RECAP >> The moment wasn’t too big for Kyleigh Faust.
She was just in the right place at the right time.
The Emmaus junior defender scored the only goal of the game early in the fourth quarter Tuesday as the Hornets punched their ticket to the PIAA Class 3A state championship with a thrilling 1-0 semifinal victory over Central Bucks East on a blustery and windy day on the Patriots home field.
Faust, who entered the game with six goals on the season, picked the perfect time to score arguably the biggest goal of her high school career as she flicked in a shot off a penalty corner past Patriots all-state senior goalie Emilly Bullard and into the back of the cage.
“It was a great strike by Annika (Herbine) and Lexi (Kociban) tipped it perfectly where I could just finish,” said the soft-spoken Faust. “It feels great because we’ve been working so hard this season just to get past the semifinals and get back to the state championship. I’m just happy all the hard work has finally paid off.”
And because of that hard work, Emmaus is headed back to the finals for the first time in four years. Awaiting the Hornets at 3 p.m. on Saturday at the nearby Zephyr Sports Complex at Whitehall High School will be Central Dauphin, the District 3 champ, which cruised past District 7 champ Pine Richland 5-0 in the other semifinal.
With the win, Emmaus remained unbeaten (15-0) despite its lowest offensive output of the season. The Hornets will be aiming for their 13th state championship in program history and first since winning back-to-back titles in 2016 and 2015 – both vs Palmyra. The last time Emmaus met Central Dauphin was back in 2012 in the second round of states with the Hornets coming out on top 2-0.
“It feels like we finally got the monkey off of our backs,” said Emmaus head coach Sue Butz-Stavin, referring to her team’s losses in the state semifinals the past three seasons. “You never know when you’re going to get back there and for some of our seniors, they have been playing on the varsity for 3-4 years so I’m sure they had their sights set on reaching it (the championship).”
Thanks to Faust’s goal, the Hornets can now think about hoisting that state title trophy.
“It feels really good to give all my seniors and all my teammates a win and get back to the state championship,” said Faust. “I’m so happy because they’ve been wanting this for so long.”
Faust is part of stout backline with senior Maddie Bruns and junior Brooke Mancini in front of senior goalie Bailey Tietz, who came up with a number of big saves in the opening quarter. The unit posted its second consecutive shutout in the state tournament and its 12th in 15 games.
In the game, Emmaus outshot CB East by a 9-7 margin and held a 5-4 edge in penalty corners. Tietz posted her 12th shutout of the season with seven saves, while Bullard was credited with six. stops for the Patriots.
Central Bucks East closed out a historic season with a 13-2 overall record and 9-1 in the Suburban One Conference. The Patriots captured their fifth straight conference championship and won their first District One title in 20 years with a 1-0 overtime win over Plymouth Whitemarsh. They will lose five senior starters to graduation, including key losses in Bullard (Penn St. commit), midfielder Kenzie Lever (James Madison) and midfielder/forward Phia Mannino (PSU).
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Emmaus 1, CB East 0 (PIAA State Semifinals – Tuesday at CB East)
Emmaus – 0-0-0-1 – 1
CB East – 0-0-0-0 – 0
Goals:
Q4 (1:40): Em – Kyleigh Faust (assist Jenna Villeneuve & Annika Herbine)