Tyler Ruby hopes Tuesday night’s performance is just the start of good things to come.

The Bonny Eagle senior forward netted four goals in a stretch of under 12 minutes in the first half to lead the Scots to a 4-0 SMAA boys soccer win over visiting Massabesic in Standish.

Bonny Eagle bounced back from a 2-0 loss to Windham in its season opener on Saturday to even its record at 1-1. The Mustangs dropped to 0-2.

“We were passing well,” Ruby said. “Our midfielders were possessing the ball. Our team was pretty solid. We were fundamentally sound today. We played a lot better than we did the past game. We played more like a team.”

Scots coach Alan Curtis saw better synergy on offense than he witnessed in the opener. Against Windham, he said the team tried to simply go over the top to Ruby. Against the Mustangs, it was a different story.

“We’ve always gone with just the one option, through and over the top to Ruby, but tonight we were connecting before that and combining with our midfielders,” Curtis said.

Ruby scored Bonny Eagle’s first goal of the season with 18:17 to go in the first half, blasting a rebound past Massabesic keeper Tyler Twombly. Less than five minutes later, with 13:35 to go before the break, Ruby broke in and beat Twombly once again. Fast forward a little over four minutes and it was Ruby completing the hat trick after beating a defender to get a clean look. Number four came with 6:55 left in the half when Ruby headed in a pretty cross from Dylan Carlson from the left side.

“It’s very satisfying to see Ruby score with his right foot, his left foot, his right foot again, then with a header at the end,” Curtis said. “It’s great to get a player like that in the game. He was really on his own when we played Windham on Saturday.”

The four-goal cushion gave Bonny Eagle plenty of breathing room in the second half.

Bonny Eagle had 12 of its 19 shots in the first half. Massabesic had a few solid scoring chances despite only tallying six shots. Scots keeper Lincoln Sanborn made four saves and had some help in preserving the shutout from defender Nick Walton, who cleared a Mustang scoring bid off the goal line late in the game.

While the Scots were clearly the superior team, Massabesic put up a good fight.

“I was telling the Massabesic coach, Sean Allaire, that he’s making big improvements,” Curtis said. “No longer are they just trying to kick the ball away. They’re defending by using their bodies. Balls are being played to the feet instead of everything over the top.”

Bonny Eagle is looking for a return to the playoffs this season and Ruby is confident the team can compete with the best in the league.

“I think we can play with any team in the SMAA,” he said.

With the first four-goal game of his varsity career now under his belt, Ruby said he’d like to repeat the performance against one of the conference powers.

“If I could do this against like Scarborough or one of the other top-notch teams, that would be pretty good,” he said, smiling.

Bonny Eagle’s Ryan Jordan (14) works to get past Massabesic’s Robbie Myers during Tuesday night’s boys soccer game in Standish.
Staff photo by Tom Minervino
Bonny Eagle’s Tyler Ruby beats a Massabesic defender and looks toward the net during Tuesday night’s boys soccer game in Standish. Ruby scored all four goals in his team’s 4-0 win.
Staff photo by Tom Minervino
Bonny Eagle’s Matheu McClure threads a pass through the legs of Massabesic’s Robbie Myers during Tuesday night’s boys soccer game in Standish.
Staff photo by Tom Minervino
Bonny Eagle’s Eliot Douin (right) and Massabesic’s Ian Wyman battle for possession of the ball near the end line during Tuesday night’s boys soccer game in Standish.
Staff photo by Tom Minervino
Bonny Eagle’s Chris Smith looks to take a shot during Tuesday night’s boys soccer game against Massabesic in Standish.
Staff photo by Tom Minervino