It looks like the La Salle boys’ soccer team will be extraordinarily tough to beat this season.

Unfortunately, Bishop Hendricken (8-2-3) found that out the hard way on Thursday night, surrendering three goals in each half en route to a 6-0 loss to the undefeated Rams.

And the Hawks were pushed back on their heels right away.

Just 11 seconds into the game, Stavros Zarokostas, the state’s leading scorer, used his speed to collect a loose ball as he cut across the middle and placed a left-footed shot by Hawks’ keeper Ryan Morel.

After that, though, Hendricken settled in.

Hawks’ defender Andrew Pimental marked Zarokostas for the rest of the half, keeping his chances to a minimum.

The next 25 minutes of play after the game-opening goal were played evenly.

“They scored early in the game, and then I felt like we got back in the game and had some opportunities, some chances,” Hendricken head coach Michael Rooney said.

The Hawks certainly had chances to even the score.

In the sixth minute, Chukwudi Onyejose crossed the ball into the box, finding an open Alex Appolonia, but his volley was sent over the net.

In the 18th minute, the Hawks earned a pair of corner kicks, but those chances fell by the wayside too.

It wasn’t until that 25th minute that La Salle was able to up its lead, with a foul being called on Pimental on a collision in the box, drawing a penalty kick.

“I couldn’t argue with the penalty, it was a penalty,” Rooney said. “That knocked the stuffing out of us a little bit.”

La Salle head coach Mario Pereira called on senior captain Victor Rey to take the kick, and he didn’t let the opportunity go to waste, as he buried a shot to the left corner of the goal to make it 2-0.

It looked as if the Hawks would escape the first half with just a two-goal deficit, but La Salle senior striker Alex DaCosta had other ideas, increasing his team’s lead to 3 in the 40th minute on an outstanding individual effort.

“That last one really hurt us,” Rooney said of DaCosta’s goal right before halftime. “If we could’ve come out of halftime down 2-0, then I think we might have had a chance.”

In the second half, a visibly deflated Hendricken team had a tough time generating opportunities, with La Salle dominating time of possession.

DaCosta would score twice more on senior night, tallying goals in the seventh and 12th minutes of the second half to complete his hat trick.

La Salle’s Abraham Vongkhamdy closed the scoring in the 17th minute, as the senior midfielder came off the bench to give his team a 6-0 lead.

Despite the loss, the Hawks are in a great spot in the standings, with the Rams handing them just their second loss of the season.

“Some positives came out of it, we were able to put some people in and I think they did a decent job,” Rooney said. “But the guys are very disappointed. Sometimes, you can learn a lot from a defeat such as this one.”

Hendricken will close out its season at Hope at 4 p.m. today before turning its attention to the playoffs.

Rooney knows that when the playoffs roll around, it’s a completely new season.

“We just told them that the playoffs will start, and it’s a four-game playoff,” Rooney said. “If we win four games, we are the state champion.”

The Hawks aren’t going to let the lopsided loss to La Salle diminish their confidence. After all, Hendricken will likely enter the Division I playoffs as the third seed.

“We’re having a great season, better than most people expected, and that’s always good,” Rooney said. “A new season starts with playoffs, it’s anybody’s game. It’s funny because I’ve been 6-6-7 and we won the state tournament, and I’ve been in a situation where we were 14-1 and we lost in the first round. It’s just a whole different ballgame when you get to the playoffs.”

Preliminary-round games for the boys’ soccer playoffs are set to begin on Wednesday. Times and matchups were unavailable at press time.