Junior Miles Polacheck has three goals in four matches, and Lakota East boys soccer sits at 2-1-1 after a busy opening stretch that included a weather-shortened draw, a comeback road win and a narrow home loss.

The Thunderhawks opened their season at Lebanon, where lightning forced an early stoppage and the match ended in a 0-0 draw. East regrouped quickly.

Traveling to Little Miami for their second match, the Hawks earned their first win of the season, 3-2. Polacheck netted two goals and Lanjo added the third, according to the Springfield News-Sun's prep roundup. The victory showed East could find the back of the net after being blanked in the opener, and Polacheck's two-goal performance put the rest of the Greater Miami Conference on notice.

Back home on Sunday, Aug. 23, the Hawks fell 1-0 to Milford in a tight defensive contest that dropped their record to 1-1-1 through three games.

Polacheck kept rolling. He scored the lone goal in a 1-0 win at Middletown on Tuesday, Aug. 25, while goalkeeper Nick Maslin recorded the shutout. Maslin has now posted two clean sheets in four matches to start the season, anchoring a defense that has allowed just three goals.

The junior forward's two-goal effort against Little Miami earned him a nomination for the Cincinnati Enquirer's big-school boys soccer player of the week for the week ending Aug. 23. Through four games, Polacheck has accounted for three of East's four goals.

The Hawks now hit the road for their next stretch of GMC play. East's schedule is posted at gohawksgo.com.