After a season in which they just missed districts, Whitehall’s boys’ soccer team will be looking to take the next step.

The Zephyrs finished the year with a 7-10-1 overall record and will graduate six seniors from their current allotment.

Their next transition will be about tightening their defensive play after they tallied the most goals in school history the past two seasons.

“We have been very good at scoring the past two years,” said head coach Chris Bastidas. “We have to defend better.

“We had a number of sophomore and juniors who were playing varsity for the first time. They were in the middle of making the transition and played good overall. Now, they all will have a year under their belts, and it will help.’

The Zephyrs will lose Aziz Atiyeh, who didn’t play their last five games due to injury and was the team’s major offensive weapon over the past couple of seasons.

“He (Atiyeh) was one of the top players, maybe the top player in the league,” added Bastidas. “He really was a big part of our team. It will be a very tough loss and a big spot to fill.”

Bastidas will look to junior Chris Whittick and sophomore Jacob Gier to take a step forward to lead the team next season, as both were among the team’s leading scorers. Whittick was a second-team East Penn Conference choice, and Gier received third-team honors.

The Zephyrs also will return junior goalies Justin Mattison and sophomore Andrew Kibblehouse to bolster the backside.

“Our goalies are such a big part of the team,” said Bastidas. “Both of them have experience and that will be a big plus for us.”

Getting to districts will be a main goal for the Zephyrs next season. Defense also will be a main priority as well as consistent play in their games.

“I think we can get the seven wins we had this year,” said Bastidas. “Ideally, we want to get 10 wins and we should have nine. We want to fight for a league playoff spot.

“Defensively, we have to be better and not give up any easy goals. This year, we tended to play in spurts, and we needed to play at a high level all the time.

“We have a good number of players back and we are looking to improve on this past year.”