“It’s not the draw you want,” said Whitehall field hockey coach Jen Bodnar on having to play perennial powerhouse Emmaus in the district quarterfinals for the second consecutive season.

Emmaus, winners of 32 consecutive District 11 championships, came away with an 11-0 win, ending the season for the Zephyrs.

Top scorer Rachel Herbine scored three of her five goals in the first 10 minutes of the game with Abby Burnett assisting on two of the goals. Emmaus continued to pick up goals throughout the game with the last one coming midway through the fourth quarter.

While giving up 11 goals is never part of the game plan, it’s not indicative of the play from goalie Lilliana Trocki, who made several impressive stops throughout the game.

“She played a great game, she absolutely did a great job and she’s only a freshman,” said Bodnar of Trocki’s outing in goal against Emmaus. “She was injured for over half of the season. She did a tremendous job as did a lot of our young players, so the future is definitely bright.”

Whitehall finished the season with a 9-10 overall record and will graduate eight seniors – Jasmin Abdalla, Riley Christine, Abigail Connolly, Alexandra Cook, Maurelys Garcia, Ella Laky, Avery Peracchia and Brielle Schrey - from this year’s roster.

The team also had eight juniors, four sophomores and six freshmen, giving them a young team to continue contending down the road.

“We’re graduating eight seniors and we’re going to miss them,” said Bodnar. “At the same time, we have a lot of underclassmen that we are excited about and played hard all season. The girls played with heart and that’s all you can ask for.

“We even had a senior come out of the game with an injury, get taped up and go right back in. That’s how dedicated our players are to what we’re doing.”

If being matched up against Emmaus the past two seasons in the quarterfinals wasn’t enough, the Zephyrs also had to face them in the semifinals in 2019.

“You have to hand it to Emmaus. Sue [coach Sue Butz-Stavin] is such a great coach and she keeps putting together great teams. That doesn’t happen by accident and there’s no reason for us to hang our heads. We play them tough every time, whether it’s the regular season or playoffs, and sometimes you just tip your hat to the other team. I’m proud of our girls.”