By KLINT SPILLER

kspiller@dailynews.net

Thomas More Prep-Marian boys' soccer coach Shawn Lawson said his team still has room for improvement -- even in a lopsided victory.

The Monarchs defeated St. John's Military School 9-1 on Tuesday at TMP Field.

Lawson said TMP (3-4) carried the ball too much in the midfield, drew too many offsides calls and didn't play with high enough intensity to start the match.

"It's a nice game to mix things up a little bit and maybe switch some things around," Lawson said.

Lawson said he would like to see his team pass the ball more along the outside instead of trying to dribble it up the middle, and during the past several matches, the Monarchs have had a hard time with offsides calls.

Lawson said if his forwards ran diagonally it would prevent many of those calls.

"It's easy to call offsides when you are running straight up the field, and that's what we do," Lawson said. "We run straight up the field as opposed to diagonally, which makes it tough to make those calls ... and harder to mark them."

It wasn't the 8-0 shutout TMP posted at SJM in the season opener, but it was still an eight-goal difference.

Four Monarchs scored two goals, and for each of them, it was their first multi-goal game of the season.

SJM actually scored the opening goal in the 13th minute.

"I think we started lost. We could score three goals, but we just didn't score," senior defender Carlos Duenes said regarding missed opportunities. "When they scored, we started to understand the game and play it."

TMP immediately responded with two goals in the next six minutes.

In the 15th minute, senior forward Robert Niyonsaba sent a pass to sophomore forward Jack You, who took a step back to allow the defender to over pursue and kicked it past the goalkeeper.

Niyonsaba out dribbled the defense along the left side of the field and kicked it to the right side of the goal in the 19th minute.

With a little more than four minutes left in the half, the Monarchs hurried and scored a flurry of goals.

Senior center midfielder Rodney Gracas de Deus scored in the 36th and 37th minutes, scoring to the right side of the goal on a shot and a minute later on a penalty kick.

Duenes scored with 12 seconds remaining on a corner kick from Deus, hitting the ball off the side of the right post into the goal.

Duenes' next goal started a run that included three goals in one minute.

In the 55th minute, Duenes attacked from the back and lobbed it above the goalkeeper's head. His goal came with 25:52 remaining in the second half.

"I just want to try to score and help the team," Duenes said.

Niyonsaba added a goal nine seconds later as he stole the ball off the kickoff, dribbled through the defense and scored.

You scored his second goal of the day on an assist from sophomore Jorge Murra with 25:04 remaining on the clock.

TMP freshman midfielder Fernando Gonzalez provided the final goal on a diving kick in the 76th minute on an assist from sophomore Lane Fisher.

TMP junior goalkeeper Collan Lawson didn't see much action in the match. SJM only had one shot on goal and scored on it.

The Monarchs had lost their previous four matches by a margin of 23-2, so Duenes said he thought this match would help raise their confidence, especially with a home match Thursday against Liberal.

"We have had some tough matches," Duenes said. "We need to work harder. These kind of games push us to win more games. We have a tough game Thursday, so we need that confidence."