Coming in as the top seed, it was easy to imagine Emmaus advancing to the Lehigh Valley Conference championship game. It became even easier to imagine when Emmaus grabbed a 2-0 lead over Easton and dominated the firsthalf of its semifinal meeting with the Red Rovers, but that's where the vision became a little blurry.

Easton came out rejuvenated in the second half and worked its way back to a 2-2 tie. The Rovers eventually snuck away with a 3-2 win after a controversial goal in the second overtime period. The loss dumped the Hornets from the LVC playoffs and sent the Red Rovers to an LVC finals matchup with the Parkland Trojans, which they lost 2-0.

Patrick Russell and Kevin Kender scored the Emmaus goals in the first half, with Russell assisting on Kender's goal. The 2-0 lead seemed almost insurmountable because of how the Hornets dominated in the first 40 minutes.

The winning goal came on a free kick that was awarded after a hand-ball foul on Emmaus. Usually, the team awarded the kick stops to set up a play, but Easton's Lucas Lampertti wasted no time in placing the ball and blasting it toward the goal and past the unsuspecting Emmaus defense.

Emmaus head coach John Cari argued the play, but was told that the team doesn't have to stop play if they don't request a 10-yard separation between the kicker and defensive players. In other words, the goal counted and Emmaus was eliminated.

Ultimately, Cari believes that his team should have never allowed the game to go to overtime, because they should have been able to put the game away during regulation.

"I told the team that the lack of ability to finish [score] more than two goals could come back to haunt us," he said. "All it takes is for them to score one goal and the momentum changed."

Emmaus will prepare for the District 11 playoffs this week, opening with a home game against Pottsville Wednesday at Memorial Field.

"Our goal has always been to become district champions," said Cari. "Maybe it [the loss to Easton] made us focus a bit more towards the goal."

After a long season that saw Emmaus go 14-4-1 overall, the Hornets are a little banged up, but don't have any serious injuries to deal with.

If they are hoping for a rematch against Easton or their rivals, the Parkland Trojans, they'll have to wait until a matchup in the district finals, since both teams are on the other side of the bracket from Emmaus.

Parkland, which won the LVC championship and beat Emmaus 7-0 during the regular season is seeded second and has a first-round bye. The Red Rovers are the seventh seed and host Liberty in first-round action.