It’s already been one heck of a year for the Minooka boys soccer team, and it’s only just started.

Entering Tuesday afternoon’s road trip to Bolingbrook, the Indians had won every game they’d played in and often did so in dominant fashion.

That didn’t change on Tuesday.

Andrew Calderon scored two goals in the first half and Minooka continued its fantastic start with a 3-0 victory over a talented Raider squad.

“We’ve improved our intensity this year,” Calderon said. “Every game we strive to do better, come out with more speed and all. We did that well today, scored early and that paced the game for us.”

Minooka (9-0) got a hand from an impressive defense and keeper Nolan Skedel. The Indians have only allowed five goals on the season, three of which came in their Thursday victory over Joliet Central (when they scored six goals themselves). The offense has done its part, too, scoring multiple goals in all but two games.

What’s been nice for Minooka is that it’s not just one player getting it done. While Calderon has been the leading scorer, Ethan Koranda has scored eight goals this year while Brian Ngong has seven. It’s all added up to a remarkable turnaround season after the Indians went just 5-11-4 last year.

“Everybody has bought in and we have great senior leadership,” Minooka coach Nate Springs said. “Everyone has a role on the team, whether you’re a starter or a reserve and everyone understands that.

“We’re also a year older. We struggled to score last year and being a year older with more time in the weight room we’re able to score better and that’s made a difference.”

Bolingbrook (6-3-1) is no slouch either. The Raiders have had a strong year and coach Nick Trotter is one of the finest in the area at what he does. To earn a decisive win like Tuesday was a big statement.

“(Bolingbrook) is a tough place to play,” Springs said. “All the teams in the conference are challenging. Nick does a great job year in and year out and they’re always ready to play. Our guys were really resilient and coachable today.”

Calderon broke the scoreless draw with 12 minutes to go in the first half with his eighth goal of the season. He nearly picked up his ninth five minutes later with a header that was just barely off the mark.

He didn’t miss on his next chance, knocking it into the right corner of the goal with 2:12 left in the first half for his second goal and a 2-0 Minooka lead.

The pressure kicked up from Bolingbrook in the second half. Carlos Amezcua nearly had a goal in the 58th minute that was deflected by Skedel and an attempted rebound shot was deflected off a Minooka defender’s head.

Unfortunately for Bolingbrook and fortunately for the Indians, Minooka’s own attempt two minutes later didn’t miss. Cayle Bomstad managed to knock the ball in midway through the second half to extend the advantage to 3-0 which is how it stayed.

The Raiders had their own chances, with multiple shots on goal and particularly put the pressure on early in the second half. That relentlessness should benefit them as the year goes on.

Besides, Trotter felt Raiders would’ve been in a better position to win had they been a little more rested.

“We’ve just got to get our legs back,” Trotter said. “These guys have been working hard and had a heavy schedule the past week or so, especially with the BodyArmour Tournament. We would’ve liked to go at it with some fresher legs today so we couldn’t really deal with (Minooka). We just need to get some recovery in.”

Next up for the Raiders will be a Thursday road trip to Romeoville while Minooka will host Oswego the same day. Calderon said the key to keeping the victory streak going will be staying humble.

“We can’t get big heads,” Calderon said. “We have to take each game as its own without getting ahead of ourselves. The rankings are nothing to us.”