Any time that Emmaus (3-0-2, 3-1-3) and Central Catholic (4-1-1, 6-1-1) meet in soccer, it’s going to be a contentious game. The two teams are perennially among the top teams in the area and this season is no different. Their most recent meeting last Thursday was played to a 1-1 tie in double overtime, with the usual amount of high emotions.

The tie was the third of the season through six games for Emmaus, which opened the season with a scoreless tie against Parkland (5-0-1, 5-1-1) and then played Downingtown East to a 2-2 tie in a non-conference game eight days later. While nobody is happy with a tie, it beats taking a loss, especially to a division rival as well.

“You want to get a win, but the tie doesn’t hurt us,” said Cari. “They’re not losses, so we can absorb this a little.”

Emmaus followed up the tie with the Vikings with a 2-0 win over Whitehall (0-6, 1-7) on Saturday. Through seven games, the offense has scored nine goals, but has played pretty well considering they had to rely on younger players to get them through some injuries to key players like Noah Bacon. The team now has to deal with the loss of senior Stephen Groh, who decided to leave the team.

“We’re making adjustments as we go, to get through things, and we’ll find it,” sadi Cari. “We lack some experience and we’re getting better. It’s not like we played poorly for a tie, we played well, we just couldn’t find the goal, but it will come, offense sometimes takes some time.

“It was just Noah Bacon’s second game back and it’s a lot to ask of him to go into a double-overtime game, he gave a good effort and little-by-little, he’ll be better. He didn’t really have much of a preseason at all and he’s just slowly getting back to his game.”

The defense, which consists of a rebuilt backfield, has allowed just five goals this season, with senior Dylan Sosnow playing well in goal for the Hornets.

“He’s done a great job,” said Cari. “It helps to give our younger back line some confidence to have him back there. As our offense still works to come around, the defense is helping us with some great games.”

While the team shows patience with its offense, Sosnow isn’t feeling pressure to be perfect in goal and knows that the team’s offense is going to improve with time. While Cari believes Sosnow provides the team’s defenders with some confidence, Sosnow has confidence in the young players in front of him.

“It doesn’t put more pressure on me, because our defense is young, but they’re playing well,” said Sosnow. “Our offense is kind of young, too, and we’ve had some injuries, so they just need time to put it all together. I’m happy with how some of the younger guys are stepping up though and getting us through these games.

“They played well, we were connecting passes and improving on what we have to do. We just have to get a little more on top and create some more options, but it’s coming along.”

The Hornets have three games this week, all against Mountain Division teams, East Stroudsburg North (0-5, 0-6-1), Pocono Mountain East (4-1, 4-1) and Stroudsburg (3-2, 3-2).