Nobody can deny that the Emmaus girls soccer team is making big strides this season. After a tough opening-day 3-1 loss to Parkland (6-0, 7-0) in which Krysti Schmidt scored the lone goal for the Hornets, the team has rallied to go 4-2 since then.

One of those losses was a heartbreaking loss to Central Catholic (3-2, 3-2), who scored a goal in the final 10-seconds of regulation and then won the game 4-3 in overtime.

Coach Sarah Oswald admitted there was a breakdown in those final 10 seconds that taught her team an important lesson.

“It was a lack of focus from us,” said Oswald. “There were 10 seconds to go in the second half and we just weren’t focused for that 10 seconds. Hopefully, that’s a motivator for us that shows we need to put in a full 80 minutes on the field and don’t stop until the last whistle blows,” said Oswald. “Our effort was excellent. The goals that we scored were quality and we came back from a 1-0 deficit and continued to go at them, so I think it’s a confidence booster, but it’s also a motivator that we’ll be able to use when we go throughout the season.”

Emmaus (3-2, 3-2) followed up the loss to the Vikettes with an impressive display against East Stroudsburg North, downing the Timberwolves 9-0. Emmaus scored three goals in the first 8:30 of the game, with Reilly McGinnis scoring the first and then sending a near-perfect pass in front of the goal for Kellie Reith, who headed the shot in for a 2-0 lead. Sophie Pickering then made it 3-0 with an unassisted goal.

Hannah Oswald scored three times in the game, with McGinnis scoring twice. Pickering, Reith, Maddie Fey and Brenna Skekel also scored for the Hornets, who were able to play all three goalies and every player on their roster in the game.

“I don’t think the level of play dropped tonight when we put our subs in,” said coach Oswald. “Everyone played really well tonight and they showed exactly what we wanted to. We wanted to connect passes. We wanted to score quality goals tonight and just keep the same level of competitiveness up the entire game.”

Pickering has now scored in three straight games for Emmaus, giving the junior midfielder four goals on the season. Pickering was quick to deflect the credit for her success.

“It’s all a team effort and it’s all because of my teammates,” said Pickering, who admitted that she’s feeling more confidence in taking shots rather than passing off opportunities to other players. “They’re the ones that give me the confidence. I know they have my back.”

Some of Pickering’s goals have come at just the right moment, including against Central Catholic to help spark their comeback.

“Sophie’s been great for us,” said Sarah Oswald. “She’s really quality in the midfield, playing next to Reilly [McGinnis] and she’s found our forwards when she needs them, but she’s also taken it on her shoulders to say ‘I’m going to get the goal that we need.’ She scored a huge goal against Central. She scored a huge goal against Northampton that put us up 1-0 and we were struggling to find the net.”

The loss to Central Catholic was tough, but it did give the players a concrete example that they can point to showing that they can play better teams in the EPC very tough. It will be interesting to see how both teams respond when they meet in the regular season finale on Emmaus’ home turf October 13.

“They’re great competition and it was a confidence booster to hang with them and we’re glad that we get to play them again, we’re really happy about that,” said Pickering.

Emmaus plays at Pocono Mountain East (3-2-1, 5-2-1) Wednesday and then hosts Stroudsburg (4-2, 5-2) Friday. The Hornets also have a conference game Saturday night at Whitehall (3-2-1, 3-2-1).