NAZARETH – Focus forward.

Alex Wunder collected his thoughts and put the moment into perspective.

Stung by a 2-0 loss to Freedom in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference boys’ soccer final on Saturday at Nazareth’s Ansrew S. Leh Stadium, the Pleasant Valley head coach paused to reflect on the past, while also focusing on the future.

“Honestly, it’s a run that you hope for in the beginning of the season after the tragedy,” said Wunder, who is leading the team after the passing of longtime mentor Chirs Pachuta in August. “It’s what we wanted to do, was get into some finals. We got into one here, and that’s awesome.

“I’m so proud of those guys, honestly. They have done a lot here this year, and we’re not done yet.”

After reaching the final with a dazzling 1-0 shutout against top-seed Liberty in the semis, the fourth-seeded Bears (15-4-1) were stifled by a Patriots team that controlled play from the outset.

“We tried to take some of their key players out of it, which I think we did OK with,” said Wunder. “But still, they were generating a lot more (opportunities) than us. It was difficult for us.”

No. 2 seed Freedom (16-1-4) struck first and grabbed the lead before halftime when Daniel Ramirez scored with 9:27 to play before the intermission.

Playing with an early advantage is something the Patriots have grown accustomed to this season.

“It’s been very important for us,” said Freedom head coach Matthew Reightler. “We’ve only trailed twice all season, so getting that first goal is something that they’ve been used to.

“Once we get it, we start going full force forward. It was something that we knew was coming, we knew we were going to get one today; it was just a matter of time, and getting it in the first half was big, because it set our tone for the rest of the game.”

Jared Whitehorn finished an incredible individual effort to make it 2-0 with 26:57 to play in the second half.

“He’s one of our top scorers,” Reightler said of Whitehorn. “He has 11 goals now, and 10 assists. Last year, he was our leading goal-scorer. We know that if he gets in those positions, he’s going to be able to take that shot; he’s got to finish it nine out of 10 times. And that run is something we’ve done 100 times.”

Pleasant Valley got a similar effort from Zion Moore in the semifinal win over the Hurricanes, but the EPC MVP was unable to find much room to work against the Patriots.

“They wouldn’t let him turn,” Wunder said of Moore. “He couldn’t really touch the ball today.”

Christopher Price made five saves for the Bears.

BIG LOSS … Pleasant Valley played without Mirza Sabovic, a Second-Team EPC All-Star who assisted on Moore’s score in the semis, on Saturday. “We lost Mirza to a non-soccer issue, so he was unable to play today, so that hurt us a little bit in the middle, because he was one of our main midfielders. We thought we’d be able to piece it together, but it just didn’t work out,” Wunder said. Wunder described Sabovic’s status for districts is ‘to be determined.”

CARDED … Pleasant Valley’s Logan Mackes (15:52) and Moore (3:18) were both issued yellow cards in the second half and forced to the bench for five minutes.

LOOKING AHEAD … Pleasant Valley earned the No. 4 seed in the District 11 Class 4A bracket and will have a bye into the quarterfinals. The Bears will face fifth-seed Northampton, which also has a bye, in the quarters. Freedom has the No. 1 seed in the tournament and will play the winner of the No. 9 Stroudsburg and No. 8 Easton game in the quarters.