The Freedom Patriots were crowned EPC boys’ soccer champions on Saturday after defeating Pleasant Valley in the final of the EPC tournament, 2-0, at Nazareth High School.

“I’m ecstatic,” said Freedom coach Matt Reightler. “I knew these guys could do it.”

The Patriots beat the Bears in the regular season, 3-0, but with the post season, everything is new.

“I told them we can’t think about what happened when we played Pleasant Valley last time. This is a new game,” Reightler said. “The main thing is that they’ve preached that they want that respect all year long, so all today was about was stepping on this field and earning it, and they truly did.”

The Patriots had their first goal when Daniel Ramirez scored with 9:23 left in the first half. It was initially thought that Ben Reich scored on a header, but the officials determined that Ramirez got the ball over the line before Reich headed the ball into the net.

Either way, that’s when Coach Reightler believed the Patriots had the game.

“To be honest, after we scored that first goal. We haven’t trailed much this year and when we score that first goal, there’s always been a switch, and seeing those guys at halftime and the confidence they were showing, I knew we weren’t giving up a goal today,” he said.

Of course, league MVP Zion Moore was on the Patriot defense’s radar as one of the Bears who could have spoiled that for them.

“Coach didn’t tell me to mark him or anything, but I knew he was the league MVP for a reason, and I took it upon myself to really go at him whenever he got the ball and make sure he didn’t have any real chances on that,” said Patriot defender Zachary Shay. “I was thinking about closing Zion down the entire game.”

In the final minute of the first half, Shay stayed on Moore and foiled his chances as the Pleasant Valley forward threatened to score.

“Coming down the wing and one-on-one, if he would have gotten by me, he would have been one-on-one with the goalie, but getting the ball from him and then clearing it up down the line and hearing the crowd was probably the best feeling,” Shay said.

Earlier in the game in the 13th minute, Moore took a hard shot that was stopped by Freedom goalkeeper Derek Bast, his first of four saves.

With almost the same time on the clock in the second half, Jared Whitehorn took the ball down the field on a pass from Wes Young and scored the Patriots’ second goal.

“Once I had that step of space, I knew I had to rip it. As soon as I saw it roll into the back of the net, I’ve never felt a feeling like that, especially in an EPC final,” Whitehorn said.

Gold medals were presented to the Patriots by Reightler, Freedom athletic director Nate Stannard, and Freedom principal Michael LaPorta before the EPC trophy presentation made by Fred Harris.

“It’s been a long time coming,” said Whitehorn. “It’s something we’ve been working toward for four years now. We celebrate tonight, but as soon as next week starts, we have to look at districts and look to win that title.”