AUBURN – The Oxford Hills girls’ soccer team hopes Thursday is a sign of good things to come.

After an agonizing start to the season, the Vikings produced a solid 3-0 victory over Edward Little.

“It’s a really big win because we needed some confidence after losing the first three games,” said Viking forward Terry Bunce. “We’re a really good team, and we just need to prove that we’re a really good team to everyone else.”

The Vikings (2-3) had never beaten EL but used a solid defensive game to help keeper Samantha Rivers earn the first shutout of the season. Bunce had three goals to lead the offense that outshot the Red Eddies 14-4.

“We’ve never beaten EL,” said Oxford Hills coach Kyle Morey, whose team opened the season with a couple of hard-fought losses. “It’s a huge, huge win. We’ve tied them quite a few times but never beaten them.”

The Vikings scored just 3:02 into the game and EL (2-4) struggled to comeback. EL stayed within reach through the first half but were outshot 10-1 in the second half.

“This week has been a very tough week for us,” said EL coach Val Brown, whose team played well in a 2-2 start. “We’ve had some missing marks in back. Two of the three goals were scored because of wide open shots. We left Terry Bunce unmarked, and you can’t do that with Terry Bunce.”

On the first shot of the game, Bunce converted a Kari Pelletier pass for the quick lead.

“As soon as they scored the first goal, our intensity just dropped,” said Brown. “Oxford Hills played very well. Kyle had his kids ready to go.”

EL got a couple of shots from Alice Read but didn’t have the ball movement that Oxford Hills did. Whitney Linindoll helped control the midfield while Pelletier and Bunce made things happen up front.

“She solidifies our midfield and distributes the ball extremely well, and can get up in the attack,” said Morey of Linindoll, who was switched from striker to midfield after the first game of the year. “She wins us all the 50-50 balls and makes us strong.”

Early in the second half, Katelyn St. Hilaire put a long shot on net, but it was the only offensive output EL produced. Moments later, Bunce made it 2-0. She picked up a loose ball after a Pelletier chance and scored at 7:20.

“Me, Whitney and Kari have been playing travel team soccer together since like the fourth grade,” said Bunce. “We’re pretty fortunate that we’ve got a team full of skilled players. There’s not one person that stands out ahead of everyone else.”

With 27:06 left in the game, Bunce added her third of the game. She put in a rebound for her fifth goal in the last two outings.

“After last game and this game, our team is definitely headed in the right direction,” said Bunce.