One of the stronger components of the Emmaus-Parkland rivalry comes in boys soccer and this season is apparently going to be no different. The two teams had their first meeting this past weekend with the Hornets pulling out a 1-0 win in a fiery battle between two of the better teams in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.

Just under 15 minutes into the second- half, Parker Landis fired a shot from about 25 yards put and was able to put it past Parkland goalie Evan Bleiler for the only score of the game.

"I saw him and I knew he took a peak at it," said Emmaus head coach John Cari. "That's his range and he had it, took a beautiful shot and did a great job, but you can't take anything away from them. Bleiler played great, he made a big difference for them, covered a lot of ground and covered up a lot of stuff,"

The game featured four yellow cards, including one that was given to Parkland coach Patrick Birns. Both sides spent much of the night chirping at the two officials, who seemed to lose control of the game early on, leading to more and more physical play as the game went on.

The first yellow card of the night, and the only one given to Emmaus, came with 11:29 left in the first half when Stephen Groh got into an altercation with Bleiler. The two had a dust-up earlier in the match on an Emmaus scoring opportunity, but no fouls were called on the play, much to the chagrin of the Emmaus coaching staff.

"The first one, I thought we deserved a penalty kick," said Cari. "Bleiler came in two-fisted, right at Stephen Groh and it affected the outcome of that situation. Groh comes down later, two more, he gets carded and he gets hurt and I think that affected him a little bit.

"In this game, it has to be called tight, because it becomes a real physical battle and it gets personal and that's hard, so they know they should call it tight, because sometimes when it gets loose, that's when it gets out of hand," Cari said.

The 1-0 win was the fourth shutout of the season for Emmaus, which has allowed just four goals through eight games.

Emmaus' defensive unit had to be remade because of the loss of key players to graduation and this year's version is performing better than might have been expected, which Cari believes has been a somewhat unnoticed element for the team.

"I'm very proud," he said. "It's retooled from what it was last year. We're putting Ryan [Paradise] and three new guys out there pretty much. I think they've done a really good job and Ryan's been a really good leader for us, trying to keep control and I'm really proud of what we do. We put Kyle Jaeger into a holding role and he's really like our fifth defender in that situation and he really plugs gaps. I'm happy with the progression that we're making defensively."

The win, along with Monday's victory over Pocono Mountain West, moves Emmaus to 8-0-1 overall and 6-0 in the EPC.

The Trojans (5-2, 4-2) have now lost two straight, both by scores of 1-0 after scoring 24 goals in their first five games. With the two teams together in the newly named Skyline Division of the EPC and another regular season meeting set for October third at Parkland, any little cushion could mean a lot.

"When we play Parkland sometimes, the skill goes out the window and it becomes a really physical battle," said Cari.

"It becomes a blood-bath and it's not a true testament to who these two teams really are; it's not real pretty soccer sometimes. The result, though, is a real positive and it gives us some breathing room in the Skyline Division and I'll take it."