After Parkland and Emmaus played to a scoreless tie for 59:55 in the regular season only to have the Hornets get a game-winner with just :05 left to play, the Hornets (22-1-0) were taking no chances in Saturday’s district finals at the Zephyrs Sports Complex at Whitehall High School.

Emmaus flexed its muscles for three goals in the first quarter and went on to take a 3-0 win over Parkland (17-5-1) to win their 35th straight District 11 championship.

The first goal came on a picture-perfect connection that went just the way storied Emmaus coach Sue Butz-Stavin drew it up. Melea Weber put a long drive down the field that was played by Emmy Horner. Coming down the middle of the field was freshman Gracie Huffer, who took the feed from Horner and scored the first of the three first-quarter goals.

“That was definitely a good play,” said Huffer. “We worked the ball up the sideline and then went to the baseline with me and Emmy. Horner had a good pass across the goal. It was a good play with in-and-out passing. We have been working on that in practice, so it was good to finally finish in a game.”

The second goal may or may not have been a goal. Officially, it was a goal. However, video replay showed that the ball actually did not go into the cage but rolled alongside the cage.

Weber put a shot on goal and senior Autumn Held deflected the shot. Whether it went into the goal or not was not clear. Parkland players immediately went into position for a restart, but the officials met and decided it was a goal, which gave Emmaus a 2-0 edge.

If that wasn’t enough of a problem for the Trojans, Horner picked up another assist as she sent a ball to Weber, who made it look easy for the third goal in 10 minutes for the top-seeded Hornets. The goal was Weber’s 59th of the season.

Emmaus was able to close the door on nine Parkland corner opportunities, most of which came early in the game. The Trojans did have a couple of opportunities off corners in the fourth quarter, but goalie Emma Cari was able to make saves to thwart the Parkland offense.

“I think we have more and more motivation every single game and we keep getting better and better,” said Weber of the win. “We came out strong and we knew Parkland was going to come out strong just like they did last time we played them, so we were ready for it.”

While most of the team is used to winning district titles and playing for state titles, Huffer, a freshman, is going through her first postseason and is enjoying it.

“It feels great,” said Huffer. “I’m definitely nervous about playing in states, but there were some nerves playing in EPCs and in districts, so I’m getting used to it and we have a great team, so the older players always help and once you start playing, you forget the nerves.”

As for getting used to winning, Butz-Stavin enjoys it all but just stays focused on what her team needs to do to be successful.

“We just play,”she said. “We play the game to win the game and it’s not about the number. It’s nice to be able to keep the streak alive, but at some point in time the streak is going to get broken. We work just for the present game and hopefully, at the end of the day we can be successful and that’s all you can ask for.”

District 11 semifinal

Hornet hang eight goals on Kids in shutout win

Weber picked up a hat trick in an 8-0 District 11 semifinal win over Northampton last Tuesday.

Weber scored twice in the first quarter and picked up her third goal late in the first half. She also assisted on one goal in the win, which saw Emmaus outshoot the Konkrete Kids 27-3 and hold a 13-2 edge in corners.

Autumn Held and Sharlise Solano each scored two goals in the game, while Haley Kvacky scored on and assisted on two goals. Autumn Kernechel and Emmey Horner each had two assists in the win, while Avery Burnett assisted on one goal.

Emma Cari was called on to make three saves in the win. The senior has allowed just eight goals on 80 shots on goal this season. She’s posted 18 shuts outs.