Midway through the second half of York Catholic's District 3 first-round playoff game with Halifax, eight Irish players crouched in front of the scorer's table.

York Catholic coach Milner Sosa's club was in such command that he had the luxury of resting his regulars and playing the final 20 minutes with his backups.

The Irish second stringers continued to suffocate the Wildcat offense on their way to a 6-2 opening-round rout.

"It was good to get everybody in the game," Sosa said. "They showed some good soccer. They want to win and they're looking forward to the next game."

It didn't take long for York Catholic (11-5) to exert its will on the fifth-place team from Section II of the Schuylkill League.

The fourth-seeded Irish claimed a two-goal lead less than 11 minutes into the contest thanks to goals by a pair of freshmen -- Josiah Schendel and Chris Sosa.

After an Irish own-goal put Halifax (9-8-2) on the board, York Catholic closed the half with a flurry of goals by Dominic Colombo, Joe Schraf and Adam Papparotto in a 10-minute span to take a four-goal lead at the break.

Schendel attributed his team's offensive outburst to a combination of not knowing what to expect from Halifax and exploiting the Wildcats' defensive lapses.

"You've got to come out with your best because you never know what you're going to play against," Schendel said. "And our coaching staff is great, they pointed out the weaknesses, so we knew where to go with the

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ball.

"We used quick switches. Switch the field, and it's wide open. We controlled the ball, not just kick and run."

Schendel added another goal in the second half when he fired a rocket shot from 25-yards out. The freshman midfielder also added an assist to lead all scorers.

But while the offense filled the scoreboard, Sosa attributed his team's success to his defense.

Halifax's two goals came off deflections, and the Irish held the Wildcats to four shots and few scoring opportunities

"My midfield is very strong so they had no chance to go through it," Sosa said. "The midfield controlled the game so the offensive guys could not get the ball. That's why we shut them down today."

Sosa said his midfield has been the key to his team's surprising success.

With only two senior starters, and six on the roster, Sosa said he wasn't sure what to expect from his unproven squad.

But after 11 wins he said his underclassmen -- who accounted for four goals against Halifax -- have learned how to play well with each other and exploit opposing weaknesses.

Now Sosa's youthful team finds itself in the district quarterfinals where the Irish will face the Christian School of York on Saturday at a site and time to be determined.

And to think, he said he expected a down year for the Irish..

"This was a rebuilding season for us and just to be in districts for us already was a plus," Sosa said. "Everything else now is just icing on the cake."