By the time the Northampton girls soccer team reached the district quarterfinals against Parkland, their bench had begun to resemble the waiting room of an orthopedic surgeon. The proliferation of crutches, braces, and ACE bandages foretold the result as the hobbled K-Kids fell 3-0.

It looked like for a while like Northampton might be able to absorb the Trojans’ pressure to keep the game scoreless and hold out hope for a single winning goal or a shootout. However, Parkland scored a back-breaker with 3.8 seconds left in the first half that sent a signal that there would be no upset on this Saturday.

Parkland recorded its second goal 18 minutes into the second half, which was 5 minutes before the K-Kids were able to muster their only shot on goal of the game.

Head coach Michael Missmer said what was on the minds of every Northampton player.

“Credit to Parkland, they did what they did,” he said. “But this one I feel like was stolen from us. We didn’t get to showcase what we could do (because of the injuries).”

The mood following the season-ending loss was in direct contrast to elation the team experienced three days earlier in their first-round district game against Whitehall.

Despite controlling the first half, the K-Kids had to settle for a 0-0 tie going into halftime.

Two-and-a-half minutes into the second half, Kyleigh Straub slipped a pass to her sister Lauren who hit a rocket that deflected off the keeper’s left hand and into the top-right corner of the net to put Northampton up 1-0.

The celebration was short-lived as 19 seconds later the Zephyrs’ Alyssa Marsteller scored when her shot was initially saved but the deflection carried the ball behind Olivia Vajda where it bounced before the goal line and floated across before Vajda could get back to throw it out.

Through the next 37 minutes of regulation and two 15-minutes overtimes both teams had chances, but neither scored.

Northampton went first in penalty kicks and Korinne Andersch converted. Whitehall made its first kick to tie it at 1-1.

Lauren Straub and Ali Gallo were the next K-Kids to kick and they both beat the Zephyr keeper. Their counterparts both missed high, setting the stage for senior captain Alex Benedict to finish the game off which she did by going top shelf to the goalie’s right.

Benedict noted that she wasn’t nervous in taking the winning kick, “We’ve been practicing PKs all week and been preparing for them just in case. So I think we were all confident. We trusted every single person taking the PKs.”

The boys soccer team also played Whitehall in an opening round game last Wednesday. They dropped a 1-0 decision on a Whitehall goal with 29:35 left in the game.