As the ball bounced in the direction of Casey Lundgreen, he sized up where he was on the pitch, which was about 25 yards away from the goal, and he let loose.

His cannon right-footed volley began to knuckle and dip and sailed in over the outstretched fingertips of the Wasatch Academy goalie.

“I just got a good assist from Levi (Thompson),” said Lundgreen, not knowing how to explain his thunderous strike. “He just laid it back and we took advantage.”

Right now, South Summit High School soccer is rolling.

The Wildcats defeated the visiting Tigers 4-0 on a frigid and soaking afternoon at Wildcat Stadium Monday.

Thompson scored a hat trick and South Summit controlled the majority of the game.

“We’ve got everything,” Thompson said. “We’ve got speed, we’ve got a good defense, good midfielders, forwards. Everyone’s just equal.”

Thompson followed Lundgreen’s wondrous goal about 10 minutes later as he found his way onto the end of a South Summit corner kick. He snapped his unmarked header past the goalie to make it 2-0 in favor of the Wildcats.

He notched his second goal after the Tiger goalkeeper mishandled a free kick played into the box, leaving Thompson open to tuck it cleanly into the near post.

His hat trick was made official when a mistake by a Wasatch Academy defender forced the goalkeeper to rush out to clear the ball; the ball found its way to Thompson who buried it from outside the 18-yard box.

Teammates on the bench threw their beanies into the air to celebrate Thompson’s team-leading 11th goal of the year.

“Just the right place at the right time for me,” said a modest Thompson. “It wasn’t really anything.”

Head coach Chris Burton said he was a bit apprehensive about today’s match, knowing his team was coming back from a week off due to spring break, but was pleased with how they played under the circumstances.

“I think our team showed up,” he said. “Wasatch Academy, they’re always a pretty good team, but I think we came out strong.”

Burton singled out the play of two of his most active players, midfielder Trevor Rydalch and sweeper Harrison Littledike.

Littledike was responsible for putting the cuffs on speedy Wasatch Academy forward Diego Carsolio, who leads his team with three goals.

“He played a great game,” Burton said of his sweeper. “We pretty much just stuck him on (Carsolio) and we thought that he was their best player. He rose up to the challenge and really shut him down.”

As for Rydalch, the energetic and supremely athletic midfielder was all over the pitch for South Summit, winning 50-50 balls, orchestrating offensive attacks and maintaining possession throughout the 80-minute match.

“That’s what makes Trevor special,” Burton said. “He just never stops. To have a kid like him on the team is just great because he’s just always going.”

South Summit (8-1-1) has now won six straight matches since its lone loss to Union on March 21. The Wildcats sit atop the Region 14 standings with four matches left to be played. South Summit’s next match will be against region foe Maeser Prep at home at 4 p.m. today.

As the team with the second-best record in 2A, South Summit is looking to finish out the year on a high note and see what kind of damage it can do come playoff time.

“I’m very excited about the possibilities for the rest of the season,” Burton said. “We are a very solid team. We’re deep. We’re a good 11-man team out there. We just want to keep this thing going and see what happens.”

As the players swiftly left the field for warmer surroundings than the soaked Wildcat Stadium, Lundgreen said this year’s team is special.

“We’re just a good solid team this year, that’s for sure,” he said. “It’s fun.”