Green Hornets secure top seed
Even though Emmaus lost a couple of long streaks and a shot at setting a state record, the Green Hornets left Memorial Field at Emmaus High School as a happy bunch of guys thanks to a 3-1 win over Parkland.
The Trojans got a goal with just 2:06 left in the game, which ended a streak of Emmaus shutouts that had reached 16 games. Had they been able to preserve the shutout against Parkland, the Hornets would have set a state record for consecutive shutouts. The last goal they allowed came in their season-opening loss to Cumberland Valley when they fell 3-1. Until the Trojans got their goal, Emmaus had outscored opponents during the streak 80-0.
For much of the first half, Parkland had a slight advantage in controlling the game but was unable to put consistent pressure on Emmaus goalie Colin Wilson.
The Hornets had trouble getting good looks against Parkland goalkeeper Zach Ironside, but that ended when Ryan Kiernan found Elijah Miller, who beat
Ironside with a strong shot to give Emmaus a 1-0 lead at the 30:09 mark of the first half.
The second half belonged to Emmaus, which scored two goals in the span of five minutes. Sophomore Canyon Reinhardt passed off to Kai Mattern from the right side to directly in front of the net about 10 yards out. Mattern put a strong shot on goal that trickled just past Ironside to give Emmaus a two-goal lead at the 4:40 mark of the second half.
“Going into the half we were only up 1-0, so we had to keep raising our level of play and not let down at all. We just kept playing really well,” Rinehart said.
Reinhardt picked up his second assist of the night when he found himself in a group of players but was able to get the ball out to senior midfielder Ethan Ervin who put a left-footed shot on goal from 25 yards out. The shot went to the left of Ironside and into the back of the net to put the Hornets up 3-0.
“That was crazy,” Ervin said of the goal. “I saw the ball pop out and I thought, I have to take it. It would have been a wasted opportunity to not try to make that shot even though I wasn’t in the best position. It was just amazing.”
The win was not just for bragging rights between the two rivals. Beating Parkland (16-1-0 EPC, 16-2-0 overall) gives the Hornets (16-0-1, 16-1-1) the top seed for the EPC tournament and drops Parkland to the second seed.
Emmaus coach John Cari believes that moving up to the top seed is significant because of the number of good teams in the league.
“No disrespect to Liberty or Freedom because they are both good teams. Liberty is really improved and are a good team and Freedom gave us a lot to handle. But us, Northampton, and Parkland have all been ranked in the state, so if we can avoid one of them, I’ll take it,” Cari said. “Parkland will be on the other side of the bracket, so there is a little bit of an advantage.”
Parkland coach Scott Mang was happy overall with his team’s play, but thought his players may have pressed a little bit when Emmaus got the second goal and got away from the game plan.