Easton may have been just only the third team to score against Emmaus this season, but they hardly had enough offense to keep up last night as the Hornets celebrated winning yet another Eastern Pennsylvania Conference championship with a 4-1 victory at the Zephyr Sports Complex in Whitehall.
It was the 10th straight and 42nd league title overall in program history for top-seed head coach Sue Butz-Stavin’s squad, who also defeated third-seeded Easton in last year’s final, 5-0.
In the second matchup between the two teams this season, sophomore Gracie Huffer and senior Autum Kernechel both shined on the big stage as each scored a pair of goals for the Hornets who also beat Easton in the first game of the season back on August 26, 1-0.
Huffer got the scoring started with her 27th goal of the season with 10:50 left in the first quarter giving Emmaus a 1-0 lead.
Kernechel, the league’s MVP, then pushed the advantage to 2-0 at the end of the quarter with her team-leading 32nd goal of the season.
Easton (16-4-1) would cut the Emmaus lead in half on junior Olivia Milia’s goal off a penalty corner with 7:55 left in the second quarter, but the Hornets would quickly respond as Kernechel found the back of the cage with her second goal of the night to give her team a 3-1 lead at intermission.
The only goal scored in the second half by either team came off the stick of Huffer who made the final margin a three-goal victory.
For the game, Emmaus outshot Easton 23-8 with the Hornets dominating in penalty corners, 15-3. In goal, junior Aiko Price made six saves, while the Red Rovers Olivia Heryla had 13 stops.
Emmaus will now prepare to defend its incredible 35 straight years of winning a District XI championship when the tournament gets underway on October 24. The Hornets will host Liberty at 6 p.m. Emmaus has already beaten the Hurricane twice this season, 13-0 and 11-0.
For the most complete coverage of Emmaus sports, follow on ‘X’ and like Emmaus sports on facebook.
Emmaus 4, Easton 1
Ea – 0-1-0-0 – 1
Em – 2-1-1-0 – 4
Scoring:
Em – Gracie Huffer (assist Sadie Nawarynski)
Em – Autum Kernechel (PS)
Ea – Olivia Milia (assist Arianna Deliso)
Em – Kernechel (assist Huffer)
Em – Huffer (Nawarynski)