Both coaches came out of the season opener between Northampton and Emmaus believing that their teams let a lot of scoring opportunities go without taking advantage of them.

The downside for Northampton is that they were unable to convert one less opportunity than Emmaus did and fell to the Lady Hornets 1-0.

Just under 12-minutes into the game, Emmaus’ Grace Eisenhard had a shot from the left side of the goal but it rebounded off the post and carried directly in front of the goal where Sydney Cole was able to push it across the goal line for her first varsity goal.

“We had a defender there and played everything the right way,” said coach Chaz Paul. “But their girl was able to make a nice play to get the goal.”

Cole’s kick was one of six shots on goal for Emmaus (1-0 EPC, 1-0 overall), who also had just as many shots sail wide or high over the goal during the game. Northampton (0-1, 1-1) also had six shots on goalkeeper Alexa Ryan and another 10 that sailed off their mark throughout the game. Besides the errant shots, both teams had momentum stopped either by a misplay or a good defensive play by their opponent.

Both coaches conceded that some of the missed opportunities could have come because it was the first game of the season and players are still adjusting to each other on the field.

“It’s disappointing because in many ways, we played well but we couldn’t finish a number of good looks that we had,” said Saul. “They had a bit of the same problem and I think it’s a situation where later in the year we convert at least some of those. This was a winnable game for us, but we couldn’t finish off plays.”

While both teams missed scoring chances, both goalies also came up with some big plays throughout the game to turn away a scoring opportunity for the other team. Gabby Demchak made five saves in the game for Northampton in a solid outing. Emmaus looked to go up 2-0 in the second half on a close range shot by Maddie Fey but Demchak was able to dive to her left to make the stop to keep it a one-goal game.

The good news is that on Tuesday, Northampton looked to make up for those missed opportunities as they scored seven goals against Notre Dame – Green Pond in a 7-4 win over the Lady Crusaders.

Northampton hosts Parkland (1-0, 1-0) Friday evening and then faces Central Catholic (0-1, 0-1), also at home, next Tuesday. Parkland downed Northampton last season in the first round of the EPC playoffs and went on to win both the EPC and District 11 championships.