WALES — It’s not often a coach and his charges will laugh after watching an opponent get a ball past their goalie.

Then again, it’s not often that an Oak Hill lacrosse team is far enough ahead of its counterpart from St. Dom’s that laughter is appropriate.

Sophomore Kyle Flaherty scored seven goals Caleb Provost added five more and Jon Averill chipped in with four as the Raiders continued their torrid start to the season Friday with a 17-5 win over the Saints, rendering Matt Dyer’s late-fourth-quarter score from distance on a funny hop nothing more than a laughable footnote to a game otherwise dominated by the home team.

“Obviously if it was a big goal, we might have gotten a bit discouraged,” Oak Hill coach Dan Brannigan said. “But at the time, all we could really do was laugh about it. Also, that made it the exact same score they beat us by last year, which was kind of nice.”

The way the Raiders have started the season has been no laughing matter. After a couple of games with what Brannigan called “slow starts,” Oak Hill has found its groove from beginning to end.

“The first two or three games of the season, we started off real sloppy, and that had us worried for a little bit,” Brannigan said. “Lincoln Academy, we got off to a real quick start, and that kind of fired us up.”

Part of the reason for the faster starts has been the emergence of Kyle Flaherty. As a freshman, Flaherty showed his skill, but was more passive, according to his coach. And teammates were equally reluctant to send the ball his way.

Now, there is no more second-guessing.

“We knew he had it in him,” Brannigan said, “but he didn’t want to be a ball-hog. This year, the attackmen said, ‘Look, we’re going to trust you, we’re going to give you more balls, we’re going to let you do a little more.’ And he’s developed a great relationship with (our goalie) on the clears, as well.”

Flaherty’s first of the game was the third of an opening-quarter flurry of scoring that put Oak Hill on top 4-0 four minutes into the contest. The Raiders added two more over the next six minutes, but the Saints started to claw their way back, getting as close as 6-3 with 2:01 to play in the first quarter before Brannigan called a timeout.

A strike from Averill in the final minute of the opening frame got Oak Hill back on track.

“We were just outmatched physically,” St. Dom’s coach Andy MacIsaac said. “Not to take anything away from their skill, because they’re obviously a skilled team, but they’re just so much bigger and faster, and that’s what it comes down to. I don’t we responded well to that.”

Flaherty took over to start the second quarter, ripping off six goals in nine minutes, a run broken up only by Provost’s second of the game on a feed from Averill.

“I’d say we have probably five or six guys we can rely on to score,” Brannigan said. “We have a couple more we kind of keep hidden, they don’t like the limelight, but when we need a goal they can dig down and get it, and that’s really nice to have.”

By halftime, Oak Hill enjoyed a 12-goal advantage. The Saints’ Grant Carrier netted his second of two on the game late in the third quarter, and Provost answered for the only other score of the frame as Oak Hill’s defense collapsed into the box and formed a tight perimeter around keeper Matty Martin.

St. Dom’s Nick Hatfield also had a pair of goals.

Provost added one more in the fourth, which St. Dom’s answered on the awkward hop off Matt Dyer’s stick that fooled Martin in slow motion, sending chuckles across both sidelines.

“I’m not going to lie, our first two starts had me worried,” Brannigan said, “but at the same time, our defense has just been shut-down. We haven’t had to worry about much back there because the defense is in the right position at all times.”