ELMA — Fast starts are a habit Elma’s girls aren’t anxious to break as they continue their playoff soccer run.

Scoring three times in the opening 15 minutes, the Eagles advanced to the semifinals of the District IV Class 1A Girls Soccer Tournament with a 5-0 drubbing of Stevenson on Tuesday at Davis Field.

Brooke Sutherby recorded a hat trick and Jillian Bieker added the other two goals for the Eagles (11-4-2).

They’ll face Trico League champion King’s Way Christian in a semifinal scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday at Montesano’s Rottle Field.

Most significantly, the Eagles survived Tuesday’s loser-out opening round and advanced to the double-elimination bracket. Three of the remaining four teams will qualify for state competition next week.

As Elma coach Scott Rockey smilingly acknowledged, Tuesday’s win bore considerable resemblance to his team’s 5-0 whitewash of Hoquiam last week.

In both cases, the Eagles took command early and used crisp passing to set up scoring opportunities. All of Elma’s goals against Stevenson came on relatively close-range shots.

“That’s the biggest areas we’ve worked on — midfield possession and passing,” Rockey said. “The girls did a great job of changing the point of attack.”

The Eagles launched seven shots in the opening six minutes. Two found the net.

Junior midfielder Kassedy Olson, on a run down the right side, crossed a perfect pass to Sutherby, who one-touched it in from in front of the goal in the fourth minute.

Two minutes later, Bieker took a long through pass from Kayli Johnson and broke in one-on-one against goalkeeper Kennedy O’Mahoney. The latter got her hands on Bieker’s shot, but was unable to stop it.

Bieker, in only her second game back from an ankle injury, made it 3-0 in the 15th minute by bending about a 12-yard shot inside the right post. The Elma sophomore had taken the rebound of a Sutherby shot that had been blocked by a Stevenson defender.

Missed Elma opportunities and several fine saves by O’Mahoney kept the score at 3-0 until Sutherby converted a Bieker pass midway through the second half. Sutherby completed her hat trick, off an assist from freshman Taylor Kershaw, with about two minutes remaining.

Although playing defense for most of the match, Stevenson (5-5-3) did have a handful of quality scoring chances that Eagle goalkeeper Holli Ray denied.

Stevenson was awarded a penalty kick when Ray, caught out of the net, pushed down a Bulldog in the box in the 59th minute. Peighton Campbell’s spot kick went directly at Ray, who made the save just off her shoetops.

Rockey cited Ray for a fine performance and also cited the midfield play of Johnson and Molly Johnston.

“Everybody in the attacking third did an outstanding job,” the Elma coach concluded.