Northampton’s boys’ soccer team didn’t end the season the way they wanted, but the Konkrete Kids can truly use the campaign as a measuring stick for the future.

The K-Kids ended their year in the opening round of the district playoffs in a 4-0 loss to Emmaus. That was preceded by a 4-0 loss to Parkland in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference (EPC) playoffs.

However, the Kids’ 13-7 campaign was a complete reversal of a 6-12 trek last year and also can prove to be a catalyst for them to stay in the deep end of the soccer pool in the future.

“Overall, we had a successful season,” said head coach Adam Bastidas. “We set high goals and we had a team that had a great chance to do well. We did reach some of our goals. We did reach the conference and districts playoffs.

“But we knew if we showed up to play every game, we had the potential to go a lot farther than we did last season. It is disappointing that we did lose in the EPC and district playoffs, but we did play some of our best soccer in those games.”

The Kids’ overall play was a key to their overall success after tight losses a year ago.

“Out of our 12 losses, nine of them were by one goal,” Bastidas said of last year. “That was a big deal for us. We were in so many close games this year and we were right there in the end. We made a lot of strides to get to that point this year.”

Bastidas remains confident that the Kids’ maturity gained this season will carry over to next year. They will graduate nine seniors, seven of them being starters. One of them will be senior Morgan Heffelfinger, who was in the nets in his first overall season.

“Morgan (Heffelfinger) did a great jo for us,” said Bastidas. “He undertook a big role and really grew into his role. He made some big stops for us and kept us in so many games.”

Heffelfinger saw some immediate chemistry on the scene.

“This was a very tight group,” said Heffelfinger, who has been a starting forward on the basketball team. “We really came together and supported each other. We were able to pull out some tight games and just missed many more of them. There is a good returning group for the future.”

The Kids will welcome back a number of returnees and a have a crop of 22 incoming freshmen who will be playing winter soccer. Leading scorer Ryan Keenan will be among those returning to the fold.

“We have kids who are ready to step up their game,” stressed Bastidas. “We needed a season like this one to show guys what it takes to get to this level. Everyone had a role and they played it well.”

A major goal for next season will be the formation of a solid middle school team. Aside from that, Bastidas believes his overall program is on the rise.

“We may not get a middle school team together next year, but we have so many more kids interested in the program. We figure to have about 40 kids involved next year and that’s awesome. We made a lot of progress this year and we are ready to take the next step.

“We got to the league and district playoffs this year. Now we have to get back there and win at that level.”