It was a Saturday afternoon girls soccer game that would have been a perfect fit for the turf of Emmaus High School's Memorial field, but it was played up the road on Parkland's grass field.

The Trojans (7-0) remained unbeaten thanks to two goals from sophomore forward Brooke Schutter, and solid defensive play, holding the Green Hornets (3-2-1) scoreless for a 2-0 defeat on a rainy, muddy field.

The conditions were not in the favor of either team, especially for Emmaus, which plays most of its games on turf.

"We're not disappointed in the way that we played," said Hornet head coach Rob Rooney. "We're disappointed in the result. Our kids played hard and worked hard. We got behind early, and that's never a good thing to have to chase the match."

Parkland dominated in shots on goal and had its fair share of scoring efforts. Schutter had a lob go over Emmaus goal keeper Mackenzie McCann (6 saves) on the first Trojan shot of the game for a quick 1-0 lead just five minutes in.

With a little over three minutes until halftime, Parkland's Rachel Medlar found Schutter streaking through the defense on a through ball. Schutter took one dribble away from the defender to find some space, and hit a low effort that found side netting.

"We were pressing to try and get back that goal, then they scored another one" said Rooney. "Their second goal was a tremendous effort. We were just never able to get on track on the attack. That's a good team that put us under a lot of pressure. We were unable to match a lot of their commitment in the first half. By the time we were able to tackle our way back into it, the game is 2-0 at that point.

"If we pulled one back early, maybe the game changes, but the later you get down two goals, the harder it is to come back."

Once the Trojans found that two-goal cushion, they were able to sit back and defend any attack the Green Hornets brought their way.

The stat line showed both teams only recording one shot on net after halftime.

With the new conference alignment, Emmaus has a tough road ahead with some steep competition. The Green Hornets defeated Northampton 3-1 last week, but fell to Nazareth and Parkland and have two conference losses.

With another game against Parkland, and two each still to be played versus Whitehall and Central Catholic, Rooney understands there is some work to do, but knows his team can reach the playoffs.

"Eight teams make the playoffs in this new conference, and we fully plan to be one of those teams," added Rooney. "The conference is very competitive. Last year at this time, Easton wasn't one of the better teams with some losses, but in the end they were league and district champs. Being the best team in September doesn't get you anything."