CHOCOWINITY — Three different Southside players scored a goal as the Seahawks rolled to a 4-0 victory over Perquimans on Wednesday. The win marked their fourth in five games to start the season.

It was their most complete game of the young campaign, too. Southside played well in the first half to take a 1-0 lead into halftime. The team improved on that with a three-goal and defensively stout showing in the second half.

“We’ve really been working on the back four. We watched video on Tuesday after practice and I showed the kids some things that were just a little lax,” coach Jay Petty said. “They really tried to work on it and, (Wednesday), I saw the back four defensive players just shut them down.

“Then the play in the midfield. I’ve been trying to teach them that, when the ball is in the middle of the field, not to run away from each other. Let’s stay connected and build. They did a whole lot better job.”

Fabian Ramirez first broke through with a goal in the 16th minute. It was the only goal of the game until Jario Juarez put his stamp on the game in the 57th minute. Ramirez ripped a shot that deflected off a Perquimans defender. Juarez took the volley and put it in the back of the net.

The early lead in the game, combined with Southside’s defense not budging, proved frustrating for the visitors.

“They got frustrated and, in the second half, I think we wore them out,” Petty said. “They couldn’t get the ball at their feet, so therefore they were running and chasing us the whole game. That really began to wear them out. That’s when you can play good possession soccer. You wear another team out like that.”

Southside took a three-goal lead when a Pirate defender put a ball in the back of his own net. Luke Matthews broke through the opposition’s defense and was in alone against the goalkeeper. A defender caught up to him and attempted a desperate slide tackle, which ended up sending the ball right past his own keeper.

Defender Jose Perez Garcia finished the Pirates off with 10 minutes to play. The Seahawks got a corner kick, which, given how worn out their opponents were, was a prime opportunity to add a fourth goal. The ball bounced around the box and Garcia took advantage of the disorganized Pirate defense with a laser of a shot into the top-right corner.

“This year, I’ve probably got one of the deepest benches I’ve had,” Petty said. “… I can probably run five to eight players deep and not lose too much on the field. That helps. I’m able to keep fresh legs going every 10 or 15 minutes. The bench play tonight was excellent. It was overall just a great team effort.”

Southside doesn’t open 1-A Coastal Plains Conference play until Sept. 26 at East Carteret. The non-conference stretch has been fruitful thus far. There’s plenty of strong competition ahead — South Central, Riverside and Southwest Edgecombe, to name a few.

“I’m pleased with where we are, but I don’t want to be satisfied with where we are,” Petty said.