When the Northampton girls soccer team took the field on Saturday for the final game of their regular season, they had already wrapped up their second consecutive district berth and seemingly had little to play for. However, the sting of last season’s OT loss to Freedom in the district semifinals provided ample motivation. A K-Kids win would end the Patriots season and provide an emotional springboard to make another playoff run.

Northampton dominated the game from the beginning, generating 12 first half shots on goal on their way to seizing a 2-0 halftime lead that would turn into a 3-0 win over the defending district champions.

However, the game may have resulted in a Pyrrhic victory as two of the K-Kids’ key players were injured, leaving their status in doubt for the upcoming district tournament.

Bella Nota opened the scoring by intercepting a Freedom clearance and patiently waiting for an opening to knock in a goal with her left foot twelve minutes into the game. Joy turned to concern 5 minutes later as the trainers were called to the field. Nota walked slowly to the bench and did not return to the game, spending the time icing her knee and being evaluated by the training staff.

Raine Korpics went down with seven minutes left in the half. She was initially being helped to the sideline by the trainers, when she broke away and defiantly hopped to the bench on her own. She left the facility shortly after halftime for further evaluation of her ankle injury.

Between those moments of trepidation, the teams had played on and Northampton got their second goal on a cross from Julia Minnich to Alex Benedict at the 9:13 mark.

A desperate Freedom squad pressed the attack in the second half, but goalkeeper Olivia Vajda and the K-Kids’ defense stayed resilient.

With two minutes left in the game, Northampton earned a free kick just outside the Patriots’ penalty area. Head coach Michael Missmer signaled for senior outside back Korinne Andersch to take the kick. The curving ball struck the inside of the far post and caromed in for Andersch’s first varsity goal.

The call to take the free kick was unexpected as Andersch noted that she never practices them. She credited Missmer’s confidence in her.

“He’s like, ‘Korinne you got this.’ He believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. It was exhilarating. It felt great,” she said.

As the eighth seed in districts following their 6-4 regular season, the K-Kids hosted a first-round game with Whitehall on Wednesday that ended too late for this week’s edition. A Northampton win would move them into the quarterfinals against top seeded Parkland on Saturday.

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The Northampton boys also made the District 11 playoffs, and hosted Whitehall on Wednesday night in an opening round game and before the girls game.

The Kids were the eighth seed with a 5-5 record while the Zephs were seeded ninth (5-6).