Having already beaten Whitehall once this season, and soundly 5-0, you would have thought John Cari would have felt a little more at ease with his team’s chances in the second meeting on Wednesday night in the opening-round of the District XI Class 4A playoffs at Memorial Field.
Think again.
“I had knots in my stomach for the past three days leading up to this one,” admitted Cari, the Hornets 20th year coach. “Whitehall isn’t afraid of coming here and I knew this would be a tough game. They were the hottest team coming in having won seven of their last eight.”
The Zephyrs, the No. 9 seed who were coming off an emotional high following their 3-2 overtime win over eight-seeded Pocono Mountain East just two days earlier, had every reason to be confident despite their sub-par 8-7-3 record
And why not.
The past two years in the first round of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference playoffs, Whitehall has come to Emmaus and upset the Hornets.
And, despite getting down early in the second matchup and trailing by a pair of goals at the half, the Zephyrs still had every reason to believe that they could rally and perhaps pull off another upset.
They nearly did.
With two second half goals, Whitehall stunned Emmaus and tied the game at 2-2, forcing the dreaded overtime session.
In the first OT, the visitors had gotten the better of play with some good scoring chances, but it had nothing to show for it.
The one chance that the Hornets got, however, they made it pay off as they pulled out a gutty 3-2 win, surviving an early exit for the defending District XI champs who have been to the finals 13 years in a row.
Canyon Reinhardt wound up with the ‘golden goal’, his 11th of the season, with 3:05 showing on the clock burying a shot past Zephyr junior goalie Cole Richards for the game-winner.
“Mo (Mohamed Hassanali) played a ball out on the wing and sent a pass to Ben Grossi who played a cross to me,” said Reinhardt of the sequence. “I think one of their defenders got to it first, but I was able to get around him and shot it. It might have taken a deflection, but it went in.”
It was quite the moment for the junior who admittedly had his struggles.
“It wasn’t my greatest game, I had a few good moments, he said. “The final result was all that mattered.”
Emmaus, which was coming off an impressive showing in their 3-1 EPC championship win over rival Parkland last Saturday, took an early 1-0 lead less than four minutes into the match on senior Callum Harvey’s fifth goal of the season of the first of two assists from Grossi.
The advantage grew to 2-0 in the 22nd minute as Hassanali converted on a penalty kick. It was the fourth goal in as many games in the playoffs for the senior who had missed a third of the season due to an injury.
“I thought we were locked in right from the start, and it showed,” said Cari of the quick start. “Our first four minutes we were as sharp as can be.”
After halftime, however, Whitehall would have a response as less than five minutes in junior Eddie Saloum scored on a direct kick from 25 yards to get to within 2-1 and then classmate Justin Hussett tied the game at 2-2 in the 61st minute.
That then set the stage for the dramatic game-winner in overtime for Emmaus, which completed an undefeated season at home (12-0).
“Resilient,” said Cari when describing the adversity his team faced in the second half. “I respect the resiliency of this team, especially the seniors. It was on them. We were the only team in the league not to lose at home this season and we wanted to hang on to that.
“Hopefully we can get ourselves two more games to get another home one (in states). One at a time, though.”
Statistically, Emmaus outshot Whitehall 7-4 and held a 9-6 edge in corners. In goal, junior Will Peck was credited with a pair of saves, including a key one in overtime that might have saved the Hornets season.
Up next for Emmaus will be a semifinal matchup against Northampton, who advanced with a 3-0 win over Pleasant Valley. The game will be played at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, October 29 at J. Birney Crum Stadium in Allentown and will be carried LIVE on The Eastern Pa. Sports Network.
The Hornets and Konkrete Kids met earlier this season with Emmaus prevailing 2-1. The other semifinal will pit Freedom vs Parkland. The two semifinal winners will meet for the championship on Thursday, October 31.
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Emmaus 3, Whitehall 2 OT
Wh – 0-2-0 – 2
Em – 2-0-1 – 3
Scoring:
Em (36:50) – Callum Harvey (assist Ben Grossi)
Em (18:54) – Mohammed Hassanali PK
Wh (35:50) – Eddie Saloum
Wh (19:08) – Justin Hussett
Em (3:05) – Canyon Reinhardt (Grossi)