Football and baseball are often referred to as “games of inches.”

Unfortunately for the Whitehall girls soccer team, the Zephyr Sports Complex became a field of inches in their District 11 playoff game against Emmaus recently.

The Green Hornets defeated Whitehall 1-0 on Thursday, Oct. 26. The Zephyrs ended their season with a record of 11-6-1.

With 12 minutes to go in the first half, a long Emmaus cross skipped through the penalty area to the waiting feet of Gianna Albanese. After a sharp cut past a defender, Albanese ripped a hard shot that was deflected off a Zephyr player and past the outstretched arms of Whitehall goalkeeper Grace Clary.

The rest of the first half and the beginning of the second half was largely played in the midfield with neither team generating a threatening scoring opportunity.

The game’s pivotal moment occurred with 21 minutes left when Whitehall sophomore Kate Bonshak dribbled through the Green Hornet defense and fired on what appeared to be an open net. But, Emmaus senior Kaitlyn Carter swept the ball away from the goal line to preserve the shutout.

The last 15 minutes of the match was played in Emmaus’ end and Whitehall applied plenty of pressure, but the Zephyrs failed to get one past goalkeeper Alexa Ryan.

The future is certainly bright for coach Chris Bleam’s squad. Four players were named to the all-EPC team, and all of them were underclassmen. Sophomore Kate Bonshak received first team honors. Sophomore Sofia Pittas was named to the second team, and juniors Kylie Saliby and Erica Juliano were named to the third team.