Northampton’s boys soccer team was looking forward to playing in the district final; even going on a state run, but the Konkrete Kids were tripped up by Freedom in the District XI Class 4A semifinal on Oct. 31 when the Patriots prevailed, 5-3, at Alumni Field at Catasauqua Middle School.

“These guys, I’m so proud of them and what they’ve accomplished here in the last two years, and it’s been absolutely amazing for me,” said Northampton coach Chris Bastidas. “Two 19 wins back-to-back years. We’re the first team in Northampton soccer history to ever win a title. It’s pretty remarkable for them, so it stings a lot, and we felt we could have accomplished even more. I felt they had the capability to win a district title and make it to states, so it’s tough to lose like this.”

Freedom’s 2-0 lead at halftime left the K-Kids with work to do.

“Freedom was scoring well, and we couldn’t come up with anything to stop them. We played really well the first 20 minutes, actually, and they scored a goal, and then they scored again immediately,” Bastidas said. “I said to them, ‘Guys, we don’t get shut out. We score goals.’”

Midfielder Jackson Vajda put the K-Kids on the scoreboard to open the second half, but the two teams traded goals for the next 30 minutes, and with the Patriots two goals ahead, Northampton had more ground to make up.

“Unfortunately, we had some breakdowns, and Freedom made some really good plays and put the ball in the net,” said Bastidas. “It was back and forth, all over the place, and we could never get that tying goal to get us fully back on track.”

Northampton goalie Ethan Schrampf (4 saves) made a save on a shot by Freedom’s Michael Deluhery, but Dominik Roszkowski followed up with a goal for the Patriots.

Vajda scored a second goal midway through the second half, but again, Freedom stayed two goals ahead after Deluhery landed a penalty kick.

Vajda completed a hat trick with 10:47 remaining in the match to make the score 4-3.

“That’s what he does. He scores goals. As a matter of fact, he just beat my record,” Bastidas said. “I told him tonight I wanted him to go out and do it, and he did it with three goals. We will miss him so much. It was great watching him play.”

Micah Lawser’s (12 saves) save for the Patriots off a corner prevented a 4-4 tie in the last five minutes of play, and Freedom forward Corey James put the match away on the last goal of the game at the 2:59 mark.

In addition to Vajda and Schrampf, the K-Kids will graduate defender Antonio DelPriore, defender Jake Erschen, forward Mason Haupt, defender Zachery Bohannon, defender Danny Khalouf, midfielder Brady Dolak, forward Delali Tsome, forward Nicholas Longenbach, and defender Owen Andersch.