It took 98 long minutes, but Connor Blake’s goal in double overtime between Freedom and Whitehall gave the Patriots a 1-0 boys soccer victory over the Zephyrs on Monday night at Whitehall.

“I took the cross in, came back off their defender, and just thought one thought: shoot the ball,” Blake said. “It looked like their center back got his thigh off it, and it came back out to me.”

The Patriots’ bench erupted in cheers and swarmed the field after the intensely heated match that seemed to be headed to a tie.

“We had a disappointing loss on Friday (to East Stroudsburg South), and I wanted them to have a clean slate. We had phenomenal intensity in the second half tonight, and I didn’t want it to drop off,” said first-year Freedom head coach Tyler Nolan. “This is an important week for us, one game at a time, and I’m so happy we won this one. It’s fantastic.”

On the other side of the pitch, disappointment fell on the Zephyrs, who had several scoring chances, especially early in the match.

“You have to finish your opportunities, and we had two to three golden ones in the first half,” said Whitehall head coach Christian Malone. “You don’t put them away, it extends, and then when you play how-many-minutes on a really humid night, things can happen. You don’t put away your chances, you’re gonna pay for them in the end.”

Many of those first-half opportunities were falling wide, but the Zephyrs came back with more shots on goal in the second half.

Landon Kromer’s free kick in the 52nd minute sailed straight toward Freedom goalie Tristan Willey.

“All I knew was that it was one of those dangerous balls, and I have to go up and get it. I’ll take a hit as long as I get the ball,” Willey said. “All night long, it was stressful, but I was confident as the game went on, more and more, that we were gonna win this. Our increasing pressure and our attitude, the bench, J.V. in the stands, everyone on the field was positive, and it came together. Owen Lynn (defender) was all over the place. He runs up the field, he’s coming back, putting in those dirty tackles, love him. He played well.”

Whitehall forward Mauricio Vasquez attempted a header, followed by a pass from Valentin Lezcano to Gio Mazzola that looked to be set up for another shot by the Zephyrs.

“It’s great to have Mauricio back,” said Coach Malone. “In the first half, he was involved in a lot. He comes back (after injury) for his first game against Easton that we won, 1-0, and he scored the only goal.”

As the second half went on, Freedom’s midfielder/forward Michael Deluhery took off downfield, passing to Alejandro Herrera whose shot went just high.

Deluhery had a clear shot on goal in the last 30 seconds of the first overtime but was shot too hard, and Willey came up with another big save shot by Mazzola on a pass from Vasquez.

“[Whitehall] is a very, very good team,” said Coach Nolan. “It’s well-organized. They defend incredibly well and have a dangerous attack.”

Whitehall defender Abdulazim Ojulari-Sulyman had just cleared the ball seconds before Blake’s game winner, and Zephyr goalie Cole Guerney made it a point to congratulate Blake right after the match.

“It felt good,” Blake said. “I love the sportsmanship he showed, and he was a great goalie tonight. He was very tough, and both teams were going back and forth. It was very fun.”