RECAP – Creyn Muthard was in the right place at just the right time for Emmaus on Monday night.
The Hornets senior forward was positioned in front of the Northampton goal with a little over five minutes left in the second overtime and Muthard was ‘Johnny-on-the-spot’ as he knocked in the game-winning goal lifting Emmaus to a 2-1 win over the K-Kids.
“Honestly, I didn’t see much of it. I saw it hit off the post and I knew I just had to hit it in,” recalled Muthard just moments after being mobbed by his teammates. “It fell in a perfect spot for me and the goalie was out of position. It was an easy left foot finish.”
Muthard followed up a shot from teammate Jake Perry that hit the post, and the Hornets forward tucked it just past Northampton goalie Brady Rimple for his fourth goal of the season.
More importantly, it was a key win in the Skyline Division for Emmaus which won its fourth straight and sixth in the last seven games to improve to 9-2-1 in the EPC and 10-3-1 overall. The Hornets also defeated the K-Kids for the second time this season, handing them their only two losses in the league.
The overtime win was also the first this season for Emmaus which was 0-1-1 in its previous two extra-session games (1-1 tie with Freedom, 3-2 loss to Easton).
Emmaus dominated play and led in the contest 1-0 when Perry scored his first goal of the season in the 31st minute on a header off an assist from teammate senior Alex Aiken.
Northampton then tied the game at 1-1 with just 2:37 left in regulation as Russell King scored on a breakaway forcing overtime.
Neither team was able to generate much offense in the first 10-minute overtime, before the Hornets eventually won it with Muthard’s dramatic goal.
For the game, Emmaus dominated in shots (22-4) and shots on goal (8-4) and held a better than two-to-one advantage (7-3) in corners. Hornets goalie Alex Tomasello picked up the win with three saves, while his counterpart Rimple made six stops.
Up next, Emmaus will get set to host rival Parkland at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Memorial Field in the second meeting between the two teams. The Trojans won the earlier meeting 1-0 back on September 5.
No – 0 – 1 – 0 – 0 – 1
Em – 1 – 0 – 0 – 1 – 2
No goals – Russell King
No saves – Brady Rimple 6
Em goals – Jake Perry, Creyn Muthard
Em assist – Alex Aiken
Em saves – Alex Tomasello 3
SOG – Em 8, No 4
Corners – Em 7, No. 3