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LEHIGH VALLEY WEATHER

Boys look to clinch berth

One more win.

That's can be the key to the Whitehall boys' soccer team season this week as the Zephyrs look to capture a possible district berth. Beginning Tuesday, they need to defeat either Nazareth or Parkland both on the road to achieve a top team priority this season.

"It has been our main goal coming into this season," said head coach Gus Garcia whose club began the week with an overall 8-7-1 mark in quest of capturing club's a district playoff spot. "We have been working hard to get there.

"It has been a season for us with games we struggled late to get a win or saw some of them slip away."

If there was any added motivation for the Zephyrs, it was a recent 3-2 comeback victory over Pocono Mountain East, according to Garcia.

"We really came together when we had to," said the coach. "We fell behind by two goals and the game could have gone the other way for us. But these guys are very determined this year. Last season, we might have lost a game like this.

"But this year, we have a very cohesive group. We have stayed in games by going out there and scoring one goal at a time. We haven't panicked. We have found ways to pull games out, and hopefully that one can set the stage for the rest of the year."

Garcia is confident his team can find some solid footing in the remaining games as the Zephyrs have experienced their share of a roller coaster type season. In their last eight games, they have a 5-3 mark.

But they have managed some balance scoring throughout the season led by Brandon Levano and Edgar Garcia. Jacob Pesarcik has also been steady in the nets for the Zephyrs.

"We have worked to have balance on the club and I believe we have achieved that," he said. "We have had a number of players contributing throughout the year. It has been a solid unit of both upperclassmen and underclassmen and they have jelled as a unit."

Yet, the weight of the season will apparently come down to their final games this week.

"It will be disappointing if we don't make districts," said Garcia. "We went into a spin last season and it hurt our chances. This year, these guys have really been focused on getting there. But they know the bottom line is how many goals we can tally at the end of games. We can work hard, but we know we have to pull it out in the end."