It was an unexpected result, but in its first game of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference tournament last week, the Emmaus High School boys soccer team, which earned the top overall seed, lost to the eighth seed, Whitehall, in penalty kicks, at Memorial Field.

The loss ended the Hornets championship run early after they finished the regular season unbeaten in conference play at 16-0-1. The Zephyrs (11-8 overall) won 5-4 in the shootout. The Green Hornets (16-2-1) outshot Whitehall 20-6 overall and 11-1 on goal, while also holding a 13-0 advantage in corner kicks.

Ryan Kiernan, Dahlin Allport, Brayden Dang and Preston Eshleman made the four penalty kicks for Emmaus, while Said Alkhmos, Annes Saloum, Valentin Lezcano, Eddie Saloum and Ramerz Farrag all made their kicks for Whitehall.

Whitehall lost to eventual EPC champion Northampton in the semifinal round. The Kids defeated Parkland 2-1 in the final.

Emmaus earned the two seed in this week’s District 11 4A tournament and will host the seventh seed, Nazareth, in the quarterfinal round Wednesday night at Memorial Field. The winner will advance to next Tuesday’s semifinals to take on the winner of the three-six matchup between Parkland and Pleasant Valley.

The Green Hornets won back-to-back district championships in 2020 and 2021.

Emmaus defeated the Blue Eagles 1-0 back on Sept. 6, in the only meeting between the two teams during the regular season. Canyon Reinhardt scored the lone goal in the game for the Green Hornets.