There might as well have been bars at the midfield mark Thursday night.

Caged in their own end by relentless South Whidbey strikers on Waterman Field, the Granite Falls Tigers could find no way to escape a 7-0 drubbing in front of a home Falcon crowd.

Seven different South Whidbey girls scored in a contest that bore more resemblance to a goalkeeper’s workout than it did to a varsity soccer game.Matched against the still-winless Tigers, the Falcon offense drove into Granite Falls territory in the game’s first minute and stayed there the rest of the game.

Senior Jaci Gutzmer opened the scoring by making a quick reverse against a Tiger defender, then lifted the ball into the center of the net several feet out of the goalkeeper’s reach. Following in quick succession with goals of their own were Sonya Morphew, Michelle Schorr, Natalie Schmidt, Amy Barrow, Deanne Waterman and Jennifer Barrow.

Jennifer Barrow had to wait the longest for her scoring shot. Sidelined in the second half after taking nine shots on goal, she asked Falcon coach Paul Arand for one more opportunity because Thursday was her birthday. On her tenth shot, she got what she wanted.

“We always say we’ll get a goal on every tenth shot,” Arand said. “And that’s what happened.”

Now clutching a 7-5 record, the Falcons meet North Cascades Conference leader Meridian next Tuesday in a road game. All but assured of being one of the six NCC teams to go to playoffs, the Falcons are now playing for a top seed in the postseason bracket. Tuesday’s game begins at 6 p.m. at Meridian High School.