberty goalie Thomas Horvath had two saves in the first half, and teammate Dario Cantelmi had six saves in the second half, preserving the clean sheet.

Coach Horvath made substitutions in the second half, providing significant playing time for nonstarters.

“For some, it was their first varsity action, so a little nervous energy in the beginning, but then they settled in, and they did all right, and they kept the clean sheet,” he said.

The Liberty versus Stroudsburg match is often a hard-fought battle.

“Last couple years, it’s been a tough fight,” said McCane, “so this year, I’m glad we stuck it to them.”