Over the past four years, Northampton’s boys’ soccer program has established its share of records and wins.

Last season, the Konkrete Kids captured their first East Penn Conference (EPC) championship, and they advanced to the district final. Even though they lost a number of players from last year’s cast, the Kids were viewed as contenders again for the EPC crown as well as postseason players.

Unfortunately, the 2024 magic didn’t have the staying postseason power his season.

The Kids’ season ended with a 1-0 loss to Liberty in the District 11 Class A quarterfinals. They finished the year with an overall 15-4-2 record.

Head coach Chris Bastidas, who took over the program four years ago, still felt the sting of the defeat after the game, but he sees plenty in the big picture.

“It’s tough to look as the season so close after a loss,” offered Bastidas after the season ended. “But this group of seniors was the first group I got to coach all the way through, as it is my fourth year at Northampton. They are by far the most successful group in the history of Northampton soccer.”

Bastidas knew his team might slip under the radar, but the expected end result was still there.

“This season I know the expectations were not high from the outside,” added Bastidas. “We were projected around eight or nine wins. We far exceeded that, but internally we felt we wanted to make it back to a final and we felt it was possible.”

Northampton began the season with seven-straight wins, outscoring their opponents, 31-3. Their streak ended with a 1-0 loss to Emmaus, but rebounded with an eight-game unbeaten streak that featured two ties. Parkland ended the next streak with a 2-1 win.

Leading scorer and league MVP, and all-state selection senior Luca Mannino, who scored a team-high 21 goals and 21 assists, had some lingering memories from the last game.

“It was a very rough ending this season,” noted Mannino last fall. “I didn’t want our season to end without a trophy. I felt terrible for a couple of days.

“I sometimes look back and watch the game, seeing what could have been done better and taking it as a learning opportunity. We had many chances against Liberty, but the ball didn’t seem to go in. I don’t want to make excuses, but I do feel like we were robbed by the refs. There was a visible hand in the box, but it was missed by three refs and many calls didn’t go our way.”

Fellow senior Joey Snyder, who scored 18 goals and 15 assists and was a first-team All-EPC choice, shared his teammates sentiments. Senior Dante Keen also was a first-team choice, junior Blake Turner was a second-team selection, and junior goalie Ryan Nahf, who had 68 saves, was a third-team choice.

Snyder also pointed to a reason why he team lost two games to Emmaus – the second in a EPC semifinal - by identical 1-0 scores.

“The real feeling of the season ending didn’t truly sink in until the few days after,” reflected Snyder, who will continue his career at Muhlenberg next year, “Really being without my teammates showed me how much this season, and this team had a role in my life these past few months and helped me rather cherish it after the desolate feelings.

“I truly believe the only reason we could not beat Emmaus was a lack of confidence in ourselves leading to less risk being taken in the game. We took our last chances for granted, which lead to them taking what was up for grabs.”

Looking at the whole season, however, Bastidas saw plenty of impressive marks.

“The play all season long was top level and I was very happy with the skill and effort,” evaluated Bastidas. “I was impressed with the attitude and the results on the field. Even though the playoffs didn’t go as we wanted, we know we accomplished a lot and have a lot to be proud of.”