When East Aurora’s Danny Miranda set up fellow sophomore Francisco Delgado for a goal early on, it was just the beginning of what turned out to be a pretty special evening.

Ten minutes after that nifty assist opened the Tomcats scoring against Glenbard South (2-3), Miranda tallied a goal of his own as host East Aurora built a 2-0 halftime lead in opening round action of the Pepsi Showdown. Miranda later added a 35-yard rocket in the upper right corner of the net as the Tomcats (5-1) struck first in the second half en route to a dominating 5-0 defeat of Glenbard South.

“I got my assist right away and I was feeling pretty good,” Miranda said of the pass that set Delgado free for an uncontested shot on Raiders keeper Andrei Paduraru. “Then I was like, I’ve got to get one in.”

And that he did, using a quick strike to send a low shot to the right side of the net and making the score 2-0 with 23:03 left in the first half. The Raiders did not muster a shot on goal in the first half while the hosts put 13 on goal, only to have to settle for that 2-0 lead at the break.

But Tomcats coach Jason Rollins told his players it was important to strike first in the second half and not to allow the Raiders to jump back into the contest. Miranda took the advice to heart, nailing a perfectly placed 35-yard rocket just inside the upper right post.

“Coach told us to make sure we put one in in the first 10-15 minutes (of the second half0 because that sets the tempo, so that was on my mind,” Miranda said. “I was hungry to get one and I saw two defenders and took them on and boom, I hit it to the corner and it went in.”

He knew the ball was struck well. “It felt good off my foot and you knew it was going to do something,” he said of his second goal of the night, which came with 24:42 left to play.

David Reynoso unleashed a similar long blast — only this one was to the upper left corner — as East Aurora took a 4-0 lead. Victor Corral’s tally with 3:26 closed out the scoring in the Tomcats 5-0 victory.

“We had so many chances right in front of the net, it’s funny we had to put in a bomb from 40 yards out to kind of break the ice in the second half,” said Rollins, whose team will play in second-round action of the Pepsi Showdown on Thursday, with the time, opponent and location to be determined Wednesday. “They (Miranda and Reynoso) just ripped it. You want to give these guys the freedom to let it fly and get a hold of it nicely.”