Sunapee — When Sunapee High girls soccer coach Myles Cooney thinks his team should be playing at a faster pace, he yells, “Pump the tires, girls.”

The Lakers didn’t have to keep the pumps primed too long on Saturday night. They were rolling along just fine, beating Pittsfield, 8-0.

The Lakers under Cooney have long been one of the NHIAA Division IV success stories, and this year looks like another one of those seasons. With Saturday night’s win, the Lakers are 9-0-1 with seven shutouts, they have outscored the opposition, 51-2, and the tie came earlier in the season in a 0-0 game with Gorham in which seven Sunapee players were not available.

And the road to the title may be a little less bumpy from now on. Derryfield, a longtime Laker nemesis that captured the D-IV title the last two years, has moved up to D-III. Not that Cooney notices.

“We just have new adventures,” said Cooney, who noted his second-place Lakers have two games yet to play with top-seeded Newmarket. “And the first one is on Friday, and the girls are looking forward to that.”

In fact, Sunapee players are disappointed Derryfield isn’t on the menu anymore.

“It was the game we looked forward to,” said junior Kalleigh Durkee, who got head-nod approval from her teammates.

“I’m kind of disappointed we don’t play then,” said junior Maddie Austin. “I miss the competition.”

And so it went.

“It’s kind of annoying not to be playing them,” said Faith Larpenter, one of the nine seniors on the team.

This might have been a good year to play Derryfield, too. The Cougars are 4-6 in their first Division III tour.

Pittsfield coach Tom Kennedy said one of the reasons Derryfield is struggling in that Gabi Brummett, headed to Duke on a soccer scholarship, is being kept off the field by her parents so she won’t get injured.

Sunapee scored six times in the first half, with Sydney Clark getting the first tally less than four minutes into the game. Long-distance goals from Mary Grzanna and Jessica Parsons followed. After that it was Grzanna again, Danielle Usko, and just before the half, Maddie Austin as the lead reached 6-0. Goals in he second half were scored by Hannah Cooney and Austin.

Before the first tilt with Newmarket, the Lakers must get through Tuesday’s game with Newport. Sunapee managed just a 2-1 win over the Tigers on Aug. 30.