Central Catholic 1, Emmaus 0
RECAP – It’s not often that Central Catholic has defeated Emmaus in boys soccer.
In fact, it’s only happened once in coach John Cari’s 14 years with the Hornets.
On Thursday night, the Vikings picked up their second win, and in process, spoiled Emmaus’ Senior Night.
Ryan Bower fielded a long ball from teammate from Finn McMullen in the 59th minute of the second half and headed it past Hornets goalie Alex Tomasello for the only goal of the game as Central Catholic defeated Emmaus and snapped their seven-game win streak with a 1-0 win.
“I think we outplayed them,” said Cari following the match. “Up until the point that they scored, they had no shots on goal. We just didn’t do the job tonight. We were not very efficient in front of the goal and it caught up to us.”
The victory was an important one for the Vikes who needed a win to clinch a berth in the District XI playoffs. Central Catholic improved to 7-6-3 in the EPC and 8-7-3 overall.
“They were playing with their season on the line,” said Cari. “They did a great job of setting up that goal and it was great hit. There’s no shame in that.”
Emmaus saw its seven-game win streak snapped as they closed the regular-season with a 12-3-1 mark in the league and 13-4-1 overall. The Hornets were shutout for just the third time this season.
“It’s frustrating because we are paper-thin,” said Cari of his team’s rash of injuries. ” We went to practice with 13 guys yesterday and we had two more that probably shouldn’t have been practicing and it caught up to us.”
“We weren’t at our best and they needed it more than we did and they got one (goal). “It’s disappointing, but we’ll manage through it. ”
Emmaus lost yet another player in the match as senior Creyn Muthard left the game in the first half with a knee injury. Muthard will undergo an MRI today.
For the game, Emmaus outshot Central 8-2 and held a 4-1 advantage in corners.
Prior to the game, the team honored its eight seniors: Callen Reid, Creyn Muthard, Justin Llado, Evan Witman, Connor Dang, Anthony DeCresci, Alex Aiken and Alex Tomasello.
Up next, Emmaus will now prepare for the EPC playoffs which are set to begin next Tuesday. The Hornets will be the No. 3 seed and host rival Parkland, the No. 6 seed, at 6 p.m. The two teams split during the regular-season with each team winning on their home field.
CC – 0 – 1 – 1
Em – 0 – 0 – 0
CC goal – Ryan Bower
CC assist – Finn McMullen
CC saves – Teddy Zeller 8
EPC Playoffs (Quarterfinals – Tuesday, October 16)
#1 Liberty vs #8 Easton
#2 Freedom vs #7 PM East
#3 EMMAUS vs #6 Parkland
#4 Pleasant Valley vs #5 Northampton