MARCELLUS — Lake Michigan Catholic put an end to the Cassopolis soccer season Wednesday with an 8-0 mercy rule conquest in the Division 4 District played at Marcellus High School.

It was a blustery, cold and windy evening and most of the Rangers were playing in their regular T-shirt and short jerseys.

“Weather played the biggest part when our kids didn’t dress adequately enough,” Cassopolis coach Tony Catanzarite said. “The weather didn’t seem to bother LMC, so that excuse doesn’t work.”

It took the Lakers just over 10 minutes to dent the net behind Cass (19-3) goal keeper Kelvin Curtis as sophomore Matthew Sila switched feet to maneuver the ball near the penalty kick spot before firing a shot.

Both teams were coming off shutouts in the first round as LMC (2-17-2) blanked New Buffalo 1-0 and the Rangers kept Michigan Lutheran scoreless in a 3-0 victory two days earlier.

Twin seniors Giannarco and Nicole Cariello combined for a trio of tallies though within a 75 second span to give the Lakers an advantage at 4-0 with 23:34 left to play in the first half, with no more scoring occurring before the intermission buzzer.

“Our defense has been top notch and strong all year with 15 shut outs as we have had trouble scoring all year,” LMC coach Shawn Beach said. “The twins are great with handling the ball and are speaking English much better after transferring from Italy a couple years ago when their father started work for Whirlpool here.”

Senior Lukas Visin has been in net for all but one of the shut outs for the Lakers and had one save in three attempts against Cass, with the junior Curtis being fired on 16 times with three knock away shots.

“They attacked us, but not sure if we were overconfident after winning earlier in the week as it was a let down that we didn’t play like we are capable,” Catanzarite said. “Kelvin (Curtis) had to learn the hard way on what to wear in rainy and cold weather.”

A couple nice moves by freshman Daniel McEachen of LMC resulted in the next pair of goals to increase the lead to 6-0 with 18:19 showing on the clock.

“We emphasized putting shots on net and good things will happen and we want nothing more than to win this district,” Beach said.

It was 7:07 left on the scoreboard when LMC junior Stephen Hanley finished the Ranger season after an assist from senior Joshua Zilke.

“The kids always battled and really liked the tenacity of our younger guys by working hard,” Catanzarite said. “I am proud to be their coach and couldn’t ask for more as far as the togetherness they show.”

Division 4 Soccer

At Marcellus

Halftime score

LMC 4, Cassopolis 0

First Half

LMC – Matthew Sila 11th minute

LMC – Giannarco Cariello 16th minute (Connor Roxten assist)

LMC – Cariello 17th minute

LMC – Nicole Cariello 17th minute

Shots: Cassopolis 3, Lake Michigan Catholic 16

Saves: Kelvin Curtis (C) 3, Lukas Visin (LMC) 1

Corner kicks: Cassopols 0, Lake Michigan Catholic 7

Second Half

LMC – Daniel McEachen 51st minute

LMC – McEachen 62nd minute

LMC – Daniel Hernandez 71st minute

LMC – Stephen Hanley 73rd minute (Joshua Zilke assist)

Shots: Cassopolis 4 (7), Lake Michigan Catholic 14 (30)

Saves: Curtis (C) 5 (8), Visin 2 (3)

Corner kicks: Cassopolis 1 (1), Lake Michigan Catholic 0 (7)

Varsity records

Cassopolis  2-17-2,   Lake Michigan Catholic  19-3