The girls soccer team rattled off eight wins in a row seven of them shutouts to finish the season, but it wasn't good enough to qualify for the Lehigh Valley Conference playoffs. It was good enough though, to qualify for the District 11 tournament, which starts next week.

The team will use its week off to practice and prepare for districts, hoping that it can keep the edge that saw the Hornets turn what was going to be a lackluster season into one where they were able to get past an early season scoring drought and finish 10-5-2 on the season.

It's worth noting that Emmaus played all four of the teams in the LVC Tournament prior to turning their season around. The Lady Hornets lost to three of those teams Easton, Parkland and Whitehall and tied Central Catholic early in the season, while beating the Vikettes in their season-ending game. Considering that they're playing much better now, the district playoffs could be very interesting.

Part of the reason the girls team turned around this season was the development of young players. More than half of the regular starting lineup is comprised of underclassmen, with sophomores making up a key part of that lineup. Sophomores Shannon McGinnis, Liz Waring and Maggie Breyer have played in every varsity game in their two years at Emmaus. Freshman Kristen Roth has been a regular starter for the team this season and finished the regular season with eight goals and four assists.

Meanwhile, junior Mandy McCarthy jumped out to lead the team in goals with 14, edging out senior Kelsey Bacon, who scored 11.

While sophomores and juniors may rule the lineup, Bacon has been a mainstay and is the player that the team looks to for leadership.

"Kelsey is a four-year varsity player with a great deal of big game experience so she's obviously very important to us," said coach Robert Rooney. "She's got a tremendous work rate, is second in scoring and is really the focal point of our attack. She's good with the ball, makes quality decisions and is a real on-field leader."

Another key reason for the success this season has been the turnaround of the defense. At one point, Emmaus went through a stretch of six games where it was outscored 16-4, but since then have allowed just four goals in nine games.

Goalie Katie Thomas saw the majority of time in goal for Emmaus and allowed just over one goal per game over the season. Ironically, the turnaround to Thomas' season came at the same time as the team's renaissance; against Wilson West Lawn. It was against Wilson, a highly rated team in state polls, that Thomas turned in a season-high nine saves and the Hornets wound up with a 1-1 tie. It would be that game that would catapult Emmaus on its late season run.

The PIAA changed the girls soccer season to the fall from spring, giving the girls a short break between seasons. This past spring, Emmaus went 12-7 overall, losing in the LVC semifinals to Central Catholic and then in the district quarterfinals to Northwestern.

This fall's version of districts will be interesting. If the team that Emmaus fielded over the second half of the season shows up, they could be one of the dark horse candidates.