In early April, the young Brookland- Cayce girls soccer team doubted it would even qualify for the playoffs - let alone earn a first- round home game.

"The team was all so new, with nine freshman, we were trying to figure out where everyone should play," said co- coach Lauren Hudgens, who is stepping down at the conclusion of the season.

Hudgens and cocoach Katie Smith found a winning combination when they moved sophomore Nellie Phillips from sweeper to center midfielder and junior Jaya Wall to sweeper.

The switch laid the groundwork for the second- half surge in which Brookland- Cayce (13- 7- 1) won seven of its final nine regular- season games despite starting five freshmen.

The momentum continued Monday night with a 7- 0 victory against Battery Creek in the Bearcats Class 3A tournament opener.

"(After the switch) we are playing faster," Phillips said. "I'm trying to play smarter and distribute the ball more instead of doing it myself. Because we trust Jaya in the back, I can be more aggressive on offense."

That aggressiveness enabled Phillips to score twice in the game's first four minutes (her 10th and 11th goals of the season) to ignite the rout. One of the goals came on a rebound, the first of three such goals by the Bearcats.

By the 20th minute, Brookland- Cayce led 5- 0 on additional goals from juniors Kim Baston, Sarah Johnson, and Jaya Wall.

Baston's goal, which came on a shallow- angle, cross- goal shot over the keeper from just inside the penalty area on the left side, was her team- leading 12th.

"Our confidence now is a lot better," Phillips said. "(At the start of the season) we were playing not to lose instead of to win. Now, we're playing to win."

Freshman Charity McDaniel scored her first career goal in the 28th minute to give Brookland- Cayce a 6- 0 lead at halftime.

The Bearcats started and played most of the second half with all nine of their freshmen on the field. One of them, Kalyn Brazell, completed the scoring in the 68th minute.