WHITEHALL - Thursday night wasn’t about making a statement for Northern Lehigh.

But it validated the progress the Bulldogs’ boys soccer program has made.

And confirmed that the squad is headed in the right direction.

A historic campaign for Northern Lehigh came to a close with a 6-0 loss to top seed Moravian Academy in the District 11 Class 1A semifinals, but served as another example of how far the squad has come.

“I was happy for Northern Lehigh to be here, first of all,” said Lions’ head coach George Andriko. “They have not gotten this far since I’ve been around, and they’ve had a great season. So that was cool to see them (here). They came out and worked really hard. It was a big difference from the first time we played them, I thought. They did well.”

Andriko and Moravian know what it takes to succeed. The Lions (14-6) are seeking their 11th straight District 11 title, with the last nine coming in Class 1A.

The defending Class 1A state champions led 2-0 at intermission but had several scoring opportunities denied by Bulldogs’ senior goalie James Stock.

“Even though the scoreboard shows six goals, he had a lot of great saves,” said Northern Lehigh head coach John F. Murray.

Stock had nearly 10 stops in the first half to keep the game close for the fourth-seeded Bulldogs (7-12-1).

George Husack and Saleem Diakite scored in the first two minutes of the second half to help the Lions extend their lead to 4-0.

AJ Sasso scored with 34:04 remaining in the contest to increase the lead to 5-0 and added his second of the night with around 17:00 to play to make it 6-0 and put the mercy rule into effect.

“I thought that we worked a little bit too lightly in the first half, in terms of our work rate, and I thought that we weren’t as crisp and clean,” said Andriko. “Credit to the guys, we changed some things at halftime and talked a little bit about it, and we stepped on the gas pretty quickly (in the second half), so we were happy to do that.”

Moravian Academy opened the scoring when John Moyer found the back of the net less than six minutes into the first half.

Enzo Reis made it 2-0 with 26:57 to play before halftime.

Stock saved a direct kick from Sasso near the midway point of the first half, and forced another Sasso opportunity to the side of the net with 12 minutes to play.

The senior was able to cover a ball that was headed into the air around the goal about a minute later. Stock and the Northern Lehigh defense thwarted more than a handful of scoring opportunities in the final 10 minutes of the first half to keep the game 2-0. Moravian had a shot off the crossbar in the first two minutes of the first half, and a pair of shots that went over the net near the midway point of the half.

Sophomore Chayce LoPinto - who had a hat trick in the team’s 10-1 win over Williams Valley Tuesday in the quarterfinals - got behind the Lions’ defense and put a shot over the net with around 16:00 to play in the first half. The Bulldogs had a scoring opportunity five minutes into the second half, and LoPinto headed the ball toward the net a short time later, but both chances were snuffed out by Moravian.

Northern Lehigh has shown the strides it’s made this season, with the boys team winning its first-ever playoff game, recording back-to-back trips to the postseason and posting the second-most victories in program history.

“There’s been ups and downs,” said Murray. “There’s been some questions about whether the program was headed in the right direction, and the fact that we’ve gone from three wins to seven wins, I think has shown that we are. I think it validates the program, our system and hopefully we can keep that momentum going.”

SENIOR LEADERS

... In addition to Stock, the Bulldogs will also lose Jackson Hunsicker to graduation. Murray is hoping to build the team’s depth ahead of next season, as the squad dressed 12 players and had just one substitute.

BETTER TOGETHER

... While Northern Lehigh might not have many players on its roster, Murray praised a squad that has become incredibly close despite the ups and downs over the years. “My first year here we went 0-18,” said Murray. “Once we got past that and started winning a little bit, we got pretty close and then we had this season and they could see they could have something special and they were even closer. We only lose two people, and I fully expect that this is going to be a tight-knit group again next year.”