Freddy Jimenez scored five goals to help lead Washington to an 8-1 win over Beddingfield in its final game of the regular season. The offensive explosion gives the Pam Pack confidence and momentum as they prepare for the playoffs.

Time quietly passed for the first 15 minutes until Washington broke through. Rob Zerniak crossed the ball in from the right side right onto the head of Kyle Hodges. The Pam Pack offense quickly gathered steam after that. Jimenez doubled the advantage when he dribbled down the middle, put the ball on his right foot and drilled it past the Beddingfield keeper.

The senior stud extended Washington’s lead to 3-0 with a dazzling goal in the 26th minute. He got a touch in the box and was able to beat any defender that marked him.

“He had a good afternoon,” said coach Jim Kozuch. “He’s got a ton of skill. He’s got a great knack to finish. They left a lot of openings in the middle. He saw it and took the opportunity to finish.”

Creating chances through the middle wasn’t the only way the Pam Pack attacked. Their intelligence on the field is explicit in the way they’re able to exploit any shortcoming made by the opposition’s defense.

“We’ve got a lot of IQ in the midfield,” Kozuch said. “We’ve got a good core there. Of our forwards, Kyle Hodges is probably one of the fastest guys around. He’s very hard to mark. With him and Rob up top, too, it’s a tough one-two combination. When our midfield is playing best and they’re feeding balls to those guys, we can be dangerous.

“Kyle’s deadly up top. That’s a great feature to have. If anything is on the ground, Freddy can volley it from the midfield. It’s tough … You can’t man mark three guys. They’ve got to play some type of zone. It’s given a lot of challenge to a lot of teams this year.”

The Pam Pack built a 5-0 lead by halftime thanks to two goals in the last moments before the whistle. Arturo Leal converted on a penalty kick by simply nudging it right down the middle. Jimenez punctuated the first-half scoring by completing his hat trick with a goal from the right side.

Greyson Schmitt was able to beat the aggressive Bruin netminder for an easy goal in the 50th minute. Beddingfield finally found its way onto the scoreboard five minutes later, but Jimenez scored twice more — including a rare header — to put the visitors away for good.

Starting the latter half with a five-goal lead gave Washington the chance to delve into its bench. Some of the squad’s younger players got to play valuable minutes and the starters were afforded some rest.

“We’ve got pretty good depth,” Kozuch said. “We’ve got better depth than we’ve had in the past. We’ve got a lot of options defensively. We’ve got a good couple of options up top, as well. Hopefully, if need be, we’ll rotate a little bit and keep some fresh legs in playoff time.”

The experience within this senior-laden Pam Pack club will prove advantageous once the postseason is underway. They have put years into this program and can provide the leadership needed for a successful run.

“This is the most seniors I’ve ever had,” Kozuch said. “When you’ve had the senior leadership and all these guys that have been part of the program, everyone of them is invested. Every game mattered this year and they played like it. Having that leadership is just great.”

There’s no reason to think that changes as Washington strives for a championship. The Pam Pack won’t overlook any opponent along the way. However, a possible rematch with First Flight does light a fire under the team. The Nighthawks handed the Pam Pack their only loss of the season — a 4-2 decision in Kill Devil Hills on Sept. 16.

“That’s our loss this year,” Kozuch said. “Our goal is to try to play them again … We think that we can give them a better game than we did last time.”