Even though the season was abbreviated, there was a lot that went on with the Emmaus girls soccer team this fall. After a 4-0 start against Dieruff (2-8-0) and Allen (0-10-0), the competition got tougher and the offense struggled, scoring just two goals in four games. Fortunately for the Hornets, the defense didn’t allow a goal through their first nine games, helping to cover up the offensive woes.

While the Hornets played to a scoreless tie in back-to-back games against Central Catholic (8-3-1) and Whitehall (6-6-1), the defense was strong enough to lead them to a 1-0 win over local soccer powerhouse Southern Lehigh (8-2-1).

The last two games of the season were both against rival Parkland and the Lady Trojans were able to grab both games by a 7-2 combined score, leaving a bad taste in the mouths of Emmaus players.

“I think we know that we’re better than what we showed in those last two games,” said Emmaus head coach Sarah Oswald. “There’s still a lot for us to prove and we’re looking forward to doing that in districts.”

Emmaus (7-2-2 overall) comes into the District 11 playoffs as the sixth-seeded team in the 4A classification. They and third-seeded Pocono Mountain East (9-0-0) both have first-round byes and will meet in the quarterfinals of the tournament on Saturday at PM East at 11 a.m. In most years, the two teams would have met during the regular season, but this season’s schedules limited play to teams within counties, negating the games between the two East Penn Conference teams.

The teams on the Cardinals’ schedule this season had a combined record of 18-27-32 and only two of them – Pleasant Valley (7-1-0) and Stroudsburg (6-4-0) - had winning records. PM East won both meetings against Stroudsburg and the Cardinals won their only contest against Pleasant Valley.

“I think it’s a good matchup for us. If we play the way that we’re capable, we should be in pretty good shape,” said Oswald. “The girls are excited about seeing some new teams and they’re really positive coming into districts.”

The Lady Cardinals will provide the biggest offensive test for Emmaus as they come into the game having outscored their opponents 64-1. Even Parkland didn’t accomplish that level of domination, having outscored opponents 54-3.

“We’ve played very well defensively this season, so it’s going to be a test to see what we can do against them,” said Oswald. “I really believe that we’re up to the task and can give our offense a chance. We saw against Southern Lehigh that we can slow down an offense and then if you even get just one goal, you can win games.”

In last year’s District 11 tournament, Emmaus came in as the number-two seed and was upset in the quarterfinals by seventh-seeded Freedom, who went on to win the district championship. Pocono Mountain East also was eliminated in the quarterfinals when it lost to Pleasant Valley.