It was all setting up nicely for the Emmaus ice hockey team.

The Hornets, which were already eliminated from playoff contention, were playing in their final regular season game of the Lehigh Valley Scholastic Ice Hockey League Monday.

The team was in position to end the season with a win, leading Nazareth 2-0 late in the second period. But four straight Blue Eagle goals, three in the third period, propelled Nazareth (3-11-2 overall, 8 points) to a 4-2 victory over the Green Hornets (5-11) last Monday evening at Bethlehem Municipal Ice Hockey rink.

The loss ends the regular season for Emmaus and brings the high school career of seven seniors to a close.

“It’s always tough with the transition of losing a great group of seniors,” said Hornet head coach George Hurlburt. “We lost about seven or eight seniors off last year’s team too, so we are going to have to start over again next year with a small number.”

Emmaus finished the group standings in seventh place with 10 points and Nazareth was just behind in eighth place with eight points as both teams just missed out on the postseason.

The first period proved to be a feeling-out period with both teams taking their shots on the opposition’s net. The Hornets tallied eight first-period shots while the Blue Eagles had half of that total. But neither team could find the back of the net in a scoreless first frame.

“The boys knew that this was their last game this season, so that may have been weighing on them,” Hurlburt said. “It took us a little bit to get going, but I thought we played well in the second period.”

The second period saw both teams break loose and get into the scoring column.

One of Hurlburt’s two sons on the team, Justin Hurlburt, found the back of the net four minutes after an opening goal by Alec Tomins just 2:37 into the frame broke the scoreless streak. Just three minutes and 28 seconds separated the Green Hornets’ two second period goals.

But after almost a six-minute stretch without any scoring, Nazareth broke the drought with goal by Josh Ennico with 3:55 left in the second period to cut the Emmaus lead to 2-1.

That goal must have ignited the fire with the Blue Eagle offense as they came out and added two more goals in the first 4:05 of the third period to take their first lead of the game at 3-2 with 11:55 remaining, both goals by Alex Lynch.

Emmaus, facing its first deficit of the game, did not back down and came at the Blue Eagles’ net in full force the next 10-plus minutes, but could not break through.

The Blue Eagles’ Robert Lichtenstein added a fourth goal for Nazareth with 5:21 to go that all-but wrapped up the game.

Austin Moudy finished with 13 saves for Emmaus.