With the way the boys soccer match started Wednesday night, there’s no way anyone could imagine exactly how it would end up at Dutch Meyer Field in Central Point.

Crater pounced on an early opportunity to score inside the first minute of the match and held a 2-0 lead over visiting Phoenix at intermission.

Then a switch flipped, and the Pirates could seemingly do no wrong.

Phoenix went on a scoring tear in the second half, posting six unanswered goals to cruise past the Comets for a 6-2 nonconference victory.

“It took a little bit to get the motors going,” said Phoenix head coach Chris Gallegos, “but we kind of turned it on when we needed to and did well at the end of it.”

Crater (0-3) was crisp and efficient from the opening kick, earning a corner kick before anyone could really settle in that was deftly directed inside the far post on a header by Tochli Gomez.

As maybe a sign of what would be to come later, Phoenix did follow up with a pair of quality shots toward the post that required diving saves by Crater goalkeeper Owen Prince.

Still, when Talon Edmunds scored in the 38th minute, the Comets built a 2-0 lead at halftime and seemed well on their way to a first victory of the fall.

“They put us on our heels and we were scrambling and trying to figure it out,” said Gallegos. “It wasn’t good.”

“We had some miscues in the first half,” he added. “We’re kind of this team right now where we’re trying to find our identity. We made a few adjustments for the second half and they came alive.”

While Gallegos offered up a few calculated changes for the final 40 minutes, he said the real difference came from the players themselves. The halftime talk involved taking more ownership in play and rising to their true potential, and the Pirates (3-0-1) took that to heart.

“They stepped up, listened well and did what they needed to do front to back,” said Gallegos. “Everybody just said, ‘OK, we’re done with this,’ and they just took over.”

Senior midfielder Hector Ramos showed off his playmaking abilities by setting up goals in the 51st and 55th minutes to level the score, with Ahvin Olson scoring off a deflection initially and then Victor Peral taking a through ball and depositing it into the net.

In the 64th minute, Peral sent a through ball to David Hernandez, who scored to make it 3-2 in favor of the Pirates, and then Hernandez scored again following a through ball from Yerial Ortiz to really give rise to Phoenix’s newfound hold on the match.

“They just started to go, go, go, and started reading the game,” said Gallegos. “We just cranked it up in the second half and then they started getting that flow and playing like we’ve been training. They came alive, all credit to the boys.”

Ramos scored off an assist from Peral in the 70th minute, and Peral closed the scoring in the 73rd minute to cap the scoring blitz.

Even still, Phoenix had another header sail just over the crossbar in the final seconds — showing how full throttle the Pirates were willing to be after taking a step back at halftime.

“I love this group, they’re a great group,” said Gallegos. “It’s a really family-oriented type group. They want it and they’re willing to work — they’ve been working hard all summer — and we’ve just got to get a few things sorted out.”

“We’re on the up and we just keep building and building,” added the coach. “I thought for them to come back in the second half the way they did, that’s kind of what you’re looking for as a coach. I couldn’t ask for a better second half.”