If there was anything to glean from United’s 5-3 whupping of the New York Red Bulls last night, it was that any analytical recap angles this writer planned to explore went out the window after United struck four times in the opening 30 minutes. Oh, and that Chris Pontius is really, really good in the air. With apologies to topics like goalie Josh Wicks and how he compares to United’s other keepers and United’s incredible bench strength, last night’s win — which earned United a place in the First Round Proper of the U.S. Open Cup — was simply about one side running roughshod over the other for 45 minutes, and, of course, the further emergence of United’s newest goal-scoring phenom.

“It could have been six [before halftime],” Pontius said of the first-half goalfest. “I had a couple chances where I shouldn’t have passed and [should have] looked to shoot,” Pontius admitted. “I still need to get more comfortable on the ball.”

The Red Bulls might disagree with that sentiment. But for United, it’s a sign that even better things are to come from the 22-year-old Californian.

You’d never know it from looking at the final statistics (including eight offsides called against United and New York actually amassing more shots), but the performance from United from the go was as dominant as the team has looked in quite some time. Of course, all praise needs to be tempered against New York’s shockingly poor defensive play — and a fair bit of complacency after the Black-and-Red went up by four late in the first half.

“I felt in the first half, we had a pretty good mentality going into the game,” head coach Tom Soehn said, echoing his young forward. “They held a high line, and I think we exposed it pretty well…we probably could have had more.”