As his role as a primary defender, Noah Tintle has been a main cog on an Emmaus backline that has allowed just a measly four goals on the season while posting 17 shutouts.
The Emmaus senior also has another role that he does very well on the field and that proved key last night in the Hornets District XI Class 4A quarterfinal round matchup against Whitehall.
Tintle, who entered the game with four goals on the season, added to his total by scoring a pair of goals in the second half – both off of corner kicks – as Emmaus pulled away from the Zephyrs after halftime to earn a 2-0 victory.
Less than a week removed from coming off of a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Freedom (4-3 PKs) in the EPC semifinals, the state’s No. 3 ranked team according to the Pa. Soccer Coaches Association poll bounced back nicely as they defeated Whitehall for the second time this season while also wrapping up an unbeaten season at home (11-0-1).
Head coach John Cari’s squad (18-1-2) now advances to the semifinals on November 3 to face third-seeded Northampton, which defeated sixth seeded Liberty 1-0 in double overtime.
“I was pleased with the effort tonight and pleased that we were able to find two (goals) on corners,” said Cari, the Hornets 22nd year coach following the game. “We will get in the flow of play soon, but I thought we were good tonight.
“I wasn’t really upset at halftime (being tied 0-0),” he added. “We just needed to put away our chances, and we did that in the second half.”
Tintle scored the first of his two goals less than four minutes into the second half off a set piece from classmate Maseyn Muthard.
“We have a couple of guys that are designated to go in the box and I’m one of them,” said the soft-spoken Tintle. “We just try to capitalize every time we have one of those corners. All of my goals this season have come off of corners.”
Tintle’s second goal in the 62nd minute – off yet another corner with an assist from senior Noah Wachtner – was a big insurance goal that pushed the advantage to 2-0.
“We work on them and we put in a lot of time and effort into making sure we make the right runs and do the right things,” said Cari of his team’s execution on set pieces.
“I couldn’t be any prouder of Noah. The kid had bad luck last year dealing with blisters. As a sophomore, we had high expectations for him, and we couldn’t’ get him going and he found himself not in the rotation late last year. He’s a really hard worker and he’s done a wonderful job and what great improvements we have seen out of him as well as Jeremy Sharpless. They’ve been like revelations surrounding Noah Delgado.”
Tintle was also pleased with his efforts now playing with a clean bill of health.
“Last year I dealt with blisters and now that I’m healthy feel so much better,” he said.
Neither team generated many shots on goal with Emmaus holding a 5-3 advantage. Sophomore Chase Evans posted his 13th shutout of the season, while his counterpart, Bryson Taylor made three stops.
Up next for Emmaus will be second meeting against Northampton. The Hornets won the regular-season meeting 2-0 on September 15 on the K-Kids home field.
“They bring a lot of offensive punch so we know that they can attack in numbers,” said Cari of Northampton. “They had a bunch of guys with really good stats so it should be a good one.”
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Emmaus 2, Whitehall 0
Wh – 0-0 – 0
Em – 0-2 – 2
Scoring:
Em – Noah Tintle (assist Maseyn Muthard) 34:21
Em – Tintle (assist Noah Wachtner) 18:56
Stats:
SOG – Wh 3, Em 5
Saves – Wh (Bryson Taylor 3), Em (Chase Evans 3)
Corners – Wh 3, Em 12