No. 7 Oilers Rout No. 8 Esperanza, 4-0

Huntington Beach forward Drew McAthy scored three goals and had an assist as the seventh-ranked Oilers dominated No. 8 Esperanza, 4-0, Wednesday in a Sunset League boys’ soccer game at Huntington Beach.

The Oilers (8-2-1, 2-0) scored the game’s first goal less than 10 minutes in when McAthy took a throw-in, dribbled to the penalty area and launched a crossing pass that Joel Murphy punched past Esperanza goalkeeper Danny Jepson. The Aztecs are 9-2-3, 1-1.

Huntington Beach controlled the game after that, with McAthy scoring twice in the final 10 minutes of the first half, on a header in the 32nd minute and a shot from the left side in the 45th minute to give the Oilers a 3-0 halftime lead.

“We came out with a lot of intensity from the start,” McAthy said.

McAthy closed out the scoring with a spectacular second-half goal, dribbling up the left sideline nearly the length of the field before blasting an 18-yard shot that beat Jepson.

“He made a huge impact today,” Oiler Coach Will Cummins said of McAthy, who leads the Oilers with 11 goals. “He’s a really special player.”

The victory gives the Oilers an early advantage in the race for the Sunset League title, but McAthy doesn’t want the team to get overconfident.

“We can’t be satisfied with this win,” he said. “The Sunset League is tough game in and game out. But if we can continue to play like this, we should contend [for the title].”