It’s hard enough for a team to have to play their entire nine-game season in just two weeks.

But to go winless over that span would have left Northern Lehigh feeling even worse.

On Tuesday, the Bulldogs’ boys soccer team defeated Palmerton, 5-1, to finish their abbreviated season with a 1-8 record.

Two goals by sophomore Ethan Kunkle, and two more by senior Josh Sollars, highlighted Northern Lehigh’s victory.

Northern Lehigh coach Jason Ruch said a good game plan was put into place because the two teams were evenly matched.

“Our plan was to keep the ball away from (Jon) Perloni and (Corlan) Wood, and try to keep the game wide and away from the center of the field,” he said. “They like to kick and run, and that’s tougher to do when you’re playing the ball near the sidelines.”

The action stalled between the 30-yard lines in the opening minutes of the game, as neither team could muster much offense.

Eventually at the 36-minute mark, Northern Lehigh’s Evan Horninger found Grant Olewine with a pass, and Olewine got in front of the net and headed the ball over the outstretched arms of Palmerton goalkeeper Brayden Kline for a 1-0 Bulldog lead.

Northern Lehigh carried the action for the next three minutes, until the Bombers managed a long shot that was an easy save for NL keeper Logan Dyer.

“We have trouble seeing the whole field at times,” said Palmerton coach Antonio Orlando. “We’re still working on our soccer sense and getting into better position to see the open passing areas that would allow us to have better scoring chances.”

With the midway point of the first half approaching, Kunkle got a pass from Olewine and broke ahead of the field on a breakaway. Kline came racing out of his crease to stop Kunkle’s rush, but the Bulldog midfielder was able to boot the ball over Kline and into the net for a 2-0 lead.

The Bombers went on the attack in the final 15 minutes of the half. Wood, a senior, had a few in-close chances off scrambles for possession of the ball, especially at the four-minute mark when his hard shot from the right angle was saved by Dyer.

With five minutes gone in the second half, a bevy of Bulldogs rushed the Bomber net. Kline came out to stop the initial charge, but the ball then sailed over him, heading for a wide open net. Palmerton defenseman Ethan Page jumped into the crease and kicked out what would have been a sure goal.

Kunkle was stopped on a point-blank shot by Kline a minute later, but later scored off his own rebound at 31:26 for a 3-0 NL lead.

Following a Bulldog yellow card, Perloni - Palmerton’s all-time leading scorer - drilled a free kick into the net from 17 yards out to put the Bombers on the board with 21 minutes left to play.

Perloni’s goal seemed to ignite a fire in the Bombers. In the next seven minutes, Dyer had to stop three shots in close, plus a hard line drive by Perloni that just missed the left corner of the goal.

Sollars was tripped inside the circle at the 10-minute mark, and then went on to bury his penalty shot in the upper right corner to give the Bulldogs their three-goal lead again.

Sollars scored his second unassisted goal of the game with time winding down to seal the victory.

“I’m really happy for our kids to finish with a win; especially for our 10 seniors who’ve been starters since they were freshmen,” said Ruch. “After one win last year, I think we were much more competitive this season. The kids really worked hard, and never gave up.”

HEART AND HUSTLE

... Heart and hustle were the words Ruch used in his postgame recap to describe the valiant effort his players gave him in a season that came and went in only two weeks.

BOMBS AWAY

... Perloni leaves his mark as Palmerton’s leading scorer. His goal Tuesday was the 37th of his career.

BUSY NETMINDERS

... Palmerton’s Kline and Northern Lehigh’s Dyer faced a combined 20 shots in the game, and registered 17 total saves.