For the Washington soccer team, the game plan was simple: play possession soccer and contain one of the conference’s top offensive threats. And in a battle of scorer versus defender, Holt McKeithan and the rest of the Pam Pack back line held North Johnston’s Ian Walston to a season-low two shots in a 6-2 statement win over the Panthers on Thursday night at Choppy Wagner Stadium.

With field conditions playing little role in the match’s outcome, Washington overcame a lethargic start with strong midfield play and consistent passing down the stretch. On top of the strong defensive showing, the Pam Pack outshot the Panthers 23-10.

“I still think there’s a lot of room for improvement,” said head coach Jim Kozuch after the game. “We gave up the first goal of the game and I think we just got outhustled early. They’re a good team and came out playing harder than we did. Of course, once we got a few goals, we started playing with more confidence, got smarter, started passing the ball a little better and did all the little things that we usually do.”

North Johnston’s Rakim Stancil had the toughest task of the night guarding Washington senior Kyle Hodges, but the sophomore defender was able to keep him outside of the box for much of the contest. Unfortunately for the Panthers, it was Washington’s sheer speed and conditioning at seemingly every position that kept the host in control.

“We have our highs and our lows,” Kozuch said. “We’re definitely like an engine though. It just takes a little time to warm up and once we’re warmed up, we’re a tough team to stop.”

The visitors got the better of the Pam Pack early in the first half, keeping the ball on the opposing end and limiting the host to virtually zero offensive opportunities. Washington’s first shot came after 17 minutes of play and from there, they only improved. But with 19 minutes remaining, senior Chase Davis struck first for the Panthers, receiving a free kick in the box and hitting a bad-angle shot past keeper William Tate.

Five minutes later, however, the Pam Pack attack came alive with three goals in seven minutes. Ben McKeithan chucked a throw into the box and right to the left foot of Erik Ruiz, who was there for an easy tap-in. On the ensuing possession, a corner kick taken by Miguel Hernandez resulted in an own goal by a Panthers defender.

Washington piled on the shots in the final minutes, but took a comfortable 3-1 lead into the break. Most notably, Walston, who is among the conference’s leaders with 21 goals, was limited to just one shot, marked by Holt McKeithan.

“We’ve had a lot of success with Holt McKeithan man-marking in our times of need,” Kozuch said. “With 25 goals, we thought he deserved the attention and Holt did a great job shutting him down.”

The second half was all Washington, as the midfield controlled roughly 80 percent of the possession and continued to frustrate the Panthers’ forwards. After 13 minutes, Hernandez increased his tally to two goals, taking an errant header off a corner kick and blasting it into the back of the net to give the Pam Pack a 4-1 lead. Three minutes later, midfielder Freddy Jimenez made it 5-1, as Ruiz quickly took a free kick and found Jimenez open at the top of the box.

The final goal for Washington came with 20 minutes left after a slip pass from Jimenez found forward Rob Zerniak on the other end. The Panthers scored their final goal three minutes later on a scramble in front of the net, but were held to just two shots through the remainder of the contest.

Coming off a 6-0 over North Pitt last week, Kozuch sees his team in prime position early in Eastern Plains Conference play.

“It makes us feel great,” he said. “We definitely think we started off with two of the tougher teams in the conference with North Pitt and these guys. In the conference, if you lose one game, there’s a chance you don’t win the championship. We have to work hard and I’m very happy with tonight’s outcome.”

With the win, Washington improves to 13-1 (2-0 EPC) and will face Beddingfield in Wilson on Tuesday.