Chalk it up to looking too deep into the records or to simply not being quite ready after an emotional game last week, but the Pilgrim girls’ soccer team came out slow in Monday’s game against winless Warwick Vets.

Five minutes into the game, the ’Canes’ Kat Raposo took a pass from Karinne Medeiros and fired a shot past Pilgrim keeper Hannah Page to put her team up 1-0.

Unfortunately for Vets, the goal woke up the Pats. Six goals over the next 23 minutes later, the game was well out of reach, as Pilgrim rebounded from the early misstep to cruise to a 7-1 win over one of its city rivals.

“It’s very rare to see a team score first and then rip off that many unanswered,” said Pilgrim head coach Tom Flanders. “We have a tendency to start slow. We have a tendency to react rather than go out. We’ve got to work on that. We got caught off guard, and they were ready for us.”

Pilgrim improved to 7-2-2 and leads Division II-Central with 23 points. It overtook now-second place Toll Gate with the victory. The Pats have the fourth-best record in D-II.

Vets fell to 0-9-1, as it is still searching for that elusive first win of the season.

“We’re still playing East Providence and Tiverton twice,” said Vets head coach Keith Randall. “I’m really hoping to pull off some serious wins there.”

Both East Providence and Tiverton are also winless. The ’Canes were scheduled to be at EP Wednesday, with results unavailable at press time.

Pilgrim was just too tough of a task for the ’Canes.

Kendra Tantimonico scored the first two goals for the Pats, in the 11th and 17th minutes, while Emma Manosh scored the third one in the 21st minute. Katelyn Vieira followed those three up with three straight of her own, finding the back of the net in the 22nd, 27th and 28th minutes.

The Pats’ seventh goal came in the 79th minute when Vieira slipped a pass to Molly Lynch, who easily converted in front of the net. Vieira ended the game with two assists and Tantimonico had two as well. Lynch, Manosh and Hannah Johnson all had one.

While Vieira has done the bulk of the scoring this season for Pilgrim – she’s the state’s leading scorer – Monday’s game flashed the team’s depth. Four players scored, and seven have scored on the season.

“There’s really some talented players on our team,” Flanders said. “Kids that are finding the net are being more comfortable in that role.”

In the second half, Pilgrim emptied its bench and was able to get a lot of its junior varsity players and varsity subs in the game. They still held their own, winning the final 40 minutes by a 1-0 score.

“We really have some talented freshmen,” Flanders said. “It’s nice when we get them in there and have them play to their potential and do great things.”

Vets was pleased with its second half as well, as it held much more possession and was able to put a few shots on Page, who finished the game with three saves. Vets’ Kendra Howard made eight saves.

“They make good runs, they make good crosses, it’s just those final touches in front of the net,” said Vets assistant coach Jocelyn DeSisto. “That’s been our biggest thing all season. We can get it there, it’s just the last touch going into the net.”

And the ’Canes know there is potential for good times on the horizon. With four total games against East Providence and Tiverton, they’ll have every chance to pick up a victory.

Pilgrim, meanwhile, will keep working toward the playoffs. It is at Tiverton today at 7 p.m., hosts East Providence Friday at 5:15 p.m., then hosts Tiverton again Tuesday.

After that it’s another showdown with Toll Gate next Thursday.

“I do like our chances against other teams,” Flanders said. “I’m very confident in this club. This is probably the most confident I’ve felt as a coach in a long time.”