BIRMINGHAM >> The host Birmingham Seaholm Maples found the range early and rolled to a 5-0 win over the Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Eaglets Friday night.

The Maples got on the board with 23:22 when Taylor Hartwig rifled home a penalty kick to make it 1-0 Seaholm. Seaholm then got hot and added three more goals to end the half — one each by Camryn Geller, Brynlee Pratt, and Samantha Sickenger — build a 4-0 halftime lead. At that point, the Maples had dominated possession but had six shots on goal.

Seaholm added another goal early in the second half when Avery Schwartz blasted in a free kick from the right side less than three minutes after halftime.

“We’re on a pretty good roll right now. We’re starting to understand the formation we’re playing, and we’re playing to our strengths, which is our speed up front, rotating the ball around, being patient, and then when it’s time to go — we go. And with our speed it’s tough on defenders out wide or up the middle,” Maples head coach Manuel Rodrigues said.

The Maples dominated possession, especially in the first half against an Eaglets squad that was a bit banged up and missing some key cogs. Still, the St. Mary’s defense, anchored by Bella Raynish held tough for the most part and allowed few quality scoring chances to the Maples. But seemingly every good chance they did allow was cashed in by Seaholm.

Overall, the Eaglets played much better in the second half, and goalie Kaylee Morton stepped in off the bench to slam the door the rest of the way, making four saves. But for the most part, the Eaglets never really got their attack going.

“I think collectively the second half we had a lot better attitude, a lot better work rate,” Eaglets head coach Keith Jefferey said. “It was good to get the bench in. There is a lot we can learn from it. Part of winning is losing. We’ll break it down, go over it., and we’ve got a big game Tuesday against Greenhills.

The win is the third straight for Maples (4-4-2) who are unbeaten in their last four games, dating back to a 1-1 draw against Bloomfield Hills last week.

The Maples will put their winning streak on the line next Tuesday when they return to league action against Royal Oak in an OAA White battle.

“The girls are starting to believe that we can play with anybody. Our results are a little funky, but we’ve played well against the better teams, and that’s the key, especially moving into districts in a month,” Rodrigues said. “We’re moving in the right direction. The girls are really having a good time. Winning does that,” he added.

The loss snaps a six game winning streak for Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, who falls to 7-2-1 overall.

The Eaglets will try to regroup and start another winning streak on Tuesday when they travel to Ann Arbor Greenhills in Catholic League play.

“It (Seaholm) is a good team. It’s a quality squad all around,” Jeffery said. “It’s games like this that you schedule to get yourself better. We’re only going to get better from it.”