It’s been an impressive run late for Whitehall’s soccer team, but the boys will be put to the test this week with a pair monumental matchups on the horizon.

The Zephyrs (10-5) have reeled off wins in nine of their last 11 games, but come into a week with showdowns against two of the upper tier teams in the East Penn Conference.

Unfortunately, their seven game win streak came to an end Tuesday night in a 2-0 home loss to Nazareth (12-3).

It’s a week of checking how far Whitehall has come from their early season struggles against top tier competition and head coach Christian Malone knows this week is an important step for the group heading into the home stretch of the season.

“For us I do think it is important to gauge ourselves against top competition,” Malone said. “We set high goals at the start of the season and it’s not going to be possible to reach those goals without being able to get wins against top level opponents. I expect our boys to compete at a high level against each of our opponents in these last four games. These are great tests prior to both tournaments.”

Whitehall has already clinched a berth in the District 11 3A tournament, but are trying to hold off Southern Lehigh (9-6) for the top-seed with three games left in the regular season.

The Zephyrs are also looking to secure a berth in the EPC tournament. They came into the week fifth in the standings, but will need to take care of their own business to clinch one of the top eight spots. With only two games separating the top seven teams in the conference, the race for the league playoffs will come down to the final day of the regular season.

Whitehall closes out this week against top-ranked Parkland (13-0) on Thursday night with another opportunity to see where they stand, arguably against the best team in the area.

“I do think we have improved as time has went on during this season, but at the same time there is always more that can be done to better ourselves as a unit,” Malone said. “I think our guys believe in themselves and will come ready to play focused for our match against Parkland.”