The Emmaus High School girls soccer team has not skipped a beat under first-year head coach Chris Hain. The Green Hornets are unbeaten through their first 11 games of the 2024 season and Hain has been impressed with his group so far.

“The season is going well,” said Hain. “We started off very strong, beating two very good sides in Spring-Ford and Wilson West Lawn to start the season, which helped us get and stay on a roll. We have since struggled with a few key injuries in Kam McWhinney and recently Sophia Shutkufski, but our girls have bought into our culture on how we want to do things and have pushed through every obstacle that has been put in front of us.

“That says a lot about the heart and effort of our squad. As a coaching staff we believe in our players to continue to want to improve every day and play for one another.”

There have been plenty of good and positive moments this season that Hain can highlight.

“Beating Wilson West Lawn was huge for us to start that season,” Hain said. “Since then, a hard-fought tie against Central after losing McWhinney in the first 15 minutes of the game, great wins at Northampton and Easton and the most recent, the win against a well-coached side in Freedom with Freshman Ella Scharper scoring the game winner with 38 seconds left in the first overtime. Every day we get to step on the field with this group whether it’s training or a game is my favorite day.”

Within the last week, Emmaus defeated Bethlehem Catholic 2-0, Freedom 1-0 and East Stroudsburg South 7-1 for three Eastern Pennsylvania Conference victories.

In the win over ES South, Gabby Powell, Hannah Berk and Lizzie Bender score two goals each for Emmaus, while Giulianna Meyer added one.

Against Freedom, Ella Sharper scored the game’s only goal. Keeper Ashley Stein recorded two saves on two shots against the Patriots.

Meyer and Bender scored goals in the win over Bethlehem Catholic, while Stein again made two saves on two shots.

“We have a very talented, smart, young squad and its willingness to want to learn and improve speaks to how much of a great group they are,” said Hain. “I want to see them continue to improve every day and continue to fight no matter what obstacle or team is in front of us and continue to believe in themselves and in the players around them.”