Starting off the season with a win is exactly what Northampton would’ve wanted on Friday against Emmaus. Unfortunately for the Konkrete Kids, the Hornets wanted to start their season just as strong.

The match was exciting and had plenty of goals in it, and was a great, early test for both teams.

This five-goal thriller saw action right from the start. Northampton’s Jacob Auger started the scoring within the first five minutes.

But Emmaus would answer back to tie the game at 1-1, until Auger scored his second of the game and give the Kids the lead again.

The Hornets answered back again through Nicholas Cari’s thunderous free kick goal.

The game was even at 2-2 going into halftime and the second half was much of the same. But neither team could score and the match looked destined to go into extra time, until Emmaus’s Justin Llado completed the Hornet’s comeback to win the game by a score of 3-2.

Although Northampton lost this close contest, head coach Adam Bastidas wasn’t discouraged about the result.

“This was a tough result, but we knew coming into this that Emmaus was a good team and the game was going to be tough,” said Bastidas.

He was optimistic about his team for the rest of the season.

“If we play with the same intensity and effort as we did today, we can compete and go the distance with any team in the league,” Bastidas said.

The Kids are going to need to bring that effort and intensity to the tough week ahead of them. Their next games are at Whitehall on Sept. 5 and at Parkland on Sept. 7.

Bastidas feels that this season is the first season his squad has real depth.

“In our team, there isn’t a drop off talent in the top-16 kids on our team,” said Bastidas.

He feels that the first 5-6 players off the bench could start, and that depth gives him optimism for the season.

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Bastidas also sees the promise that Auger. He spoke about how much confidence Auger is going to have after scoring two goals against a good team and believes he can help Northampton succeed the rest of the season. The Kids hope to get their first win of the season in this tough week ahead of them.