It’s a special group of Zephyr seniors who had their soccer season end when Whitehall fell 4-0 to Nazareth in a District XI Class 4A boys soccer quarterfinal last Thursday night at Nazareth.

“I’ve been coaching some of these guys since they were 10, and they’re part of our soccer family, my family, and I love them,” said Whitehall head coach Chris Bastidas. “They were always so willing to learn, and they stepped up. This was their time, and they played really well.”

Hope still ran high at halftime when the Zephyrs trailed 2-0.

No sooner had Salem Joseph entered the match near the end of the first half than the Nazareth junior scored the Blue Eagles’ first goal.

“When I came on the field, I was a little nervous, and Cole [Hilarczyk] played me a great ball and I just took a touch and put it in bottom right. A district goal, very happy,” Joseph said. “The second half, we knew they were gonna come out strong. We got a little nervous, but we put them away.”

Exactly two minutes before halftime, Colin Henchy scored to the right corner on Hilarczyk’s second assist.

“We were missing Miguel [Roa Tabares] today in the back, we let up a goal, and Nazareth capitalized right on that, and then the same thing happened on the other side of the field. Now we’re down 2-0,” said Bastidas. “Then in the second half, I thought we came back, we were on them for about 20 minutes.”

Whitehall forward Ziyad Atiyeh’s free kick went high, and Elie Khalil also took a shot that went high. Khalil made another attempt in the final minute after Gio Mazzola also took a shot on goal in the 77th minute.

“Their defense played very well,” Bastidas said. “We couldn’t get that last pass in, and then they had us so spread out. Today was just a little tough.”

Nazareth advances to the semifinal round with a match against Parkland, which will have been played on Tuesday.

“I don’t like the idea that it’s a new season. I like the idea that you win, and you learn from it; you lose, and you learn from it,” said Nazareth head coach Gerry Petrozelli. “Every touch, every play, put us to where we are now.”