PALMYRA — Greencastle-Antrim’s first appearance in the District 3 boys soccer tournament in four years was ended quickly by a strong team from Palmyra.

Chase Davidson

The No. 3-seeded Cougars took a while to get it going, but scored six goals in the final 25 minutes of the first half and captured an 8-1 victory over the Blue Devils in a Class 3A first-round game on Monday night.

Greencastle, which ended the season 12-6, did make Palmyra (17-2-1) sweat early. In the fifth minute, Chase Davidson scored a goal for G-A, assisted by Mitch Lagoe, to give his team a 1-0 advantage.

But then came the six-goal outburst by Palmyra before the half.

“I am proud of the boys for coming out and grabbing the lead off of a set play in this game.” G-A coach Aric Bruner said. “Palmyra is a very talented team (they have beaten both the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in 3A) and their talent level showed the rest of the game.”

Goalkeeper Ethan Ford made 10 saves for the Blue Devils.

Bruner said, “I’m hoping this game can motivate our boys in the offseason and that our big group of juniors can raise their level of play to match what we saw tonight. Regardless of tonight’s outcome, this group had a tremendous season and can hold their heads high for all that they achieved.”

Lagoe and Caleb Baine each finished with seven goals for Greencastle this season, and Davidson had six.

Palmyra will face No. 6 Conrad Weiser (16-2-2), which beat Donegal 2-1 in OT, in the quarterfinals on Thursday.