RECAP – It was no secret that when the last time Emmaus faced rival Parkland that Sue Butz-Stavin was as disappointed as she’s been all season with her team despite coming away with 4-0 win over the Trojans.
That was a little less than two weeks ago when perhaps many of her players were not necessarily focused on field hockey, but rather on Homecoming activities at school.
Since that point, the Hornets have been laser focused as they have outscored their next three opponents by a 9-1 margin, including a 2-1 win over Easton and the program’s fourth-straight Eastern Pennsylvania Conference championship a week ago.
The momentum from last week’s title carried over on a chilly and brisk Wednesday night at Memorial Field as Emmaus began its quest for a 30th straight District XI Championship by defeating Parkland for the third time this season 7-0.
“It was excellent to see our offense clicking tonight,” said Butz-Stavin, the Hornets legendary head coach. “After the first five minutes of the game our offense seemed to flow and I think we were more discipline in our positions. We’ve been working on some little concepts and tactical things (in practice) and the kids put those things to good use tonight.”
Sophomore Annika Herbine scored a pair of goals in the first half and led the offensive attack with a hat trick, while senior Riley Baughman also added a pair of goals to go along with two assists as the Hornets dominated play with six goals in the opening half.
“Our whole staff has been working with these kids about being motivated, being positive and we’re leaning on our seniors and our captains to try and use their leadership and get everyone pumped up,” said Butz-Stavin. “We tried some different concepts tonight as the game went on to see if we can utilize players in different ways and that was fun to see.”
The victory, the third over the Trojans this season, helped Emmaus remain unbeaten on the season as they improved to 22-0 overall.
Next up for the Hornets will be a semifinal round matchup Monday at 7 p.m. at the Zephyr Sports Complex at Whitehall High School against the No.5 seed, Stroudsburg, which went on the road and knocked off fourth-seeded Liberty 4-2.
The other semifinal at 5:15 p.m. will pit No. 2 Easton taking on No.3 Pocono Mountain East. Both teams rolled in their quarterfinal round games as Easton blanked Northampton 6-0, while Pocono Mountain East posted a 5-0 shutout over Nazareth.
Emmaus scored the only goal they would need in tonight’s win less than eight minutes into the first half as senior Kayla Kisthardt found the back of the cage with her 19th goal of the season of an assist from Baughman on the team’s second penalty corner of the first half. Kisthardt wound up with a four-point effort with a goal and two assists.
Fellow senior Joy Muller also had a four-point game with pair of assists to go along with her 21st goal.
For the game, Emmaus dominated statistically as they outshot the Trojans 21-1 and held a 10-3 advantage in penalty corners. In goal, senior Claire Nielsen saw little action and picked up her 18th shutout of the season.
Pa – 0 – 0 – 0
Em – 6 – 1 – 7
Em goals – Kayla Kisthardt, Annika Herbine 3, Joy Muller, Riley Baughman 2
Em assists – Baughman 2, Muller 2, Kisthardt 2, Herbine
Em saves – Claire Nielsen 1, Bailey Tietz 0
SOG – Em 21, Pa 1
Corners – Em 10, Pa 3