Just when it appeared the Athens Drive boys’ lacrosse team had found some momentum and confidence Friday night against Cary, the Imps were quick to deflate the Jaguars’ hopes.

Led by a five-goal performance from Bryan Ulma, Cary cruised to a 14-2 win over the visiting Jaguars.

Trailing 3-0 late in the first quarter, Athens called a quick timeout with 2:55 left in the period. The Jags came out of the break with a sense of urgency and scored to cut the Imps’ lead to 3-1 with a little more than two minutes remaining.

But just as the Jaguars started to make strides, the Imps answered. Cary went on a 3-0 run to end the half and essentially put the game out of reach.

“I think in the beginning, we knew we wanted to come out strong,” Ulma said. “Before the game even started, we knew we wanted to take control.”

Conversely, the Jaguars lost any sense of control or momentum as the game wore on.

“They outhustled us, they had more desire to win,” said Athens coach Brian Yerger. “You would think you’d be pumped [after scoring a goal]. But they almost acted like we got scored on. That aspect has been frustrating this year.”

And the frustration continued for the Jags in the second half, as Cary piled on the offense even more.

The Imps added eight more goals in the second half, including three from Ulma. The Jags would score again late in the third quarter, but by then, the game was far out of reach as Cary had a solid 10-2 lead.

“Mostly, we were just patient on offense,” Cary coach Bob Cappelletti said. “We executed and we know what to do.”

And spread the ball around.

Five different Imps scored, including Sam Carter and Ryan Bathurst, who each added three goals.

“It’s all about the teamwork. A great deal of our communication comes from our coaching,” Ulma said. “[Cappelletti] gives so much of his time to us, we feel we need to come out and do our best.”

And apparently, Cappelletti has noticed. He praised the team, which graduated 18 seniors from a year ago, for grinding it out on the practice field, something that has translated over to the games.

“The reason the team is doing what it’s doing is because they win the practice battle,” Cappelletti said. “They’re good athletes and they work their butts off.”