MUSKEGON — Hart didn't let an early two-goal deficit deter it from going after a district championship Saturday morning, but a tough Whitehall defense proved good enough to keep the Pirates from erasing the deficit, and Hart lost a 2-1 thriller to the Vikings to end a successful season.
The Pirates conceded a goal less than five minutes into the game when Whitehall's Greyson Konecny placed a great shot to the corner of the net, and added a second goal later in the half when a shot by Samuel Chona deflected off a Hart defender and made it into the net.
Hart (11-5-4), though, regrouped at halftime and quickly got back in the game when Agustin Hernandez launched a high shot to the goal. Whitehall's keeper, Ethan Sylvester, got a hand on the shot, but it still managed to get through to the back of the net. Trailing 2-1 with over 37 minutes still to go, it looked like Hart had new life.
"Going down 2-0 early in the game, it kills teams, but these boys, they fought through it the whole time," Hart coach Guillermo Ortega said. "It's a great team we played against. They played really well defensively. They did their job. They did what they needed to do. All kudos to them.
"I'm very proud of these boys. They gave it their all the whole way. That's what stands out. Whenever somebody needed to go in there, they were ready to go."
The teams traded scoring chances for a while, neither side able to really force the other's keeper to make a play, but with 13 minutes left, Pirates' forward Adriel Belmares momentarily got loose from the Whitehall defense and fired an on-target shot to the far corner of the net. Unfortunately for Belmares and the Pirates, the shot glanced off the post and stayed out of the net.
Hart kept selling out for an equalizer from there, but couldn't get closer than that Belmares shot off the post.
Ortega said he was extremely pleased with the effort of a young Pirates team with a bright future. Most of the lineup consisted of underclassmen, and all three of the team's goals in the district semifinals and finals were scored by freshmen.
Still, though, Ortega gave a good deal of credit to the team's outgoing seniors, including captain Logan Dean, for helping light the way for the freshmen.
Whitehall's Easton Robbins and Hart's Adriel Belmares duel for a loose ball during Saturday's district final at Oakridge. The Pirates lost, 2-1.
"The seniors built a great foundation for these boys," Ortega said. "They set a great example for what it means to be part of this team. No one ever thought they were better than anyone else. Everybody knew that we could be really good together, and that was really important.
"We talked about it many times. We had many get-togethers, trying to build that bond together. Nobody ever thought they were better than the other. No one cared about how old you are, how big you are. Just having those seniors be leaders, even if they weren't playing playing all 80 minutes, little things like that make everybody come closer together."
For a Pirates team that finished third in the West Michigan Conference and will bring back the vast majority of its lineup, Ortega is looking forward to the next step.
"They motivate me," Ortega said. "I look up to them. It's really nice when they almost humble you with the amazing things they can do, on the field and off the field. It's beautiful. I'm really glad I joined the team, really glad to be a part of it, and I can't wait for what's to come."
