SHORELINE — King’s High School needed only four minutes and 30 seconds to score its first two goals against South Whidbey.

The Knights put on an offensive onslaught and scored five goals in the first half at Woolsey Stadium to beat the Falcons 7-0 Thursday night.

King’s used limited substitutions and kept most of its starters in, even as the game grew more lopsided.

“A lot of the joy of soccer is scoring,” said Falcons head coach Paul Arand. “And it’s hard to stop your players from scoring.”

Arand also said the pace of the game quickened because of the turf field. The competition within the Cascade Conference is some of the toughest around. And that includes King’s.

“They’re quicker to the ball, their passing is more accurate and they’re physically stronger,” Arand said.

Defensively the Knights stifled the Falcons, who didn’t have a quality shot on goal in the game.

The Knights lost the previous game against league favorite Archbishop Murphy 5-0 and was on a two-game losing streak.

“I think the girls were a lot more relaxed in the second half, knowing we had five goals,” said King’s head coach Nicole Gabelein.

After an errant opening pass by South Whidbey, King’s (5-3-1) controlled the ball and freshman Madison Arnold scored in the 36th minute. Kelsey Christianson, a junior, followed a minute later with her own goal. The two Knights goals set the tone of the match. King’s owned much of the ball possession and kept the ball in South Whidbey’s half most of the game.

The loss dropped the Falcons to 1-7.

“We were hoping that we could really put together our one and two touch game well,” Gabelein said. “And it came together for us.”

Allison Weber, a junior, scored two goals, both in the first half. Her first was in the 32nd minute and ricocheted off the left post for a 3-0 lead. Maddy Morgan scored in the 37th minute off a corner kick and a missed knockout from Falcons goalie Lindsey Grimm for a 4-0 lead. Weber’s second goal came in the last minute of the first half for a 5-0 lead.

“From the first day of training camp we work on our defense,” Gabelein said. “So far, that’s all we worked on, is our defense.”

After the break, South Whidbey switched out goalkeeper Grimm and put in Angelina Berges.

Arand said he made the switch to get Grimm on the field and give Berges varsity experience.

The Falcons held the Knights scoreless through the first 22 minutes of the second half before Anna Diede scored on a cross field pass from Izzabelle Quinn for a 6-0 lead. Christina McCormick scored the last goal of the night in the 70th minute for the final score.

The Falcons played without team captains Jessica Manca and Laurie Robinson, both out due to injuries.

Manca, a junior, is out for the season. Robinson was out with a knee injury, and her return is questionable. Brianna Haimes, a junior, missed the contest and is expected to miss at least two more games.

The loss of veteran leaders depleted a team already short on personnel.

South Whidbey is on a five-game losing streak. Prior to Thursday’s contest, the Falcons held opponents to three or fewer goals except Archbishop Murphy, which scored 10.

However, South Whidbey’s difficulty on offense allowed its opponents to keep it scoreless in four games, and scored only one goal in two games. The only multi-goal game was its sole win, 4-0, against Sultan. Earlier in the week, South Whidbey lost 1-0 to Cedarcrest.

“It’s really up to us to raise our level of play,” Arand said.

South Whidbey plays Granite Falls on Tuesday, Oct. 5 at Granite Falls High School.