LUDINGTON – There was one thing on the mind of the Ludington boys varsity soccer team on Wednesday – domination.

The Orioles overwhelmed Montague from the opening whistle and easily secured an 8-0 West Michigan Conference win on Oriole Field.

“We really finished tonight,” Ludington head coach Kris Anderson said. “That’s one of the things that we’ve been talking about. We’ve been doing great with two-thirds (of the field), but that final third, getting to where we put some balls in the net. It really clicked tonight. We were dangerous. Our runs were dangerous, balls were dangerous and we were finishing shots.

“That’s going to serve us well going forward.”

The Orioles are now 6-2-1 on the season and are 3-0 in conference action.

Ludington senior Kyle Stidham, who had been out with an injury, warmed up prior to the game. He didn’t see action in the contest, but his return is imminent.

“He possibly could have played today, but rather than push it, I think next week we can get him back out there on the field,” coach Anderson said.

It only took the Orioles four minutes to break through in the first half. After applying pressure, sophomore Ayden Eaton sent a pass to junior Steele Stowe. Stowe buried the ball into the right side of the net and Ludington took a 1-0 lead.

10 minutes later, Stowe found himself with the ball on his foot in Montague’s end. Instead of attempting a shot, he sent a pass to junior Landon Ruboyianes. Ruboyianes didn’t waste any time and sent a shot past the Wildcats’ keeper, pushing the lead to two goals.

Stowe wasn’t done yet.

With 16 minutes left in the opening half, Stowe corralled a missed shot and sent it to senior Xaine Smith. Smith scored and Ludington held a 3-0 advantage.

Stowe added a left-footed goal with 12 minutes until halftime and the Orioles lead ballooned to four goals.

Montague tried to find an answer before halftime, but it went to halftime down 4-0.

After an overwhelming performance in the first, coach Anderson wanted his team to carry that momentum into the second half.

“I felt there was a little stretch in the first half where we kind of let down a little bit,” coach Anderson said. “And I said, ‘We’ve got to keep playing at a certain intensity. I don’t care what the number is on the board. You’ve got to keep playing at that level.’

“I said, ‘I wanted 40 minutes out of them in the second half, of hard intensity.’ Well, we didn’t get 40 minutes. But it’s all right.”

The Orioles heeded his advice and 40 seconds into the second half, they increased the score when Eaton rebounded his miss and beat the Wildcats’ keeper.

Five minutes later, Ludington’s Ruboyianes assisted on a Keagan Curtis goal and it led 6-0.

Eaton added another goal at the 31 minute mark off a cross from Nathaniel Traeger. Traeger then got in on the scoring off a cross from Curtis.

With 29 minutes left, the Orioles held an 8-0 advantage and the game was called.

After grabbing a 4-0 lead in the first half, coach Anderson decided to sub in players into the game. One of those players was back-up goal keeper Karson Knowles.

“Give him some minutes, Karson (Knowles) is great,” coach Anderson said. “It’s unfortunate he’s behind a senior who’s really good. … I knew where we were, it was time to get him in and give him some time.”

Senior goalkeeper Gabe Gamez posted a shutout in the first half, tallying two saves.

Although the season is still young, coach Anderson has been focused on improving his team’s finishing. On Wednesday, the Orioles gave him a glimpse of what is possible.

“We have something to build on,” coach Anderson said. “That’s what we’re working on as far as how to finish that last piece and tonight it was there.”

Ludington is back on the road Monday, as it heads to Whitehall for a WMC clash with the Vikings.

“Playing like this,” coach Anderson said, when talking about what it will take to win the next game. “If we can keep this intensity up. This is good stuff. Hopefully, we can keep that. That’s the message, ‘Here’s where we’re at. Let’s stay here, if not higher.”