The Emmaus High School boys soccer team won its first 11 games of the regular season, but suffered its first defeat at the hands of Northampton, 1-0 last week. The Green Hornets, having to face adversity for the first time all season, did not let it balloon into more. According to head coach John Cari, it didn’t sit well with his team, but they learned from it and moved on.

“I think the loss bothered them, but it didn’t break them,” said Cari. “We played on a very narrow field that featured 76 throw-ins. They had a player who had a good throw, so every throw-in was a chance on goal. They never got a shot off in the flow of play, just a shot that was blocked and rebounded in. I think the guys feel that if we played on a full-size field, this game could go very differently. I also think they learned that you cannot take anything for granted. You can play well and still lose a game. We need to take care of our chances and put them away.”

Emmaus (12-1-1 overall, 12-1 EPC) bounced right back just two days later and was on the right side of a 1-0 game, beating Freedom last Wednesday.

“Once again, we didn’t do our best putting away chances, but our defense did its job and posted another shutout,” Cari said. “I thought Freedom was a much better team than its record suggested.”

With just three games left in the regular season, Cari wants to see his team continue to improve and get better. Emmaus hosts Stroudsburg on Thursday and then is on the road next week at Allen and Parkland.

“We need to continue to strive to get better,” said Cari. “We need to make the most of our changes, not wait for the perfect ball or set up, follow up and crash. We need to continue to defend the way we have. We need to continue to develop our set pieces and always be dangerous. Our last two weeks have some tough games, which should help us gear up for the playoffs.”

The Emmaus defense has been stout all season and Cari highlighted some of the players from that group.

“To only allow two goals against 14 games into the season is something that seems to get looked over,” Cari said. “Goalkeeper Max McGrath, defenders, Avian Delgado, Brayden Dang, Preston Eshleman, Zach Bernhart, and defensive center mid Ryan Latchford should be lauded for their play. Twelve shutouts define our team.”