The game should have been over twice, or so it seemed. But two goals were disallowed, which prevented any scoring in another chapter of the Emmaus-Parkland boys soccer rivalry last Saturday night at Lehigh County Sports Complex.

The Green Hornets found the back of the net off of a corner kick late in the first half, but it was called offside. The Trojans ripped a shot that pierced the net but the final whistle blew just as the kick was made and did not count.

The atmosphere at the little-used county fields was electric. As the soccer complex at Parkland High School is playing its games on the natural grass surface in Cetronia. In typical fashion, the fans showed up in bunches and surrounded the field. It had the feeling of a district playoff game.

“Great atmosphere, it’s just how these games always are,” said Emmaus head coach John Cari. “I’ll take a point on the road with the environment like this. It’s a pretty neat place to play and we had fun tonight.”

There were chances for both teams to break the scoreless drought at various times over the game, but neither could break through. Emmaus goalkeeper Dylan Sosnow made two tremendous saves in each half of regulation. In the first, he dove across the goal to block a half-volley from Parkland’s Andrew Luchansky. After intermission, with the Green Hornets were absorbing tremendous pressure when Sosnow battled off a close-range shot from Mark Stenske.

“He had two huge saves,” said Cari. “I thought his distribution was good. He played great. I’m really proud of what he gave us today.”

But the one that the Green Hornets (6-1-1) thought they had in the first half, came back. Kyle Hahn flicked the ball off his head from the corner onto the path of John Fritz, who finished in front of the goal, but the referee called him offside.

“I didn’t have a good vantage point, so I called the ref over to get an explanation,” Cari said. “Both teams left a couple on the table.”

Ryan Paradise hit the crossbar with a header off a corner in the second half, and Parkland’s Byron Derti later missed wide after an Emmaus turnover.

A tie is better than a loss, and even though the Green Hornets could not find the winner, they prevented a goal that would have beat them. It gives a young team big-game experience and a crucial point against a Trojans team that had already lost in the conference.