The Cranston East boys’ soccer team had a big season last year but didn’t win its annual City Cup battle with Cranston West. On Sunday – in the midst of another good year – the ’Bolts’ explosive offense wasn’t going to be denied.

East blitzed West for three first-half goals and rolled to a 5-1 victory over the Falcons at Cranston Stadium. Kelvin Cardoza tallied two goals, while Jimmy Vang, Jason Venda and Kevin Pantoja added one apiece. Dennis Vasquez had three assists.

“I was glad that we jumped out of the gate really well,” said East head coach Richard Grenier. “I thought we controlled the midfield and we really spread the ball out. It was really nice to see. Dennis did a nice job distributing and we finished.”

West had won three of the last four City Cups, including a 3-1 triumph last year. With the state’s saves leader, James Vartanian, in goal, the Falcons were hoping to slow down an East team that has averaged more than three goals per game in Division III.

But West didn’t execute well enough in any area to get it done, allowing too many quality chances and struggling to generate any offense of its own.

“It was our worst game of the season,” said West head coach Jared Zimmer. “We came out flat and our defense made a lot of mistakes. Whatever the facet of the game was, we weren’t doing it right. And East was hungry. They’ve got some great players. They’re fast, aggressive. I give them all the credit.”

East put the pressure on from the beginning, getting the better of the early chances and carrying possession. Goalie Josh Reyes stopped a handful of West chances, and soon enough, the ’Bolts were off to the races. In the 25th minute, Jimmy Vang lofted a free kick to the box from 35 yards out. Vasquez tried an acrobatic volley in front of Vartanian, and the ball bounced off the West goalie. Cardoza cleaned it up, punching in the rebound for the 1-0 lead.

Less than two minutes later, Joel Tolbert chased down a lead pass on the right side and chipped the ball past Vartanian. Cardoza followed it into the net to make it 2-0.

In the 31st minute, East scored off another set piece. Gabriel Sotelo’s corner kick went to the far post, where Vasquez pushed it back to the right. Venda easily poked it in to make it 3-0.

“That hasn’t been the case all year, but this past week, we’ve really put an emphasis on corner kicks and free kicks,” Grenier said. “And we did a nice job finishing them today.”

Early in the second half, East made it 4-0 when Vasquez slipped a through ball to Pantoja, who stopped and settled it at the top of the box. He then blasted a shot from there that went just under the cross-bar.

East tallied its final goal in the 64th minute, when Vang finished off a pass from Keith McAteer.

“It was pretty good,” Vang said. “We just had to keep passing the ball and look for our opportunities.”

West got a late goal off the bench from senior Gio Aktchian, but that was all the offense it could get. Reyes made five saves before giving way to Brandon Franco. The defense led by Patrick Finicane also played well.

“They had a great back four,” Zimmer said. “They did a nice job.”

Vartanian made 13 saves for West.

East will now train its focus on the end of the regular season. The ’Bolts are sitting at 7-2-2, in third place in Division III, behind Davies and Woonsocket.

“The season has been great,” Grenier said. “I’m really happy. We’d like to take one game at a time, hopefully run the table, finish with 10 wins, get a good spot in the playoffs and make another run.”

East was set to play Warwick Vets on Wednesday before finishing up with Woonsocket and Tiverton.

The Falcons, who are 3-7-3 in Division II, were scheduled to play West Warwick on Tuesday before closing out the season next week against Lincoln and Coventry.