An injury depleted Lady Hawks team went into Emmaus for the EPC quarterfinals Saturday and put up a valiant fight, but the game ended with the Hornets taking a 4-0 win to advance to the conference semifinals where they will play Allentown Central Catholic.

“We were missing six (players) today and lost a couple more during the game,” noted coach Brad Kratzer. “We were playing well and then last week we had three games that really beat us up. It put us a little behind the eight ball. Overall, for how small we are and first year EPC appearance, I’m proud of our girls.”

Beca’s starting lineup had three freshmen and three sophomores against an experienced Emmaus team that came into the tournament as the number-three seed, while the Hawks (11-6-0) were seeded sixth. At some points in the game, Kratzer fielded a team with six freshmen on the field at one time.

Sophia Arvelo put on a show in goal for Bethlehem Catholic with athletic saves that kept Emmaus from running away with the game. The Lady Hornets picked up two early goals against Arvelo, but the freshman goalie stiffened and made things tougher on Emmaus as the game went on.

Emmaus senior Maddi Woodward was able to figure out how to beat Arvelo and got her three times in the game to lead Emmaus (15-3-1). Woodward is one of Emmaus’ top players but missed half the season with an injury before recently returning. Her first goal set the tone for the Lady Hornets when she found an opening just :15 into the game and then struck exactly five minutes later for her second goal and an early 2-0 Emmaus lead.

Bethlehem Catholic mustered some pressure late in the first half but opposing goalie Ashley Stine was able to tip the ball over the crossbar. On the ensuing corner, Bethlehem Catholic was able to get a good insert but unable to finish the play in front of the Emmaus net.

If there is any benefit in the loss, it is that Kratzer can now give his team some time to get healthy before their season continues in the District 11 2A tournament, which gets underway next week.

“We’re building toward the future and hopefully, we can get everyone healthy and make a good district run,” said Kratzer, who expects to have a full squad available when district play begins.

Kratzer pointed to the slow start for his team, which got off to a 3-5-0 start but rattled off an eight-game winning streak, including seven wins by shutout. The defense allowed just 20 goals during the regular season while scoring 61 goals, so there is something for Bethlehem Catholic to point to in looking at the future.

“We just really started to come together as a team, so it’s unfortunate that we have had this many injuries. Some younger players did get more time, so that helps, but it’s difficult to compete against the really good teams like Emmaus with so many players out,” said Kratzer.

Kratzer pointed out that many of the injured players have doctor appointments this week and he is hopeful for them to be cleared to practice and then play in districts.

“Actually, the layoff could not come at a better time,” said Kratzer. “We can just focus on getting healthy and game planning for individual opponents, probably just one or two teams. Once we figure out who we are going to play, we can focus on them and come up with a plan on how to face them.”