Northampton soccer players Brielle Szoke and Alayna Hahn are two of the most explosive athletes competing for the K-Kids this year and that extends beyond the soccer pitch. But a little shirt tug here, a subtle arm grab there, can be enough to make the challenge of scoring a goal against quality EPC competition even tougher.

Tuesday night on Joan Kremus field, those tactics slowed and frustrated the Kids’ dynamic duo as Northampton fell to Freedom 1-0.

“We have to understand what things we can control. There are things we can’t control. That’s the lesson from this game,” explained head coach Trojano Bastidas. “It was an even game. There’s some areas that we are better than them and some areas where they were better than us, but overall an even game. But this is good one to learn from. We just have to play through things we can’t control.”

Through the first 38 minutes of the game, there was no score. In fact there had not even been a shot on goal, even though a couple of attempts from each team were either high or wide.

Freedom scored what would become the game-winning goal when Vivian Butros broke down the left flank with only one defender and the Northampton keeper to beat. She cut back toward the center of the field to elude the defense and buried the shot in the far side of the net with 1:20 before the half.

The second half played out in similar fashion to the first. The Kids’ stars were bottled up and the Patriots did not generate much in the way of quality chances either. Freedom finished with 3 shots on goal to Northampton’s 1.

The soccer season has reached its halfway point and the K-Kids are a respectable 6-3 overall and 5-3 in the EPC in their quest to defend their district title.

“There’s 9 games left and I think it’s going to be very, very good soccer for us. I’m proud of the way the way we play,” concluded Bastidas.