Fultondale’s Christian Cruz (left) and Altamony forward Chris Haberstroh (center) jockey for position on a corner kick in the Knights’ 3-0 win over the Wildcats on Friday, in which Haberstroh scored all three goals.

There are no moral victories in sports, so the story goes. But if anyone with Fultondale’s boys soccer team seemed to be hugely disappointed in their 3-0 loss Friday to perennial soccer power Altamont, they weren’t letting on to it.

In fact, “that was the best we’ve played all year,” said Wildcat co-captain Ernesto Valladeres Jr.

Fultondale kept the Knights bottled up with aggressiveness in the midfield and in the defensive end. More than a few Altamont shots were blocked by Wildcat defenders before they got close to the goal.

But the Cats could not find an answer to Chris Haberstroh.

The junior forward, who maybe the only player on the pitch who could converse in Latin, scored his first hat trick of the season.

Haberstroh, who has played in the U.S. Soccer youth development program, got behind the Wildcat defense in the six-yard box, and put in an easy chip shot in the fourth minute. He then took a pass from Stefan Pajaro-van de Stadt in the 18th minute and put it in the back of the net.

At that time, it looked as if Altamont would roll over the Wildcats, as in they have done in past.

But that was all the scoring the Knights would see for nearly an hour, until Haberstroh made an attacking drive off the right wing and  through the Fultondale (3-4-0) coverage in the 68th minute.

Altamont (6-5-2) simply wasn’t dealing well with the Wildcats, almost all of whom are freshmen or below.

The Cats were content to tie Altamont up, hoping that a breakaway opportunity would arise. That breakaway didn’t happen, but it did keep the Knights from inflicting too much damage, and kept themselves in contention.

Wildcat goalkeeper Troy Carlton settled down after the two early goals, and made seven saves. Knights keeper Brindon Sutton easily handled both of the Cats’ shots on goal.