The Whitehall girls soccer team recorded a number of firsts last week when they hosted Northwestern Lehigh at the Zephyr Sports Complex.

To begin, it was the first win of the season for the Zephyrs. Secondly, it was the first career win for freshman goalkeeper Samantha Kern who played a pivotal role in the victory. Finally, it was also the first shutout of Kern’s young career who made a crucial stop, quickly sliding across the goal mouth and kicking the ball aside about midway through the second half to erase any comeback notions entertained by the pesky Tigers.

Friday’s 2-0 win brought them to 1-1 on the young season. They lost their opener 8-0 to Parkland, arguably the best team in the area and a perennial powerhouse. While they made it closer against the Trojans in Saturday’s rematch, they still weren’t able to break through, losing 4-0. That loss dropped them to 1-2.

Heading into the season, head coach Chris Bleam said that both Kern and fellow freshman Kayleigh Fisher would be vying for the goalkeeper spot. They were two newcomers who brought something different to the table.

It was evident that Kern can cover ground pretty quickly. She reacted swiftly to that shot that looked destined for the far corner, but she got to it to kick it out of harm’s way.

“I don’t know, it was kind of more like reflexes,” said Kern. “I saw it coming and I stuck out my foot because it was the closest thing to the ball and kicked it away.”

Kern who’s still learning the position, said that speed her speed is something she can use immediately, while other aspects of playing in goal will take more time.

Kern said that it was thrilling getting both the win and the shutout. Playing in only her second varsity match, she said she was enthusiastic sharing the field with her teammates. She said the hard work in front of her led to their success on the field.

“It’s just fun to watch them play,” she said.

Bleam said that his young keeper played well against the Tigers. She had rebounded well from a tough team loss to the Trojans, an experience that may allow a player to get down on themselves, but Bleam saw that Kern was ready to face the new challenge on Friday. It was the same mentality across the roster.

“I think that’s what I really focused on today, their response,” said Bleam.

They took control in the first half, scoring on a goals by Elissar Khalil and Aubrey Vivian. Vivian scored her goal off a corner kick.

Ultimately, he liked the way his team bounced back after a tough opener.

“That really didn’t get them down,” he said. “They treated today as a new day which was the appropriate response, and a very mature response.”

He noted it was a positive response from a team that’s comprised of a lot of freshmen.

“I was really pleased with that, and I think that’s a testament of our leadership,” Bleam said.

Bleam said that the opener is behind them and they’re moving on, while Kern hopes that Friday’s win will be a springboard for the rest of the season.

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The boys got a 6-0 win over Dieruff on Monday.

Whitehall got off to a quick start with two goals in the first half and finished things off with four more in the second.

Jake Grier on an assist from Carlos Mandez made it 1-0 for Whitehall. Zack Onsinyo followed with a goal to make it 2-0 as Elie Khalil picked up the assist.

In the second half Gilo Mazzola scored the first of his two goals. Seth Marsteller assisted and then would score the next goal on a pass from Grier.

Mazzola added his second goal on assist from Grier and then Grier ended the scoring on a penalty kick.

Whitehall outshot the Huskies 19-6. The Zephs Cole Guerney made four saves to earn the shutout win.