The Freedom High School boys soccer team has improved ever since head coach Michael O'Connell has taken over.

The Patriots have been to the district playoffs both years that O'Connell has been the head coach, and are looking to do it again this season.

After starting the year 0-3, the Pates are hoping to bounce back and finish strong.

O'Connell recently talked about how they want to make progress after losing their first three games.

"We were disappointed after losing to Nazareth especially since we were leading at halftime," O'Connell said.

O'Connell commented that his team took a step back defensively after losing to Whitehall 5-2. Knowing they were going to play a good Emmaus team, the squad felt they made progress even after the end result was a loss.

"We felt good against Emmaus, 2-1 only 60 minutes into the game, there was a chance to tie," O'Connell said.

The Patriots ended up losing 3-1 to the Hornets, but still felt better about their effort than they did against the Zephs.

Victor Gonzalez, a senior, feels that the team needs to be better defensively and everyone has to do their job in order for the Pates to be successful.

"The team needs to start setting up for postseason play. We want to get back to districts," Gonzalez said.

Alex Thomas believes the team needs to keep taking steps foward. He felt the game with Emmaus was a big step forward.

"We need to keep taking steps forward in order to get the results we want," Thomas said.

Freedom's only goal came in the second half off a penalty kick after Thomas was taken down in the box. Junior Stephen Gaber converted the kick.