BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Northampton men's soccer team saw their season come to end on Saturday afternoon, falling to Bucks Community College, 3-2, in the Region XIX Playoffs. 

The Spartans, seeded 7th in the regional tournament, jumped out to a 2-0 halftime advantage behind goals from Cesar Hernandez (East Stroudsburg, PA/Stroudsburg) and Joey Jacona (East Stroudsburg, PA/East Stroudsburg South ).  The Spartans maintained that two goal cushion until 26 minutes remaining in the game, when Tyler Andre scored for Bucks, cutting the margin to 2-1.  Sixteen minutes later Victor Molina found the back of the net to tie the contest at 2-2 and with 5 minutes remaining in the game, Daniel Merritt put home the eventual game winner to give 10th seeded Bucks the upset victory.

"We just just didn't play during the final 30 minutes," remarked Head Coach Brennan McCarthy, "we never could get our shape or just settle the ball ... it seemed like we were on our heels and couldn't recover.  I am really proud of the team, especially the sophomores, they have definitely put their footprint on this program."

Kenan Meral (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty ) made 6 saves for the Spartans and Igor Malaquias (Brazil /Colegio Ateneu do Espirito Santo) had an assist. 

Northampton finishes the 2016 campaign with a 13-3-0 record, while Bucks improves to 13-6-0 and will travel to Sewell,  NJ on Tuesday to face #2 RCGC.