Size and speed.

Jim Thorpe boys’ soccer coach Michael Dudak is happy that Ehren Hassler possesses those athletic qualities.

On Wednesday, the senior forward repeatedly got behind the defense to pump in five first-half goals in Jim Thorpe’s 9-3 Colonial League win over Northern Lehigh. The victory was the sixth in a row for the Olympians (7-3).

Thorpe set the mood of the game soon after the opening kick when it was called for one of several offsides penalties by trying to pass to a forward splitting the defense.

But the Bulldogs scored the first goal when, after a scramble in front of the net, Kellen Bauer found the loose ball and knocked it home.

The Dawgs’ 1-0 lead was short-lived, however, as just five minutes later, Hassler took a lead pass and out-ran the defense for his first of five goals. After Bulldogs’ goalie Kyle O’Connell made a terrific save off the top of his fingers, Hassler took a breakaway pass from Noah Geiser and scored his next goal off a boot into the lower right corner of the goal.

“It wasn’t our strategy to try for breakaways,” said Dudak. “We’ve been struggling with breaking the defensive lines, but we emphasize a motion offense and our faster players broke through for us today.”

Ahead 3-1 with 26 minutes left in the first half, Hassler scored again to give the home team a four-goal lead. Northern Lehigh nearly scored, but JT goalie Dan Heaney tipped a shot off the mark. The ball spun sideways across the front of the goal line, but didn’t go in.

The Olympians then raced back down the field, and with five minutes left before the intermission, Geiser forged his own breakaway and scored for a 5-1 lead.

The Bulldogs cut the margin to three at the 3:35 mark when Logan Berfield scored after a pass from Ethan Moore, but Hassler wasn’t finished with his scoring surge. His fifth goal with 1:11 to go before the intermission came when he kicked home a loose ball in front of the goal mouth.

“We moved around collectively today, shifting around as a whole group,” said Hassler. “Other than that, we used our speed and athleticism.”

Bulldogs’ coach, J. Tristan Moore was expecting more from his team’s performance.

“It was very disappointing. We did score some goals, but I thought our effort was poor,” he said. “We didn’t play our game, and we seemed to lose our composure. Give Thorpe credit. They play fast and they strike fast. They found our seams when we were out of position.”

In the second half, Thorpe dominated time of possession for the first 10 minutes before Geiser scored for a 7-2 lead. Then with 20 minutes left to play, Conor Holland scored for Thorpe, and three minutes later, Geiser completed his hat trick with an assist from Holland.

Berfield scored the last goal of the game with the mercy rule clock winding down. O’Connell had 15 saves for the Bulldogs. Heaney stopped three shots for Thorpe.

THE REST OF THE STORY ... Despite the nine goals scored by Jim Thorpe, Northern Lehigh goalie Kyle O’Connell made several spectacular saves that could have resulted in double-digit goals.

THE WIN STREAK ... Dudak gave his explanation for the six-game streak. “We’re just starting to click now. We are healthier, and we’ve changed some positions that have helped. We started the season against two of the best teams in Moravian and Northwestern, but now we can compete with them.” During the streak, Thorpe has outscored their opponents, 34-8.

UNFORGETTABLE ... Hassler was thrilled with his game. “This will probably stick with me for awhile.”

Northern Lehigh 2 1 - 3

Jim Thorpe 6 3 - 9

Goals: Northern Lehigh – Berfield 2, Bauer 1. JT – Hassler- 5, Geiser- 3, Holland – 1.

Saves: Northern Lehigh - O’Connell 15; Jim Thorpe - Heaney 3.

Records: Jim Thorpe (7-3); Northern Lehigh (4-5).