RECAP >> During her amazing and illustrious years of coaching field hockey at Emmaus, Sue Butz-Stavin has never been one to shy away from playing some of the best competition within the state and outside.
As she began her 49th season this fall, the legendary head coach put together arguably one of the best non-league schedules in recent history playing the likes of traditional powers Oak Knoll, NJ, Penn Manor and Downingtown West.
Butz-Stavin, who has recorded over 1,000 wins in her career, purposely scheduled those teams for one reason — to have her Emmaus team battled tested and ready for what lies ahead once they get into the PIAA State Tournament.
On Monday afternoon, the Hornets faced yet another strong non-league opponent in District One’s Boyertown who came to Memorial Field with just two losses on their resume, one of which was a very respectable 2-0 defeat at the hands of the nation’s No.1 ranked team, the Hill School from Pottstown.
The Bears, ranked No.13 in Max Field Hockey’s Pennsylvania pre-season poll, gave Emmaus everything they could handle and then some, and they also did something that none of the Hornets previous 11 opponents could do.
Despite allowing a goal for the first time all season and facing a little of bit adversity, Emmaus was not to be denied as the Hornets responded with a pair of goals and rallied for a hard-fought 2-1 victory to keep their record perfect intact, now 12-0.
“[Today] was good competition, exactly what we wanted,” said Butz-Stavin following the win. “I want us to be competition-ready and Boyertown has a nice team. It was a good opportunity to look at our strengths and weaknesses and make adjustments on the playing field and it was a good time of the year do it.”
Emmaus made those necessary adjustments and picked up their fourth non-league win, including their second one-goal victory of the season.
Senior Autum Kernechel, the team’s leading goal scorer (19 goals), wound up scoring the game-winning goal early in the third quarter converting on a penalty stroke past Boyertown sophomore goalie Abigail Johnsen.
“I was confident in my stroke, so I just went for it,” said Kernechel, an Ohio State commit who is just one of two seniors on the team. “We practice strokes a lot in practice, so I felt well prepared.”
“She’s one of our top strokers and she felt confident in taking it, so go for it,” added Butz-Stavin.
Boyertown struck for the game’s first goal in the second quarter as Iowa commit senior Peyton Shellaway scored off a penalty corner giving the Bears a 1-0 lead.
It was the first goal scored against the Hornets who had entered the game outscoring their opponents 102-0.
“It was unfortunate,” said Butz-Stavin. “[Goalie] Aiko [Price] tried to reach for it, and it went up off of her pads. I didn’t think it wasn’t a very good call because the initial shot was outside the circle. The officials aren’t perfect, and as a player, you just have to continue to play on.
“We just needed to respond after the goal, and we did and that’s a great thing to learn. Not to give up and hang your head. Just go back to work and that’s exactly what we did.”
Less than a minute before the half, the Hornets got the equalizer as senior Emmy Horner scored her 17th goal of the season off an assist from freshman Marissa Gigliotti, who recorded her first assist of the year.
“That’s a good response by our girls,” said Butz-Stavin.
Statistically, Emmaus outshot Boyertown 9-7 and held a slight 11-10 advantage in penalty corners. In goal, Price made six saves for the Hornets, while her counterpart, Johnsen, had five stops for the Bears.
“I’m pleased with where we are at,” said Butz-Stavin. “Our team unity is there.
“We can do a little bit better on communicating out on the field. It’s only going to get tougher through the end of September, October and November. We just need to keep our heads up, play hard and play good hockey.”
Emmaus will continue its busy schedule this week as they travel to Pocono Mountain East today at 5:30 p.m. before hosting Whitehall on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. They’ll close out the week on Saturday at 1 p.m. with another tough non-league matchup at District Three’s Penn Manor.
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Emmaus 2, Boyertown 1
Boy – 0-1-0-0 – 1
Em – 0-1-1-0 – 2
Scoring:
Boy – Peyton Shellaway (assist Elise Eves) PC
Em – Emmy Horner (assist Marissa Gigliotti)
Em – Autum Kernechel (PS)
Stats:
SOG – Boy 7, Em 9
PC – Boy 10, Em 11
Saves – Boy (Abigail Johnsen 5), Em (Aiko Price 6)