Girls Soccer – Emmaus 1, Freedom 0 OT
At Memorial Field on Tuesday night, second-seeded Emmaus was looking for a similar result in their EPC quarterfinal round matchup against seventh-seeded Freedom as to the one they had almost a month ago when they went on the road and rolled to a 5-0 victory.
This time, with much more on the line, proved to be a difficult task for head coach Chris Hain’s squad against an upset-minded Patriots squad as the Hornets were forced into their fifth overtime match of the season.
But, as they’ve done in all but two games this season, the Hornets were once again able to prevail thanks in large part to the foot of Sofia Isaksson.
The junior midfielder blasted a shot — assisted by classmate Lizzy Bender — from 25 yards out over the outstretched arms of Freedom goalie Brooklyn Pronavich into the far post less than three minutes into the extra session for the game-winner sending her squad to their 17th victory of the season.
With the win, Emmaus now advances to the semifinals for the sixth time in the last seven years and a date with Parkland on Thursday at 5 p.m. at Catasauqua High School. The two archrivals just met a week ago with the Hornets prevailing 2-1 in double overtime. The other semifinal at 7 p.m. will pit top-seeded Nazareth vs fourth-seeded Central Catholic.
Free – 0-0-0 – 0
Em – 0-0-1 – 1
Scoring:
Em – Sofia Isaksson (assist Lizzy Bender)
SOG – Free 3, Em 6
Saves – Free (Brooklyn Pronavich 5), Em (Sadie Wallace 3)
Boys Soccer – Emmaus 1, Nazareth 0 OT
In the second part of the girl/boy doubleheader at Memorial Field, the Hornets found themselves in a battle in their EPC quarterfinal round matchup against a Nazareth team they had just defeated 12 days ago, 2-0.
Emmaus, which had been winless and shutout in its last two games, had dominated the Blue Eagles statistically but had nothing to show for it on the scoreboard in regulation forcing overtime.
In the extra session, the fifth this season for head coach John Cari’s team, the Hornets finally broke through as junior Aleksander Przybylski scored the golden goal — his third of the season — in the 86th minute off a corner kick, sending his team to the next round.
Emmaus, which posted its 14th clean sheet of the season, held Nazareth without a shot in the game while putting up eight of their own. The Hornets also had a big edge in corners, 12-3.
Up next for the defending EPC champs will be a matchup against third-seeded Northampton, which defeated Pleasant Valley 3-0. The game will be played on Thursday at 5 p.m. at Pleasant Valley High School. The two teams met back on September 15 with Emmaus prevailing 1-0. In the other semifinal at 7 p.m., top-seeded Parkland will take on fourth-seeded Freedom.
Naz – 0-0-0 – 0
Em – 0-0-1 – 1
Scoring:
Em – Aleksander Przybylski (Brennan Stack)
SOG – Naz 0, Em 8
Corners – Naz 3, Em 12
Saves – Naz (Owen Moyer 7), Em (Will Peck 0)