As Whitehall’s girls soccer team prepares for its next match Friday against Stroudsburg, Zephyrs coach Chris Bleam will have his players working on beating defensive pressure after losing to Liberty, 2-0, on Monday at Whitehall.

“Injuries are really hurting us, so we’re trying things. There are some young kids that are being put into some difficult positions earlier in their careers than they would normally expect,” said Coach Bleam. “They’re working hard, the team’s trying hard, they’re not quitting, but we still make some young-person mistakes, and that cost us tonight.”

Two goals by the Hurricanes, one by Hannah Oliver in the first half and one by Natalya Teran in the second was the price.

“We have a lot of players who play well within the framework of the team, but they don’t communicate with one another on the field, and we need some of our young players to say I have to be that person,” Bleam said. “There were a lot of times a girl was open who should have gotten the ball and we didn’t find her.”

The Hurricanes made some changes of their own since last week’s games.

“We started out in a three-back system which is what we played against Dieruff, and frankly, they were looking to exploit that in a way that we didn’t feel comfortable with,” said Liberty head coach Andrew Uhler, “so we quickly switched it to a four-back system, and put more of our speed in the back, and that benefitted us greatly.”

This week, the Zephs plan to work on playing in their own end.

“…how to get out of our own end more efficiently. I thought we made too many mistakes back there,” Bleam said. “Part of that was Liberty put us under a lot of pressure. So I think that’s a big piece, and the communication piece is important.”