The Big Lake girls soccer team won its second straight game Tuesday, outperforming Hutchinson on offense and defense in a commanding 8-0 win.

The Hornets wasted no time gaining control of the game. Alexis “Lexi” Moen intercepted a clearing pass 20 yards out and fired a shot past the Hutchinson goalkeeper just 3:41 into the game to open the scoring.

The Tigers managed to keep Big Lake at bay for awhile by keeping the ball in the middle of the field for the next 15 minutes. But the Hornets started to get the ball upfield and kept up the pressure. With 20:49 left in the half, Rylie Sternquist put in a rebound off the crossbar to give Big Lake a 2-0 lead.

That seemed to give the Hornets lots of momentum, and they kept the ball in Hutchinson’s end for a good part of the rest of the half. At 24:35, Savannah Baker took a cross from Sternquist and tipped it past the goalie for a 3-0 lead.

Less than two minutes later, Moen avoided two defenders and scored her second goal of the game from 10 yards out to make it 4-0.

Big Lake closed out the half when Adeline Hitter knocked in a rebound for a 5-0 halftime lead.

Hutchinson changed its goaltender to start the second half, and the Hornets tested her right from the start. She was up to the task at the beginning, but about 10 minutes into the half, Moen completed a hat trick with a shot from 20 yards out for her third goal and a 6-0 Big Lake lead.

Three minutes later, Emma Borer took a shot from the middle of the penalty box and beat the goalie low to the right to make the score 7-0.

Hutchinson worked hard to move the ball after that and spent some time in Big Lake’s half of the field with good ball control. But they never really had a decent scoring chance to test goalie Kadyn Dilger.

Halfway through the period, the Hornet offense started attacking, continuously passing the ball upfield along the right sideline to Sternquist for breakaways. They had lots of scoring chances but couldn’t make the final pass for a goal.

Then, with 14 minutes left, Paige Erickson launched a hard shot from the top of the penalty box. It slipped just under the crossbar for the final goal in Big Lake’s 8-0 win.

It was the second straight shutout for the Hornets. Last week, they beat Cambridge-Isanti, 1-0 in a game where they had trouble controlling the ball.

“We defended and didn’t have the ball for the majority of the game,” said Coach Brady Johnson. “But when we did win the ball back, we were really good at getting the ball up the field.”

That strategy paid off late in the game when Moen scored after a throw-in with eight minutes left with an assist from Sternquist.

The Hornets were outshot, 12-3 in the game, but withstood the pressure to get the win.

“It was a gritty performance,” said Coach Johnson.

With Tuesday’s win, the Hornets are 2-0-1 on the season and have allowed just one goal in three games.

They played St. Francis Thursday and visit Monticello Monday, results to follow next week.