APEX - Middle Creek scored six quick goals in the opening six minutes to pace the Mustangs to an 18-8 victory over visiting Cary Friday night in girls lacrosse.

It was the second win of the year for Middle Creek (2-4) and it avenged a season-opening 13-10 loss at Cary.

“We’ve let our offense start to run and we’ve been really working on our passing, and it came together today,” Middle Creek coach Rosemarie Picirrillo said.

Freshman Holly Hite had four of the first six goals that opened an early 6-2 lead for the Mustangs. Hite finished with seven goals and three assists in the game.

“We had players step up tonight. Holly Hite, Sarah McGlynn, Caitlin Duffy all kind of came together and found each other on the field, and it kind of went from there,” Picirrillo added.

The trio accounted for 12 goals and five assists for the Mustangs.

Middle Creek built an 8-2 lead two-thirds into the first half. The Mustangs controlled possession in the Cary zone for most of the half.

Cary (2-5) finally broke out with just over four minutes left in the half on a fast-break goal by Sarah Hoyek to trail 8-3. Two minutes later, Hoyek added another to halve the deficit as the teams entered the break.

Any chance of a Cary comeback was quickly snuffed out again by the quick-strike offense of Middle Creek.

The Mustangs scored three fast goals in the first four minutes of the second half to go ahead 11-4. Chase McConnachie notched her first of the game on an assist from Hite. Then Hite quickly added two more goals. Cary struggled to keep up with Hite for most of the game.

“That No. 10 (Hite), yeah, she’s got some wheels,” Cary coach Sheila Rom said.

Middle Creek continued to build on its lead adding two more goals before Cary was able to answer midway through the second half on a goal by Shelley Warner to trail 13-5.

The change in offense for Middle Creek may have come from a change at the face off. Picirrillo had Sydney Smith take the draws for the first time this season and the results paid instant dividends. Smith, with a basketball background, used her height to her advantage to win the face offs.

“We’ve been struggling on our draws, so the change just worked way to our advantage. She’s just really clearing the ball out and we’re getting to the goal fast,” Picirrillo said.

Cary snuck in an extra score by Arielle Patra, her second goal in the brief exchange, to trail 15-8 with just over eight minutes remaining. Middle Creek however was able to control the ball and the tempo to quell any Cary comeback. The Mustangs tallied the next three goals to complete the scoring.

For Cary, it was a difficult loss after previously going through a gauntlet of tough team. The Imps’ last three opponents were Panther Creek, Apex and Green Hope. Cary was outscored 48-6 in the three games.

“I was hoping to see a little more mental toughness than what we showed today,” Rom said, but acknowledged the previous trio of tough games left her team a little mentally defeated.

“I’m hoping next week we can bounce back next week and get into our groove,” she added.