As the rain poured down Monday night, Emmaus and Central Catholic battled through a scoreless first half of soccer. The two teams continued to battle through the second half, but Emmaus was able to put two shots through the rain and into the back of the net to gain a 2-0 win over the Vikings in the season finale for the Hornets.

Patrick Walsh was the first to score for Emmaus as he took a corner kick from Hudson Peck and deposited it into the net to give Emmaus a 1-0 lead. Looking for some insurance, A.J. Febbrarro served up a pass to Josh Whalen, who didn’t miss the opportunity to pick up his first varsity goal and provide some breathing room at 2-0.

Whalen’s goal appeared to take some of the sting out of the Vikings offense and over the final six minutes, Central Catholic didn’t mount much of an advantage. When the horn sounded, Emmaus had their 13th league win of the season and 15th overall, while coach John Cari notched his 250th win as the Hornets coach.

“It was a tough night for a game,” said Cari. “Both teams really played hard and fought through the weather though. It’s nice to get the win in a game like this because it was such a hard-fought win.

“The 250th win is nice, but I’ve been here a long time and when you’ve got a good program, the wins will come. It’s nice though.”

Cari is in his 15th season as the Hornets coach and has a mark of 250-78-20.

The EPC playoffs start Saturday and Emmaus will host a first-round game at Memorial Field. Liberty (15-2 overall, 14-1 EPC) will enter the playoffs as the top seed. Emmaus and Parkland are both 13-3 in the conference and Easton is 12-3 with one game remaining. Where Emmaus will be seeded and who they will play in the opening round has yet to be determined.

Emmaus won its first 12 games of the season before sinking into a three-game losing skid, thanks in part to a rash of injuries. The Hornets were able to pull out of the slide to win their last two games over Whitehall (11-6-1, 10-6-0) and Central Catholic (7-9-1, 7-8-1).

“We’re getting some guys back and we’re playing better right now,” said Cari. “It was important to get a couple of wins under our belt before we go into the postseason, so I’m happy for our guys that they’ve found that momentum and have a bit of swagger back.”

Last season, Emmaus came into the East Penn Conference playoffs as the number-three seed, but was upset by Parkland in the first round of playoffs. The Hornets also entered districts as the three seed and advanced to the finals where they lost to Freedom 1-0 in double overtime. They were eliminated in states with a first-round loss to Abington. In 2018, Emmaus finished league play at 12-3-1 and was 13-4-1 overall going into the postseason.

Jake Groh finished the season as the team leader in goals with 15, while Patrick Walsh had 10 during the regular season. Walsh was the team leader in assists with eight, while Silva and Peck each had five assists on the season for the Hornets.