Staff photo / Dan Hiner. Poland’s Carter Iberis (7) passes the ball during the first half of a Division IV sectional final on Wednesday against Conneaut at Dave Pavlansky Field.

POLAND — There was no stopping the Poland boys soccer team’s offense on Wednesday night.

The Bulldogs never gave Conneaut a chance, beating the Spartans 12-0 in a Division IV, Northeast 3, sectional final at Dave Pavlansky Field in Poland.

The game was called as soon as the first half ended due to the eight-goal mercy rule.

“I was proud of the response. We had a tough game on Monday against Canfield — kinda a little disappointed, disappointed in the results,” Poland head coach Brian Garcar said. “We wanted to come back today and kinda get our footing back to how we’ve been playing all season. I’m proud of the guys, from the opening whistle, executing the game plan.”

Poland (13-1-4) got on the board first less than four minutes into the game. Carter Iberis cut through the center of the Spartan defense and fed a pass to Renzo Tukalo, who sprinted down the right side. Tukalo sent a shot into the top-left corner to open the scoring.

Poland extended its lead to 2-0 less than eight minutes in when Michael Hostal sent a centering pass to Andreas Tsikouris, who tapped it into the net.

Then Tukalo added his second goal after Iberis sent a pass to the center of the field, just outside the box. Tukalo headed the ball and it bounced off the right post, but it spun back and rolled into the left corner.

Iberis picked up another assist when he sent a pass through traffic to a crashing Tsikouris, who leaped and pushed the ball with his foot while still in the air.

And just like that, the Bulldogs were up 4-0 before reaching the midway point of the first half.

Iberis scored, and then Xander Thornton found the net off an assist from Tukalo with 18:09 left in the half to push the lead to 6-0.

“(Iberis) is kinda one of the unsung heroes for our team, we have a handful of those guys. They don’t get the recognition, but they’re willing to do the dirty work,” Garcar said. “Sometimes you call them the ‘hockey assists.’ They’re willing to make that pass, which leads to the opportunity, which leads to an assist and a goal.”

Salvi Carramusa found the back of the net off a cross from Thornton. Then Lucas Henn made it 8-0 with 13:50 left in the half.

Hostal chipped in a goal, Tukalo added his third score for a hat trick, Lenn added his second tally and Stefan Milosevic cleared the goal line to cap the Bulldog blitz.

Poland goalkeeper Zach Marantis wasn’t tested on Wednesday. The closest the Spartans (1-15-2) came to making him work resulted in a shot that sailed high and wide-right of the net in the closing minutes.

“It’s kinda fun to watch. Wish it was a little better (view), because I’m all the way over there,” Marantis said. “I kinda wanted to get in the field, though, but it was a great win. We played good, I thought.”

Poland will have to wait to find out who it plays in the district semifinals. The Bulldogs will face either Brookside or Northeast 8 foe Hubbard, who play on Saturday in Hubbard. Poland beat Hubbard 4-0 on Sept. 25, but the Eagles forced a 3-3 draw when they played again in Hubbard on Sept. 22.

The Bulldogs are also looking to make another tournament run. They won the district and reached the regional final last season, and this year, they want to get back there.

“We’re gonna be ready, because that tie with (Hubbard) the last time, that wasn’t good enough,” Marantis said. “We’ll be ready for that one for sure, and if we play Brookside, we’ll still be motivated because we really are motivated to make a big run.”