No team enjoys a slow start to begin game. Every team loves to finish strong.

                That's the script the Berry women's soccer team followed Sunday afternoon at Pearson Field when the Vikings shook off a sluggish start and put together one of the biggest second-half offensive explosions in the program's history to roll to an 8-1 non-conference romp over the visiting Berea Mountaineers.

                The win gives the Vikings a 5-3 overall record as they turn their attention to another non-conference test Wednesday when they take on Huntingdon in Montgomery, Ala.

                Against Berea, Berry found itself with a number of scoring opportunities in the first half, but could only strike for one goal when Tori Toellner just over 20 minutes into the game.

                The Vikings made it 3-0 early in the second half when Vanessa Belanger scored an unassisted goal and 26 seconds later Karsen Brantley scored off an assist by Lyndsey Francingues. But Berea responded with a goal to close the margin at the 50-minute mark.

                That's when the scoring deluge began for the Vikings.

                Over the next seven minutes, Berry struck five time, with Brantley tallying her second goal off a pass from Maeve McDougal, Sarah Satterfield scored back-to-back goals thanks to respective assists from Hailey Thompson and Madison Cherry, and Katherine Mabbs uncorked a pair of goals off of feeds by Ashley Read and Satterfield.

                The Vikings ended the day outshooting the Mountaineers 28-7, while keeper Maggie Jones had a pair of saves.