Soccer coach John Cari was glad that his team didn't have a hangover this past week. Or, as he called it, "a Parkland hangover."

Cari was referring to his team having to come back from a 4-0 loss to Parkland (8-0) on Wednesday to face a tough Easton Red Rovers (4-4-1) team on Friday. The loss to Parkland ended a four-game win streak for Emmaus and gave the Trojans a bit of revenge for their two losses - one of which ended their season - last year.

Instead of coming back stiff after their loss to Parkland, the result for Emmaus was a bounce-back 3-1 win over Easton on the strength of two goals from Kevin Waterman.

"I truly expected a little bit of a Parkland hangover. I knew the work rate was high, no matter what the result was against Parkland. I'm pleased with this result [the win over Easton]; a league win means more than anything else," said Cari.

Ironically, Waterman didn't start the game against Easton and has been battling back spasms, which have limited his playing time. You wouldn't have known that he was hurting watching his play, but Cari believed it was an accomplishment just for Waterman to be out there and a real plus for him to play at the level that he has.

"He is really hurting. I thought he looked a little gimpy and he didn't play much in the first half because of it," Cari said. "We needed to make an adjustment and got him in and I'm real proud of him, because I know he's hurting."

The Hornets had taken a 1-0 lead over Easton on a penalty kick from Charlie Jerry that fooled goalie Pat Brogan, who had just entered the game when starter Justin Rissmiller received a yellow card for yelling at an official.

If Cari was proud of Waterman on Friday, he was even more proud on Saturday. Playing against Wilson West Lawn, the seventh ranked team in Pennsylvania, the Hornets were down by two when Waterman picked up his third goal in less than 24 hours as Emmaus went on to play to a 2-2 tie with the Bulldogs.

"We were all working hard," said Waterman of the win over Easton. "We got a couple lucky breaks, too, like the one off the cross-bar [which Waterman headed into the goal on the rebound]. We just have to keep going out and playing with heart like we have been and we'll be okay."

The tie leaves the Hornets at 5-3-1 this season, which is an accomplishment after an 0-2 start. The Hornets have clawed their way back to the top of the LVC West division, over Central Catholic (4-4-2), Allen, who beat Emmaus early in the season is 3-4-1, while Dieruff is winless in eight games. This week completes the Bethlehem portion of the schedule for Emmaus with road games at Liberty and Freedom and a home contest against Bethlehem Catholic on Thursday.

Nothing is coming easy these days for the Hornets, who are a banged up team. Cari reported that he held seven players out of practice last week because of injuries and games against tough opponents Easton and Wilson West Lawn didn't do a lot to heal any of the nagging injuries.