Marina Parodo got the Newburgh Free Academy girls’ soccer team out of the gate fast.

Her goal just two minutes into the Goldbacks’ match against the division-rival Kingston Tigers got them on the board early, got the Tigers on their heals and strong defense helped propel Newburgh to a 3-0 victory on Thursday at NFA North.

“It really boosts our confidence because now coming into our next games we’ll be more aggressive and we won’t be scared,” said Parodo, a sophomore forward.

Parodo made things a lot easier on her teammates very early when her second minute shot from about 20 yards out on the left side curled just inside the near post to give the Goldbacks an early lead.

“That was huge,” Newburgh coach Dave Doulin said. “That was a great shot. We talked about that first game and our scrimmage when we fell behind early. So, we were talking about getting the first goal and doing that within the first two minutes was awesome.”

The Goldbacks have seven seniors on their roster, but have a strong mix of two juniors, eight sophomores and four freshmen. Some of those sophomores are already in their third varsity seasons.

“(Team chemistry) keeps getting better and better,” Parodo said. “This year, it’s the strongest it’s been since I’ve been on (the team). And I think it’s going to keep getting stronger and stronger.”

One of those four freshmen, Riley Frederick gave the Goldbacks their second goal, with just a few seconds left in the first half, when she rolled a shot inside the left post, just past Kingston’s diving goalkeeper Hannah Tampasis.

Ava Morrill added a second-half goal after she rebounded a deflected shot from Frederick.

“We created a lot of opportunities,” Doulin said. “Three goals is great. It would have been nice for more, but we’ll take three.”

Then it was all in the hands of Newburgh’s defense, which limited the Tigers’ scoring opportunities and protected sophomore goalkeeper Taryn Judson, who was only called on to make five saves in the game.

“They covered each other and communicated, and they were always in the right spot,” Doulin said.

This season is a bit of a homecoming this year for the Goldbacks as they played only one game during the Fall 2 season at their regular home field at NFA North, bringing them off the turf and back onto the natural grass they’re accustomed to.

“We’ve been practicing it here and it felt good,” Parodo said. “We know how to play on this grass better than the other team did. I was happy and comfortable on this field.”