The Emmaus golf team had to wait until the second-last week of the regular season to face its toughest competition of the fall. In a matchup of unbeaten teams entering last Tuesday’s match, it was the Hornets coming out on top.

Emmaus (12-0) remained unbeaten and clinched at least a share of its second straight EPC regular season title with a 378-416 win over Nazareth, the lone other undefeated at the time. Junior Michelle Cox shot a 1-under par 70 in the Hornets’ win last week at Brookside Country Club.

“The Nazareth match was a big match for us because we believed they would be our biggest competitor,” head coach Mo Bryan said. “We also knew that we had to beat Nazareth to clinch the EPC title. I think we were all a little nervous in the beginning of the match, but once we got started and through the first nine holes, we knew we were good.”

Matt Zerfsss (72), Aiden LeBlanc (78) and John Keba (78) helped round out the Hornets’ convincing victory. This season’s depth is one of the main reasons why Emmaus has been able to win its fifth regular season championship in a six-year span.

“I have seven kids that have great averages this year, and they have all qualified for the individual district tournament, which is awesome,” Bryan said. “Michelle, a junior, is our No.1 player and she is so fun to watch. I think her playing so well makes some of the other players on our team more competitive.”

The Hornets are also young, but extremely talented. Zerfass and LeBlanc are only sophomores. Freshman John Keba is in his first season, and Nate Seidel, Sean Jaeger and Colin Wong are all juniors that are pushing this team to perform at its best as the postseason gets started next week.

But it all starts with Cox, who has steadily been the Hornets’ top finisher all season by shooting around par in most matches.

“I believe Michelle’s biggest strength this season is her confidence,” Bryan said. “She has always had a strong golf game and I know how much she works to get better, but now she has the mental toughness and confidence that make her a much more competitive and stronger player.”

Bryan believes her top players’ ceiling is as high as a number of other top players in recent Emmaus history.

“I would say her ceiling is up to her and how far she wants to go with golf,” Bryan said. “I know she would love to play in college and there are quite a few college coaches who would love to have her. One of the greatest things about golf is if you love it you can play your whole life, and I certainly hope Michelle will be playing for a long time.”

Still, the Hornets have unfinished business to attend to. Despite winning the regular season title again back in 2018 and the district team championship, the EPC team tournament title was ripped away from Emmaus’s grasp last season by an upstart Northampton team. There’s no question the Hornets want to capture all three this postseason.

Last year the Kids and Hornets tied in their four-player score used in the EPC tournament. So the fifth player’s score was used as a tiebreaker and Northampton took the title by the slimmest of margins.

“Last year we lost to Northampton by one stoke when we went to the fifth player,” Bryan said. “Winning the EPC tournament this year is definitely on our list.”

Results from Emmaus’s regular season finale against Parkland were not available at time of press.

The EPC Tournament is scheduled for Monday at Olde Homestead.