Pleasant Valley’s J.T. Morgan was playing at left midfielder for his team’s opening-round East Penn Conference (EPC) playoff game at Northampton Tuesday night. He normally plays at left halfback for the Bears.

Morgan knew he needed some extra effort at his new spot, and he made the most of his situation.

The junior scored the game’s lone goal 1-0 victory, and he lifted the fifth-seeded Bears (14-3-1) over the fourth-seeded and defending EPC champion Konkrete Kids (15-4) and into the next round of the EPC playoffs.

Morgan took a pass from Adam Sopanski and drilled his shot into top corner for the Bears’ fourth consecutive victory in a right-knot battle throughout the evening.

Morgan and Sopanski seemingly created a scene for the team’s highlight reel.

“I knew I had to go into the game at 110 playing a different position than I normally do,” stated Morgan. “The ball was beautifully crossed by Adam and went through all the defenders. I was making the back-post run and shot it top comer like I knew I needed to do since there was a defender there.”

Bears’ head coach Issac Blagogee watched his club create more pressure in the second half.

“In the first half, we were defending and attacking well, but we had too many fouls,” said Blagogee. “In the second half, we turned up the heat a little, settled into our game, and came out on top. The second half was totally different from the first.”

“We slowed them down by playing our game. We moved the ball from side to side, stayed composed, and played our positions.”

Northampton head coach Chris Bastidas praised his team’s efforts, but the Kids couldn’t connect. It was the first time they have been shut out since a 3-0 loss to Freedom Sept. 17. The Kids entered the game winning nine of their last 10 contests. Northampton had recorded 80 goals and allowed seven with 11 shutouts.

Northampton beat Pleasant Valley, 5-2, in their previous, lone meeting Sept. 25.

“It was a really good game,” beamed Bastidas. “We knew that getting goals would be harder to come by in the playoffs. It wasn’t going to be like the last game we played against them.

“They had an extra defender, and we had trouble with that. We did hit a post and got into the zone quite a few times, but couldn’t score. They played really well and have a good shot at the championship.

“But we have had great success so far, and our season isn’t over. We’re excited about the district playoffs.”

Morgan and his teammates were looking for revenge, and they also are confident about moving on.

“This win is really big since we lost to them 5-2 in the regular season,” he stressed. “We knew we had to come in hungry to win, and we did that. Everyone did their part perfectly. But this is one obstacle passed, and we have to go into the next game even hungrier.”

WHAT’S NEXT: Pleasant Valley will meet top-seeded Parkland Thursday night. They were eliminated by Parkland in the EPC playoffs last season.

WE MEET AGAIN: Unless Pleasant Valley wins the EPC, they likely will meet Northampton again in the opening-round of the District 11 Class 4A playoffs.