Part disappointment and part disbelief permeated the Freedom Patriots boys soccer team on the realization of being knocked out of PIAA State playoffs with a 2-0 loss to Emmaus in a District XI Class 4A semifinal last Tuesday at Whitehall High School.

“It’s a special group of boys. We have 13 seniors leaving. They’ve done so many great things. They deserved more than this today,” said Freedom head coach Matt Reightler.

The Patriots were in perfect position to reach a berth in states after a double-digit winning streak and recent high-scoring games this season. The Pates also avenged early-season losses to Nazareth and Allentown Central Catholic, and won the East Penn Conference Championship against Parkland.

Emmaus, however, was a team Freedom hadn’t faced all year.

“John (Cari, Emmaus head coach) said exactly what I think,” said Reightler, “this should have been the final, but things didn’t work out that way.”

In the eighth minute of play, Emmaus forward Ryan Kiernan scored the first goal of the night for the Hornets.

“We had to score first. We didn’t,” Reightler said. “They dropped (Jaeden) Amato back, put two people on PJ (Tichy), took him out of the game, and took us out of what we wanted to do.”

Tichy tried to chip in a shot in the 33rd minute that went too high, and took another shot in the 37th minute that was caught by Emmaus keeper Ty Bleiler.

At halftime, the Pates still believed they had a chance.

“We thought we weren’t winning the 50-50 balls. The intensity wasn’t there so we thought if we picked it up, we would get one,” said Reightler, “but then they got another early one that forced us to change things again.”

In the 49th minute, Emmaus forward Bryan Flor scored the Hornets’ second goal on an assist by Jack Lawrence.

Tichy took two more shots, one in the 53rd minute and another in the 74th minute.

The Patriots ended the season with a record of 19-4.

“I’m proud of these boys,” Reightler said. “It just wasn’t our day.”