HAMILTON — Every player on every team needs some kind of a boost now and again. For Colin McLaughlin and his teammates on the Nottingham High varsity boys’ soccer team Friday was one of those days as the Northstars took on STEMCivics Charter in the rain. McLaughlin, a 6-foot-2 sophomore forward who is a swing player this season, got his first varsity start of the season yesterday and made the most of that chance by heading in Nottingham’s first goal 3:16 into the contest off a pass from senior Diego Ortiz Hernandez. That quick start led to even bigger things for all of head coach Nick Durante’s players, who rolled to an 8-0 victory over the Purple Lightning. The eight goals nearly doubled the Northstars’ total for the season (11). The win upped their record to 4-5, which is their most victories in five years. The clean sheet was Nottingham’s second of the week, the first coming Tuesday against West Windsor-Plainsboro High North in Colonial Valley Conference Valley Division play. “We came in motivated. Getting my first start definitely was a big boost,” said McLaughlin, who found out before the game he would open the game on the field. “When I scored, it got the momentum going. It was good to have that first goal under our belts.” Ewing-based STEMCivics, which plays in the Burlington County Scholastic League Independence Division, kept things close for the next 18 minutes before the Northstars went on a scoring tear over the final 19 minutes of the half. The home team found the back of the net six times in that flurry. Junior midfielder/forward Ridjeanno Peralte Valentin had two goals and three assists during that stretch. His classmate, Herbie Addo, tallied twice. Add in goals by junior Marcos Bautista Osorio and sophomore Nikolas Obermeier-Walker (which started the surge), and suddenly Nottingham was up, 7-0, at the half. Head coach Brett Pinnix’ Purple Lightning had one quality chance late in the first half when junior Jorge Tax Madrid took a free kick from the top of the box, only to see the Northstars’ senior first-half goalkeeper Valentino Vilchez Flores punch the ball over the crossbar. Part of that, however, may have been because junior leading scorer Maleek Gordon (eight goals) appeared to twist his knee while making a move on the slick grass with 16 minutes left in the first half. He was not able to return. Nottingham’s second-half ‘keeper Aidan Lipman, another senior, saw more action as the home team went to a deliberate passing game in the second half. Yet, despite playing a man up for the final 20 minutes, STEMCivics saw its best chance of that half hit the cross and bound away just before the game was called. “They had more attacking than we did,” said Purple Lightning senior Luis Perez, who had that last shot for the visitors. “We need to work on our defense, our communication and our teamwork. We definitely can do more. We can do much better.” While they may not have shown it Friday, the Northstars, who added one more score with 12:34 left when junior back Andres Menendez converted a pass from senior Jose Sanic, have been there. “There’ve been some tough games, so, for sure, this will help us,” McLaughlin said. Through continued hard work, a boost will materialize. STEMCivicsCharter(1-8)           0   0    —    0 Nottingham (4-5)                       7   1    —    8 Goals: McLaughlin, Obermeier-Walker, Addo 2, Peralte Valentin 2, Bautista Osorio, Menendez (N); Assists: Ortiz Hernandez, Peralte Valentin 3, Lopez, Bracero, Menendez, Sanic (N). Shots: 7 (SCC), 11 (N); Saves: Salinas 2 (SCC), Vilchez Flores 2, Lipman 4 (N).