The Emmaus boys' soccer team opened its season with a non-league match against the Cumberland Valley Eagles on Saturday.

The two teams are no strangers to each other, although the Hornets might not be too upset if they saw less of the Eagles, who they have played tough, but haven't been able to beat in their last five meetings. In those games, the Hornets have picked up three ties, but this year's meeting didn't go well for the home team, which held a 21-game unbeaten streak at Memorial Field.

In this year's meeting, Cumberland Valley took advantage of Emmaus miscues on defense to pick up two goals in their 3-1 win over the Hornets, in a matchup of teams who were both eliminated from the PIAA Tournament in last year's opening round.

The Emmaus defense came out stiff and committed glaring misplays early in the game and the Eagles didn't miss their opportunities. Seniors Pete Kemery and Jesse Zimmerman each scored within 15 minutes of each other after defensive miscues by the Hornets.

In the second-half, Emmaus started to show better effort defensively, but were unable to mount enough offense to put anything past Cumberland Valley goalkeeper Ben Steele through much of the second-half of the game.

The Emmaus defense was stronger, but Kemery was able to put a shot past goalkeeper Kevin Fine, giving Cumberland Valley a 3-0 advantage over the Hornets.

Emmaus controlled much of the game offensively and outshot Cumberland Valley 13-9, but Steele came up with nine saves. In the final five minutes of the game, Emmaus picked up its energy level and it led to the Hornets' lone goal of the game when when seniors Ben Roda and A.J. Bishop teamed up, with Bishop's shot sailing past Steele, cutting the lead to 3-1.

Of the nine shots that Cumberland Valley was able to launch, four of them were off the mark and goalkeeper Kevin Fine was able to save two other shots.

With their non-league opener out of the way, the Hornets now face a couple of Lehigh Valley Conference games against Allen Tuesday and Dieruff on Friday before they welcome Downingtown West to Memorial Field this Saturday.