Southwestern’s Oliver Hagel, right, shoots on the Dunkirk net while the Marauders’ Bryson Travis (30) looks on during Monday’s West Division soccer game at the Fran Sirianni Athletic Complex. P-J photo by Jay Young

Given everything that has transpired over the past several months, the Southwestern boys soccer team and head coach Jason Deering were happy just to be back on the turf at the Fran Sirianni Athletic Complex on Monday evening.

Of course, it didn’t hurt that the Trojans exploded on offense in their first game of the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association West Division season, to the tune of an 11-0 defeat of visiting Dunkirk.

“I’m just happy we are on the field. Every day, every day we are just lucky to be on the field,” Deering said after the win. “I think we are about where we want to be. We are playing with a new formation, so that is kind of interesting. It looks like it worked out pretty well for us tonight. The guys like it, it looks fun for them.”

The Trojans have returned a core of offensive talent for the 2020 season that includes standouts like junior Spencer Kane, senior Drew Keppel, senior Max Vaughn and junior McKay Young.

Kane would lead the way forward for that group with a three-goal effort; Vaughn notched a goal and four assists; and Young picked up a pair of goals while playing his patented style of pressure-heavy striking.

Southwestern’s McKay Young and Dunkirk’s Bryson Travis battle for possession during Monday’s West Division soccer game at the Fran Sirianni Athletic Complex. P-J photo by Jay Young

Add in some role players and a solid defensive back-end, Southwestern should present a challenge to every opponent this year.

“McKay is only a junior, and that is fantastic thing for this team. Our leadership right now this year has been fantastic,” Deering said. “We have four captains this year and I did that because I thought we needed more leadership through this whole COVID situation. They have been absolutely fantastic and I think that has a lot to do with where we are at already this year. It has been tough. We’ve had a decent amount of practices at this point. I think 11 practices, something like that. We’ve been able to put some work into it. We want to stay safe so we have been practicing with masks up for the most part. That has been very difficult. It is a pain in the butt, but we have to do it.”

In the fourth minute of play, Southwestern would get on the board with Vaughn feeding Kane in close for a quick finish on the left side. Despite sustained pressure from the Trojans after their first goal, Dunkirk’s defense would hold strong for much of the first half until the clock showed 14:52.

With a loose ball up for grabs near the 6-yard box, Andrew Lindell would weave through defenders and finish off a quick tap-in to make it 2-0.

That second tally would open the floodgates for the hosts, as Young belted in a deep shot from 25 yards out shortly after, Oliver Hagel tucked in a low rolling shot off the right post and Neves Hoose finished off a rebound on a crossing ball by Vaughn to make it 5-0 leading into the half.

Nolan Froah would make it 7-0 with a volley inside the left post 12 minutes into the second, after which Lindell fed Vaughn with a nice crossing ball for his second of the night with 27 minutes remaining.

Young, Miracle Berakah and Kane would score in succession down the home stretch to complete the offensive salvo.

Southwestern will see a mix of old and new faces in the West Division this season, including the Jamestown Red Raiders and old foe Allegany-Limestone.

“Jamestown is an improving team over the last couple of years,” Deering said. “I know they are going to give us some fits. Allegany Limestone is Allegany Limestone, they’re going to give us some fits. I think Olean will, I think Fredonia will be up there. It should be a competitive league schedule for the most part.”

First up on that list is the Gators, who will host Southwestern on Friday at 6 p.m.