Matchup: No. 1 seed Emmaus (11-1) vs No. 4 seed Freedom (9-2)
When/Where: Wednesday/Memorial Field, 6 p.m.
What’s on the line: A berth in the District XI finals on Saturday vs winner of No.2 Nazareth/No.3 Stroudsburg
How they got here: Emmaus defeated Whitehall 1-0; Freedom defeated Pleasant Valley 4-1
Coaches: Emmaus – John Cari (16th season); Freedom – Matt Reightler
Head-to-Head – Teams didn’t meet during regular-season
Coverage – LIVE www.pennsportsradio.com (6:45 pm pregame)
Probable starters: Emmaus – Sr. F Josh Whalen, Sr. F Josh Miller, Jr. F Holden Brown, Sr. MF Alex Toto (6g/2a), Sr. MF Hudson Peck (11g/4a), Sr. MF Pat Walsh (7g/1a), Sr. Def. Jacob Hain, Jr. Def. John Hanvey, Jr. Def. Jaeden Amato, Jr. Def. Ryan Santos, Jr. GK Ty Bleiler
Freedom key players – Sr. MF Daniel Ramirez, Sr. MF Nathaniel Rivera, Sr. MF Michael Corlette, Jr. Def. Austin Hoffert, Jr. Def. Vincenzo Rosete, JR MF Taher Kitabwalla, Jr. MF Peter Tichy, Jr F. Sebastian Garces Jr. F Michael Krents, Soph. GK Tristan Willey
NOTES: …Emmaus has 16 overall district titles in program history (2019, 2016, 2015, 2011, 06, 05, 04, 01, 00, ’96, ’95’ 94, ’91, ’88, ’87’ 79)……A year ago, the Hornets defeated Whitehall 1-0 in the finals on a Jacob Groh goal ….Pat Walsh had the lone goal in Emmaus’ win over Whitehall in the quarterfinals…..The Hornets ‘D’ posted its 9th shutout of the season ……Freedom’s Garces had a hat trick in their victory over PV
Coach Cari: “They (Freedom) lost a lot of players from their 2018 district championship team and they were building last year and now it looks like they are getting it together this year. They have an outstanding center-mid (Garces) that we will focus in on. It’s a team we haven’t seen so we have to do the best we can to prepare. It should be a good game. Coach Reightler does a good job and they really buy-in to what he wants.”