No sooner had Freedom goalie Kyle Kimler dove to his left to make a tough save, Emmaus’s Jacob Hain scored on an assist by Hudson Peck almost 30 seconds later, and that would be the game-winner for the Hornets in the District XI Class 4A Boys Soccer Semifinal last Wednesday at Emmaus.

Hain’s goal came in the first half, a half in which Freedom coach Matt Reightler thought the Pates were a little reserved.

“We had a talk at halftime about getting back to what we do best, and I couldn’t be more proud of the second half. I thought we were the better team on the field for the majority of the second half. We probably should’ve scored three goals,” Coach Reightler said. “To stand here, and go toe-to-toe, and say we were the better team for 40 minutes, I’m proud. I am.”

The Patriots had an opportunity after Steven Gonzalez took a pass from Daniel Ramirez early in the second half but missed. Then, Sebastian Garces took a penalty kick after Peter (P.J.) Tichy was fouled, went down, and had to come out of the game temporarily, but Garces’ PK went high.

“He’s a competitor. He’s a leader,” said Reightler of Garces. “P.J.’s been taking them for us recently, but with him having to come out, it fell to Seba, but I would trust Seba to take that shot 99 out of 100 times. Tonight, he miss-hit it. He went for power instead of placement, and it happens.”

In the last 10 minutes, Coach Reightler moved Baptiste Boussageon, an exchange student from France, up top.

“We were having possession, we were having opportunities, and (defender) Austin (Hoffert) was playing one of the best games I’ve seen him play, so we felt comfortable shifting back to three, so the hope was to get an extra runner up top,” Reightler said. “Baptiste was putting a lot of pressure on their backs all day. It was that last push to make sure we had that final opportunity.”

But with 9:00 remaining in regulation, Garces was carded, and the purpose became somewhat defeated.

“The future is bright. It’s such a great group of young men. Losing Dan (Ramirez), who’s been a four-year starter for us, he’s going to be tough to replace. Kyle (Kimler) filling Tristan’s (Willey) role, he did a great job tonight. And Nathaniel (Rivera) has been a workhorse for us for the last couple years,” said Reightler. “We have players who are ready to step up and fill those roles. We’re already putting our eye on next season and what we need to do to take that next step forward. I think we’re a team to watch next year.”