One might think that having a first-round opponent in the playoffs who you’ve beaten twice during the regular season would make for an easy win. That’s not always the case.

Emmaus (14-3-1) had to face Northampton (12-6-1) to open the EPC quarterfinals on Saturday. The Konkrete Kids had served notice that they were looking for some revenge against Skyline Division opponents now that the playoffs had arrived.

The two teams battled, but in the end, it was Emmaus that advanced with a 1-0 win on a goal by freshman Maddi Woodward. The win puts Emmaus into the semifinals against Freedom (14-5-0), with the winner playing the winner of the other semifinal between Parkland (18-0-1) and Easton (14-5-0).

“We knew this was going to be a test and that they were going to throw different things at us and put everything they had on the field,” said Emmaus head coach Sarah Oswald. “We knew that we had to withstand the test and dictate the way that the game goes.”

Within the first 10 minutes of the game, Northampton put a shot on goal that caromed off the left post and bounced harmlessly away from the goal and Emmaus put up a shot that sailed just over the crossbar. That’s pretty much how the first half went until Woodward scored the lone goal of the game with 12:54 left in the half.

“I was just thinking that we had to put an end to this and somebody had to put the ball into the back of the goal,” said Woodward. “I just came full force and just tried to get any part of my body on the ball.”

Both teams again had chances in the second half, with the best opportunity coming on a direct kick by Northampton that seemed to have a chance at dropping into the top of the goal over the outstretched arm of goalkeeper Alexa Ryan. Instead, the ball bounced off of the crossbar and over the net. Emmaus concentrated on playing strong defense and Northampton was unable to mount any late pressure as the Hornets wrapped up the win.

“We spread the scoring around and have kids that show up where we need them to and put the ball into a good spot to go in and Maddi was in the right place at the right time,” said Oswald. “Yesterday we worked on set pieces and tried to change a few things on how we were going to make our runs and where people were going based on the ability that they have.”

The Lady Hornets had beaten Northampton to open the regular season and then downed them 3-1 late last month. Emmaus downed Freedom, their semifinal opponent, 3-1 when the two teams played a month ago during the regular season.

“I think we’ve stepped it up from where we were at the beginning of the season and our focus is really good right now,” said Woodward. “I think we’ve improved a lot. This is just the beginning of a stretch and we’re going to have to come out and play even harder than in this game, because it’s going to get tougher and tougher.”

Playing tougher opponents in the postseason, Oswald is looking to keep her players focused on the things they need to do to win games. While she’s not sure the team is exactly peaking right now, she has seen the type of play from her team that she is going to need to win in conference and district playoffs.

“I think we’re playing really good soccer,” said Oswald. “There are still some moments in games where we have some lapses and that’s just what we need to focus on and make sure that all 80 minutes are the way that they need to be played so that we don’t beat ourselves.

“I don’t believe that there are many teams in this conference that can beat us on our best day, so we need to make sure that we show up and we bring that every single time we step onto the field.”