A 2-0 win over Downingtown West over the weekend may have been a big moment for the boys soccer team. The Whippets are perennially a pretty strong team and to shut them out could have been just the type of game that Emmaus will need to beat some of the stronger competition in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.

“I think it’s going well and we’re making progress,” said coach John Cari. “We had a big win Saturday on the road and I thought we played hard against a pretty good team, so we’re going in the right direction. I think Dylan [Sosnow] had a real good confidence boost for him to get a shutout against Downingtown.”

The win improved Emmaus to 3-1 overall. The Hornets stand at 2-0 in the EPC with wins over Easton and Dieruff by identical 5-0 scores. The only blemish came in a loss to a tough Cumberland Valley team. Through their four games, the Hornets have outscored opponents 12-2 this season.

“We’re still working on our offensive patterns, moving the ball into the right place...and closing down a little bit defensively,” said Cari. “These things are starting to come and I think we’ll get there and we’re really working on it right now.

“I think we’re a little behind where I want to be defensively. I know we’ve only given up two goals, but we can be sharper. We can be crisper and we can make better decisions, so we really need to work on things like that. Result wise, we’re good, but I still think we’ve got a lot of progress to make.”

Cari has been able to mix in a couple of young players to play with some of the more experienced players on the team and is liking the results. He pointed out the play of goalkeeper Sosnow and sophomore Dakota Bauer.

“Dakota hasn’t come off the field too much for us in the middle of the field and he’s been pretty good, so I think the young guys are fitting in well,” said Cari. “We’re starting to jell a little bit and we’re moving the ball a little bit and the cohesiveness among the guys is there.”

Junior Kacper Grycel is quickly becoming a team leader for Emmaus and Cari believes that he’s going to start to get recognized by other teams as a player that needs to be watched. When all is said and done this season, Grycel could be worthy of consideration as an all-conference player.

“I think he’s really been our field leader and I think he’s really stepped up his game. Kacper has been with us since he was a freshman, which is really kind of rare, but his talent is there, he’s stepped up with us, he can really help us move the ball, he shoots well. I hope he gets recognized by the conference at the end of the season for what he’s done, because we wouldn’t be the same team without him.”

Grycel feels like he’s continued to grow as a member of the team as he progressed as a player. This season, he seems to have earned the respect of his teammates, who are looking to him to help lead the team. Younger players are also looking to him because of the leadership that he supplies.

“I feel like I’m playing really well and I’m really connecting with this team and I think that as the season goes on we’ll get better and really stick teams this year,” said Grycel. “The seniors did teach me a lot, but we’re trying to move it down to the sophomores and the freshmen.

“The younger players are really clicking with this team.”

Having been on successful teams the past couple of seasons, Grycel believes that this year’s squad has a chance to be among the best that he’s played on during his high school career. He’s impressed with the contribution that a number of players are making and how the team is working together even early in the season. Personally, he’s happy with his play. He doesn’t think about things like making the all-conference team, preferring instead to just focus on improving his play.

“If I could get there [the all-conference team], that would just be truly amazing, but I’m not really thinking about it,” said Grycel. “As a team, I think we’re really competitive. We’re here to win games and I think every game we’re trying to win, trying to play our best and everyone here is giving 100 percent.”