Judging by the looks on their faces, one would have thought Bethlehem Catholic won its soccer game against Northampton after being defeated 2-1 last week.

Perhaps it was the final ten minutes of the game that really grew the Hawks’ confidence when first-year goalkeeper, Ryan Turtzo, made a string of saves.

“I had faith in this defense and that they would not let [Northampton] get past them,” Turtzo said.

On one occasion, however, a Becahi defender tripped, and Turtzo was faced with a one-on-one situation.

“The Northampton guy got in front, and he’s driving past the 18. I had my legs open, and then I sat on it,” said Turtzo.

At game’s end, several of Turtzo’s teammates congratulated him.

“I never had that experience. This was the first time. It felt really good,” he said.

Becahi coach Anthony Briody was just as pleased. And proud.

“Our defense has come a long way,” he said.

In addition, Briody saw a level of intensity in the Hawks that he had not seen before.

“That was the biggest thing today. I think they were feeding off me,” said Briody.

It was, after all, the Hawks who had the first goal of the game when Connor Aitken scored.

“We had a fast break, and I got by the defender with a header, and then I kicked again, and that was good,” Aitken said.

The Hawks did not fare well the rest of last week, however, tying with Dieruff and losing to Allen and Freedom.

“Northampton was a heck of a game, but we showed up at Dieruff drained. Dieruff is a team we should have beat. By the Allen game, kids were sick and injured. We looked tired and beat,” said Briody.

Becahi captain, John Corley, was playing at forward in the Dieruff game.

“I had a couple opportunities, and we had a goal toward the end that was offsides, but we didn’t have the intensity. Maybe we just wrote them off,” he said.

This past Saturday, Becahi held Freedom to one goal in the first half before losing 3-1.

Corley scored for the Hawks on an assist by Mathew Shaffer.

“It was a cross from Shaffer, right to [David] Caccese. It bounced around in the box, and I kicked it in,” Corley said.

The Patriots controlled the ball for most of the second half, as Briody directed his team to look for the open men; namely, Matthew Leddy and Antonio Tavares.

“As soon as we won possession, we’d break,” said Briody.

Leddy noticed that Freedom’s outside man was sucked in to the left side of the field, leaving Leddy open often.

“In the Allen game, we really used our field well, and Tony Guzman found me,” he said.

Leddy probably saved a goal in the final minutes against Freedom when he kicked the ball to the side so that goalkeeper Sean Redington could retrieve it.

“It was pretty nerve-racking because I knew he was coming in,” said Leddy.

Field conditions at Becahi did not help either team.

“It’s always pretty awful, and it definitely changes the aspect of play,” said Corley.

This week, the Hawks will take on Liberty and Easton.