Krissy Mikelson and Teresa Carotenuto combining for goals has become a familiar script for the Emmaus field hockey team this season and the script worked again in the PIAA quarterfinals as Emmaus downed Central Dauphin 2-0 to advance to the semifinals against Lower Dauphin.

Mikelson was the first to strike on an assist from Carotenuto and just a few minutes later, Carotenuto put one past Central Dauphin goalie Halle Frisco. The two goals came in the first 20 minutes of the game and would account for all of the scoring on the day.

So often this season, either Mikelson (34 goals) or Carotenuto (37 goals) would score and a short while after that, the other would be the one putting another point on the board for Emmaus. Both players say there is no competition between the two of them. In fact, it's the opposite; they tend to spur each other on.

"We just feed off of each other's energy," said Mikelson, a junior. "We keep our heads up together and we're powerful on the front line and work together with our skills."

While the goal scorers get the attention, coach Sue Butz-Stavin felt that the key players of the game might have been midfielder Sarah Kazmierski and goalkeeper Tori Laczo, who made eight saves in the game.

"I'd say it was a very good performance [by Laczo]," Butz-Stavin said. "Probably the most shots she's seen in a game, so it was a great performance. Kazmierski played a great game, she was controlling and made a lot of great saves and started counter-attacks for us."

Even though the Lady Hornets are 24-1, they realize that the competition doesn't get any easier at this point of the season. Just two wins away from its 11th state title, Emmaus is determined to find ways to beat Lower Dauphin and whoever else might come up against them in the finals.

"The competition keeps getting better and better and it's very tough moving from the LVC and districts to the state tournament, but it's really pushing our team to play the best that we can together," said Carotenuto, who is just a sophomore.

To reach the quarterfinals, Emmaus downed Mount St. Joseph's 3-1 last Tuesday in the opening round of the PIAA playoffs. Again in that game, it was Carotenuto and Mikelson leading the offense, with the super soph scoring two of the goals.

Should Emmaus get past Lower Dauphin and into the PIAA championship, they would face the winner of the other semifinal game between Penn Manor and Hempfield. Emmaus is familiar with both teams. The Lady Hornets downed Penn Manor 2-1 earlier this season and also topped the Comets 2-1 in overtime in last year's PIAA quarterfinals. As for Hempfield, it was the team that ousted Emmaus in last season's semifinals, so a little revenge could be in order.

If Emmaus downs Lower Dauphin, it would be playing in the PIAA Championship Saturday at the Whitehall Sports Complex. It was on that very field in 2010 when Emmaus won its last state championship.