Emmaus scores overtime goal to beat Freedom

Between the end of regulation and overtime, Emmaus coach John Cari let loose a tirade on his team. It worked. Immediately.

Cari's Green Hornets needed just 34 seconds in the extra period Monday to trip up Freedom, 1-0, in a matchup of Lehigh Valley Conference boys soccer contenders at Freedom High School.

Senior AJ Bishop scored the game-winner off a pass from classmate Ben Roda. Emmaus improved to 8-3-1 overall and 8-2 in the conference. Freedom is now 8-5 and 7-3.

"We talked about this being a possible trap game," Cari said, "and it was exactly that. It was a Monday game. We traveled. It was on grass. It was afternoon instead of night. We looked lackluster. We lacked fire and passion. I didn't think the kids were competing and I told them that."

The Green Hornets controlled possession to start overtime and Roda eventually worked a pass to Bishop, who had plenty of open space to work with on the left side of the field.

Bishop, the LVC's leading scorer with 13 goals and two assists, took a quick dribble with his left foot then powered a far-post shot past Freedom goalkeeper Josh Wasilick. The Patriots and their boisterous fans protested to the officials for an offside call but the tally counted.

"Ben played me a great ball," Bishop said. "I've got to give all the credit to Ben; he's a great distributor."

"AJ's a very talented player and we did a poor job of getting him touches in the second half," said Cari, who coached Emmaus to the District 11 Class 3A title last year. "We saw what happens when we get him the ball. It only took one touch in overtime for AJ to get us the winning goal."

Freedom coach Michael O'Connell, meanwhile, sensed his team tiring late in the second half.

"We looked spent at the end of regulation. We were down two starters, one to injury and one to suspension, so we were undermanned a bit defensively. We didn't pressure the ball in overtime and it looked like we were looking at each other out there," O'Connell said.

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Emmaus scores overtime goal to beat Freedom