In all sports, there is a chance that the team that plays better overall in a given game might not win because the biggest plays of the game go against them. Soccer has a particular proclivity for that phenomenon since goals are so hard to come by.

The Northampton girls soccer team was a victim of that aberration last Friday when they took on Emmaus, trying to break a losing streak against Hornets that extends back to 2018.

The K-Kids outshot the visitors 13-3 for the game and had far more legitimate scoring chances yet wound up on the wrong side of a 2-1 score.

Northampton was the dominant side in the first half, holding Emmaus without a shot on goal. However, two strong scoring chances were turned aside by Hornets’ keeper Ashley Stine and the teams went into the break scoreless.

The Kids got whistled for a questionable handball in the penalty area 6 minutes into the second half and Elisabeth Bender buried the PK to put Emmaus up 1-0.

Ten minutes later, Chloe Watson got Northampton even with a free kick from 25 yards out that somehow found a sliver of space over Stine’s outstretched hand and under the crossbar.

A handball outside the penalty area gave Watson another chance a few minutes later from about the same distance, but this time there was no space for the ball as it rang off the crossbar and bounded harmlessly away.

Emmaus scored the winning goal with 11:28 to play when their free kick got loose in front of the Northampton goal and Sofia Isaksson knocked it home.

Head coach Michael Missmer gave his feedback on the performance, “All in all I’m happy with where we are. Emmaus is one of the top teams. We feel we’re one of the top teams. The ceiling is high for this team. We will improve and get better as we always do. I told them, ‘Let this sting for now and tomorrow you’ll wake up and we’ll focus on our next game.’”

Nearing the halfway point of the season, the K-Kids are 6-1-1 and perhaps most impressively, have not surrendered a goal during the run of play. The three goals allowed came on two PKs and Emmaus’ set piece.

That streak will be put to the test tonight as Easton comes to town for a game under the lights at Joan Kremus Field. After that they have a run of four games against EPC North teams before playing Nazareth on October 1.