Stings: Hornets fall in state semis
69-game winning steak ends via Horace’s goal with 4.2 seconds left
Déjà vu?
Emmaus had won 69 straight times — including two state championships — since its most recent loss, a defeat to Wilson-West Lawn of District 3 in the 2019 state semifinals.
Even though most of the rosters had turned over in three years, Wilson and Emmaus had a rematch Wednesday night. Same opponents. Same round of the state tournament. And the same venue, no less: Hamburg High School.
And unfortunately for Emmaus, the same result. Wilson, the last team to defeat Emmaus, did it again. After serving a substantial amount of Green Hornets pressure for most of the third and fourth quarters, Caroline Horace scored with 4.2 seconds left to give Wilson a 2-1 win and a berth in Saturday’s state championship.
The season is over for Emmaus (25-1). The Hornets have lost only four games since the beginning of the 2015 season, all in the state semifinals and two to Wilson, the District 3 champion.
Wilson hopes the coincidences continue. The Bulldogs went on to win their only state title in 2019 after defeating Emmaus that season.
“I feel so bad for the seniors on this team [Rachel Herbine, Ava Zerfass, Abby Burnett] because they worked so hard,” Emmaus coach Sue Butz-Stavin said. “We played a very good game but just couldn’t finish. It’s always heartbreaking to end the season, but especially with four seconds left.”
After a scoreless first quarter, Emmaus took the lead two minutes into the second when Burnett assisted on Zerfass’s 28th goal of the season. The Hornets held that lead into halftime and for
five minutes of the third quarter. Grace Chisolm tied the score at 1-1 five minutes into the quarter.
Wilson nearly took the lead with three minutes left in the third, but a shot hit the post, so the score remained tied entering the fourth.
“I think it went in,” Wilson coach Kim Underwood said. “I think it hit the inside post. We’ll look at the film and see. Fortunately, it didn’t matter. We still won.”
Emmaus did dominate play. The Hornets had a 13-7 advantage in shots and an 8-2 advantage in penalty corners. Emmaus also had an advantage in penetration time and pressure, but the star of the game might have been Bulldogs goalkeeper Catherine Wolf, who limited Emmaus to one goal despite the Hornets’ nearly constant pressure.
The Hornets paid for not moving ahead on the scoreboard when they had the chance. Horace scoring with just 41.2 seconds left gave Emmaus no time to recover or even play overtime.
“Emmaus is a great team,” Underwood said. “We knew coming into this game it was going to be super competitive. They’re super skilled. They have a bunch of high-level players. We knew we had to hold steady, play as tough as possible and keep fighting.
The team showed up and did that. I’m proud of them.”
Emmaus will now try to start a new win streak.
“Just prior to giving up that goal, we were down here at their footsteps, and they were able to keep it out,” Butz-Stavin said. “We just missed some touches. What else can I say? Our game plan was well-executed
“I can’t complain. We had a great year.”
Emmaus: 0100— 1
Wilson: 0011— 2
Emmaus goal: Ava Zerfass. Assist: Abby Burnett. Shots: 13. Penalty corners: 8. Saves: Emma Cari 5.
Wilson goals: Grace Chisolm, Caroline Horace. Assists: Emma Staron, Catherine Arentz. Shots: 7. Penalty corners: 2Saves: Catherine Wolf 12.
Tim Shoemaker is a freelancer for The Morning Call.