REDMOND — Senior Jacquie Flores was excited about the potential for the Bend High girls soccer team coming into this season. Although the Lava Bears missed the postseason last year, they saw their win total improve under first-year coach Scott Sagar.

Sure the Lava Bears would be short on seniors — only two on their roster — but they had talent returning and a strong freshman class entering the fold.

“We anticipated having a strong team and being able to build up our program,” Flores said. “We knew who was coming in. I had a feeling we would be pretty strong this year.”

For a team with more freshmen (four) on its roster than seniors, the youthful Bend squad has thrived in the first half of the season, winning seven of its eight matches. Should the Lava Bears get another win this season, they will have the same amount of wins they had the previous two seasons combined.

“The girls are doing well,” Sagar said. “Their unity is infectious. What they are able to do on the field with the different positions that I am putting them in has been fun to watch.”

Bend (7-1 overall, 3-1 IMC) picked up a 4-0 Intermountain Conference win over Ridgeview (1-6-2, 0-4) Tuesday evening with four different goal scorers — three of them freshmen or sophomores.

Goals came early and often for the Lava Bears against the Ravens. In the third minute, Flores tapped in a ball off a cross from junior Charlotte Martin. Nine minutes later, a ball ping-ponging in the 18-yard box found its way to sophomore Piper Abrams, who buried the ball in the back of the net. In the 31st minute, Shea Manfredi went top shelf from the top of the 18-yard box to put the Lava Bears up 3-0 before halftime.

“We’ve worked a lot on one- and two-touch passing,” Manfredi said. “That has opened up a lot of opportunities for open shots.”

The second half started with an early goal from freshman Paige Langer for the match’s final goal. In all but one match this season the Lava Bears have eclipsed three goals. Freshman goalkeeper Brooklyn Mettler and the Bend backline helped preserve the fourth shutout of the season.

Sagar said he has asked a lot of his players, having them play multiple roles. But the positional versatility has been the Lava Bears’ strength this season.

“It has been fun this year,” Sagar said. “We can have anyone come off the bench and play well. And there are players out there playing multiple positions and doing different jobs. Everyone has figured it is two-versus-two and we can build our attacks from there.”

Thus far this season, the Lava Bears, despite their youth, have proven to be a dangerous team. They are doing what good teams should do when they have the talent advantage.

“I think we are growing together,” Sagar said. “And that unity is overlapping itself now.”

Sagar admitted he didn’t quite see the hot start to the season coming. The nonleague schedule proved to not be as challenging as expected.

The Lava Bears outclassed their four nonleague opponents, outscoring them 24-1. In its three IMC wins this season, Bend has outscored its opponents 14-3. A 1-0 loss to a talented and experienced Caldera squad is the only blemish on the Lava Bears’ record. The Lava Bears weren’t quite as prepared against the defending IMC champions, who have made deep playoff runs the past two seasons.

But that loss against one of the top Class 5A teams proved to be valuable.

“It was one of the consequences of privilege because we started out with teams from the far-out areas that weren’t as competitive as the ones we were going to meet,” Sagar said. “Caldera was our first 80-minute match against a decent program. The consequence of the privilege is we weren’t ready for (Caldera’s) speed. But it was a privilege because we were able to form our unity and our family.”

The Lava Bears will face another challenging test when they play at Summit, the last remaining undefeated IMC team, on Saturday. Ridgeview will take on cross-town rival Redmond on Friday.