It’s rare that a double-digit win in soccer feels somewhat routine, but for Bradford’s Lady Owls, romps have become customary during this 2020 season in the Intermediate Unit 9 bubble.

Thursday night’s win over Kane was a prime example.

For the fourth time this season, Bradford eclipsed the double-digit mark, as the Lady Owls topped their visitors 14-0 on a soggy evening at Parkway Field.

As has been the case most of the season, Kelsea Austin was at the center of the scoring. The freshman racked up six markers to push her season total to 39 goals through 12 games.

Emily Bosworth, Mackenzie Lucas and Emily Morgan each notched a pair of tallies, while Maddi Cowburn and Maddie Emerson each scored once. Cowburn also had a pair of assists in the win, which pushed the Lady Owls to 12-0.

The variety was something Bradford head coach Warren Shaw was happy to see.

“This has been a group effort, and it’s always a group effort,” the coach said. “As long as the players keep seeing that, we can be good. This is a nice team with good kids, and they want to play with each other and they’re having some fun.”

Bradford raced out to a 10-0 lead by halftime, and outshot the Lady Wolves 41-5 on the night. Lady Owl goalie Lea Kakolewski made one save in the victory.

And while the dominance certainly has been enjoyable for Bradford, Shaw and his team know that tougher challenges lie ahead. After Saturday’s regular season finale against Port Allegany, the Lady Owls will move on to a potential postseason against teams in their own 3A classification.

With that in mind, Shaw says there’s still much work to be done.

“There’s always a long way to go,” he said. “There’s no finished product, but the good part for us is it’s been a team effort… We’re passing well and taking the simple passes, and our mindset is to always take the simple plays, maintain possession and attack. They’ve done a good job of that.”

But, he says, the Lady Owls will need to quickly adjust to a faster pace of play once the postseason begins — something they haven’t necessarily seen so far in 2020.

“There’s concern about playing at the speed we’ll need to play at in a playoff game,” he said, later adding, “But we’ve created competition within the team itself, and our sessions have been harder than games. The girls are getting yelled at, pushing each other and fighting against one another. It’s a good thing.”

Of course, Bradford’s prior experience in important games looms large, too.

“We have a good group of veterans who have played in big games, so the stage won’t be too bright,” Shaw said. “It’s just a matter of how long it will take us to get used to the speed of play from the other team.”

As the postseason draws near, Shaw and his coaching staff have been tinkering with lineups and personnel in games, and so far are finding contributions from different players in various places.

Among them, Eliana Kane has stepped into an outside back role for the Lady Owls, while Dawn Flynn made her debut as a starter in the win, while Kiara Hogue has shuffled around some.

“Over the course of the last four games, Ellie has played some outside back for us. She’s improving… Dawn started tonight for the first time and is usually in an offensive role for us, but we saw some things in practice so we’re trying her out. Kiara is in a few different spots and has the speed, but just needs a little control.”

He added, “Position-wise right now, we have players scattered across different spots during games because this is the time we need to find out who can play where and what we’ll have in the next couple weeks. It’s about feeling out a few players, seeing what they can give us and where they can be played.”

Above all, though, he’s been pleased with the Lady Owls’ collective effort this year in such a unique season.

“It’s hard to criticize a group of girls that are working as hard as they can,” he said. “We can make mistakes, and that’s OK. If we’re trying the right things and working as hard as possible, we’re OK. And the girls are out here working from the time they go in until the time they come out. I don’t have anything I would criticize, just mentally we need to be focused and play simple.”