On a night when Emmaus honored a large senior class of eight, it was two underclassmen that played key roles in helping the Hornets complete yet another undefeated Eastern Pennsylvania Conference regular season.
Junior Madi Lenig’s go-ahead goal midway through the fourth quarter broke a 1-1 tie as Emmaus celebrated a 2-1 win on Senior Night at Memorial Field against arch-rival Parkland.
“It was a thrilling win,” said Hornets head coach Sue Butz-Stavin following the victory.” “We gave up one shot in the game and Parkland got their only goal in the first quarter and then we were able to hold them off the rest of the way.
“The second half of the game was in our favor, and the fourth quarter was very good for us with a lot of corners. We finally were able sneak one in.”
Lenig, who leads the team with 22 assists on the season, scored her eighth goal of the season off a penalty corner in a scramble in front of the cage putting the game-winner past Trojans goalie Audrina Stewart.
“She’s our inserter on corners,” said Butz-Stavin of Lenig “Morgann (Orobono) gave her the pass and then Madi was able to finish, tapping that one past the goalie.
“Madi has been doing a dynamic job for us all season long. She’s had a very good season, and she has a high field hockey IQ.”
Emmaus, which was coming off of its only loss of the season Saturday in a 2-1 overtime defeat to a strong Downingtown West team, finished a perfect 13-0 in the EPC and 16-1 overall. It was also the third one goal victory for the Hornets who also defeated Oak Knoll, NJ and Penn Manor in the non-league portion of its schedule.
Parkland, entering the game with an 11-1 mark in league and winners of nine straight, jumped out to a 1-0 lead midway through the first quarter on sophomore Olivia Estaban’s team-leading 26th goal of the season.
Emmaus was then able to get the equalizer with a little over three minutes left in the second quarter as sophomore Ella Horner converted on a penalty stroke, her 11th goal of the season.
The Hornets dominated Parkland statistically in the game outshooting the Trojans 21-1 and 15-0 in penalty corners. In goal, senior Aiko Price got the start giving up the only score of the night before giving way to junior Emily Romano who played the final three quarters.
Prior to the game, Emmaus honored its eight seniors — Morgann Orobono, Addison Povilaitis, Sharlise Solano, Kaitlyn Carter, Sarah Palazzo, Avery Burnett, Aiko Price and Adelynn Truckenmiller.
The Hornets will close out their regular season on Thursday at 4 p.m. as they travel to Phillipsburg, NJ for a non-league game before the EPC playoffs get underway on Saturday.
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Emmaus 2, Parkland 1
Pa – 1-0-0-0 – 1
Em – 0-1-0-1 – 2
Scoring:
Pa – Olivia Estaban (assist Avrie Arnfeldt)
Em – Ella Horner PS
Em – Madi Lenig (assist Morgann Orobono)
SOG – Pa 1, Em 21
PCs – Pa 0, Em 15
Saves – Pa (Audrina Stewart 12), Em (Aiko Price 0, Emily Romano 0)