As fate would have it, the first game of the year for the Northampton girls soccer team featured a battle of defending District XI champions. The Konkrete Kids, coming off their first league or district title in program history, took on Moravian Academy, winners of the last 7 class 1A district titles.

After graduating 13 seniors from their historic squad and bringing on a new head coach, there were many unknowns about the quality of this year’s team. The K-Kids answered a bunch of questions as they rolled to a 4-1 win on Joan Kremus field on Monday.

With eight new faces in the starting 11, it was a pair of veterans that led the charge as junior Alayna Hahn and senior Brielle Szoke combined for three goals to put Northampton in the win column.

Hahn was visibly dominant as she weaved through and dashed around a Lions’ defense that couldn’t match her athleticism.

She described the chemistry she has with Szoke, “I feel so much more confident now. On top on offense, we’ve got a lot of good talent. I feel like I can work really well with them, especially Brielle. I work so good with her. I think when we connect, we can do anything. So yeah, I think we’re going to be really good this season.”

The two forwards teamed up for the first goal of the game 17 minutes into the contest when Hahn drew the Moravian defense to her on the left side of the goal and hit Szoke with a perfect cross that was buried into the right side of the goal.

After a scramble on a corner with 13 minutes left in the first half, freshman Natalie Biechy, found the back of the net for her first-ever varsity goal.

The Hahn/Szoke tandem struck again minutes into the second half when the Moravian keeper made a diving save on a Hahn shot, only for Szoke to clean up the rebound for her second tally of the contest.

The Kids’ final goal was Hahn’s first of the year. It was her turn to score on a rebound as freshman Jelena Phu created the chance by forcing a Lions’ turnover and putting a tough shot on net with 23 minutes left in the game.

Moravian scored three minutes later to spoil the clean sheet for goalie Grace Caulwell. The junior made 8 saves on the afternoon, none bigger than when she made a sliding stop to stymie a two-on-zero break with Northampton only up 1-0 in the first half.

Head coach Trojano Bastidas picked up his first win at the helm of the varsity program. He assessed the team’s performance, “Very good. In the first half I thought we controlled, we were very composed. In the second half they were obviously pressuring, but we showed how we could play defensively. It was all part of the work that we’ve put in and so yeah, I was very happy.”