The Blue Mountain boys soccer team quickly proved why they are the No. 1 seed in the Schuylkill League tournament with a 9-1 drubbing of Jim Thorpe Tuesday night in a semifinal match.

The Eagles scored four goals in the first 20 minutes of the game, and the large lead was never threatened.

Shawn Batory - who finished the game with a hat trick - opened the scoring two-and-a-half minutes into the contest when he blasted a pass from Ryan Mundy into the top of the goal.

Six minutes later, Dylan Knittle took a feed from Mundy across the goal mouth and kicked the ball home for a 2-0 Eagles lead.

Blue Mountain, playing as the home team on Jim Thorpe’s field, continued to penetrate the Olympians’ defense. Mundy tallied his team’s third goal when he broke free in front and slid the ball into the net.

Thorpe gained field possession for a 10-minute mark in the first half, but couldn’t manage a shot until Jacob Geiser booted a 30-yarder that sailed over the top of the goal.

At the 20:26 mark, Shawn Hertzog side-footed a pass from right to left to Batory - who knocked it in for Blue Mountain’s fourth goal.

With the big lead, the Eagles dropped nine players into their defensive zone and locked down any possibility for Thorpe to get any close scoring chances. Olympian junior midfielder Ehren Hassler fired a 15-yard shot that BM’s goalie, Colton Leibold, tipped over the top of the goal for his first of two saves in the game.

The second half was all Blue Mountain as Thorpe tried to pinch their defenders in hopes of earning more scoring opportunities.

The Eagles (16-3) were able to get behind the pinch and at 24:38 of the second half, Batory finished his hat trick on a breakaway goal that pushed the margin to 6-0.

The Olympians - 3-1 quarterfinal winners over Nativity - could not crack Blue Mountain’s defense, and any shots taken were from long range and sailed high over the goal.

With 19 minutes left to play, Robert Antonini found Mundy ahead of the pack for the Eagles’ seventh goal. Mundy scored his hat trick with 11 minutes to play on another breakaway, and Chase Baldwin finished his team’s scoring with a top shelf tally at 10:10.

Thorpe (13-7) got into the scoring column with 90 seconds on a goal by Noah Geiser.

Each team had a corner kick. Blue Mountain had 13 shots, and Thorpe finished with three.

Olympians coach Michael Dudak was unavailable for comment after the game.

TITLE MATCH … Blue Mountain will meet Pine Grove, a 1-0 winner over Lourdes, in the Schuylkill League championship game on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Jim Thorpe.

SEASON SWEEP … Blue Mountain won all three games against the Olympians, winning the first two in September by scores of 5-0 and 6-3.

UP NEXT … Jim Thorpe will next play in the District 11 tournament. As of now, the Olympians are seeded sixth.