Through their first four games, Whitehall's boys' soccer program had some mixed emotions and feeling about their performance.

The Zephyrs, who qualified for the district playoffs for the first time last season after a long drought, will expect to make a return visit. In the early going, Whitehall had a 2-3 record, winning their first two games against Blue Mountain (4-0) and Saucon Valley (4-3) before they dropped consecutive contests against Northampton (2-1), Nazareth (3-0) and Parkland (2-1). Unfortunately, their defeats were to Lehigh Valley Conference (LVC) divisional contests.

The losses temporarily dampened their short-term goals.

"Obviously, we are disappointed being 2-3," said head coach Gus Garcia. "We thought we would be 3-1 at this point. We played well against Northampton in a game that easily could have gone our way. Against Nazareth, we created some opportunities, but we didn't take advantage of them. We played parts of the Nazareth game well, but we didn't play 100 percent. Those two teams are we always know we're going to have a tough game, and I believe we learned some tough lessons from both of those games."

Junior Brian Heckman has led a balanced attack of a heavily loaded unit of upperclassmen for the Zephyrs with three goals in the first four games. Fellow senior Chase Missmer has recorded 17 saves throughout the early season.

"We do have a good team cohesiveness here and that's something we have been working on," said Garcia. "We have a number of juniors and seniors here and the talent base is strong for us. We also have a good group of freshmen and sophomores and we have a few freshmen who have started for us. We have been creating opportunities, but lately we have to find ways to put the ball in the back of the net. That's the simple solution we need to accomplish."

Feeling some frustration over some tough losses, Garcia also is aware that his team shares the same sentiment.

"We all know we should all have a better record and we could have played better," added Garcia. "The players know what they have to do. They are not satisfied with everything right now. We know we have to come to play every game in order for us to get back to districts."

The Zephyrs have little doubt they will get back to the playoffs.

"Absolutely," stated Garcia on whether his team will be back in the postseason. "The players know we will get there. They also know they have to step up their game. But we would all be really disappointed if we don't get there.

"We know we have to keep working to create opportunities and keep putting the ball in the net."