BUCKFIELD – With 20 minutes gone in their game, Rangeley’s forward line and coach could not believe officials had just penalized the team for being offside for the eighth time.

“That’s the most convincing trap we see,” said Rangeley coach Chip Smith. “That’s (Buckfield’s) weapon. They play a great trap and try to keep teams frustrated. We were frustrated for a while.”

When the Lakers finally did solve the Bucks’ defensive trap, the ball seemed attracted to the net like a magnet.

Three different Lakers scored in a 1:13 span of the first half to put the game out of reach, and two other Rangeley forwards added insurance markers in the second to lift their team to a 5-2 win over the Bucks in an East-West Conference boys’ soccer showdown Wednesday.

“That happens to us a lot; our team is slow learning the other teams’ defenses,” said forward David Raymond. “It takes us a while to get used to it.”

“Any shot from inside the 18 from those kids was going to go into the net,” said Buckfield coach John Trenoweth. “They’re that good on the ball.”

Steven Van Soeren converted a long throw-in from Raymond in the 22nd minute to put the Lakers (2-2) ahead by one. Luke Hammond finished a perfect 2-on-1 less than a minute later to double the lead, and Raymond’s long toss again sparked a goal in the 23rd minute, this time off the foot of Sean Fay.

“I’ve been doing those since I was in, like, sixth grade or something,” said Raymond. “It was natural. I launched it once, and I’ve been doing it ever since.”

“They left the goal wide open,” Fay said of his goal. “It was easy once I got the ball off the throw.”

Down by three, Buckfield seemed to momentarily back off the ball.

“I think we dropped our heads for a quick second after they got the first one,” said Trenoweth. “Communication went completely flat.”

Daven Sargent and Alex Rodway each added a goal in the second half to push the Lakers’ lead to 5-0.

“I’m playing with my future right now, too,” said Smith. “I have three seniors that start, and that leaves eight others who’ll be back. I got to show even more of that today.”

Buckfield (1-3) got on the board later in the half. John Conden buried the first of his two goals on a tap-pass from Cy Wilkinson in the 26th minute, and added his second 33 seconds later after booting the ball past fallen Rangeley netminder Kent Madera.