The Emmaus Hornets earned the District 11 Class 4A girls soccer silver medal after a 2-1 victory by Northampton in the district final on Oct. 31 at Salisbury and will join the Konkrete Kids in the PIAA state tournament, scheduled to begin this week.

“We had a good run in districts,” said Emmaus first-year head coach Chris Hain. “We just couldn’t overcome injuries. We had so many injuries that you heard our starting lineup: freshman, freshman, freshman, sophomore. I was missing two of my best strikers. We just kept going to the well and going to the well, and sooner or later, when you’re playing a team that’s senior heavy and every one of those players is not only bigger, stronger, faster, but have three years on our players, it was too hard to overcome.

“But I give Northampton credit. They played good tonight.”

Northampton forward Brielle Szoke found the back of the net in the first minute of play, and teammate Victoria Phillips put the Konkrete Kids (16-5) ahead, 2-0, also in the first half.

“They sent me a ball, and there was this opening right in between the two center backs,” Phillips said. “I took a touch in between them, and I looked up, and it was just me and the goalie. I had to choose a corner, so I went right into the left corner.”

Chloe Watson’s penalty kick came close for Northampton in the 48th minute and was then headed into the net, but offside was called because Emmaus goalie Ashley Stine never touched the ball.

Midway through the second half, Northampton goalie Emma Fry made a one-armed save over the top of the net after a slight defensive breakdown.

“We just made one little mistake, and she was free on the back side, and I was able to clean it up,” Fry said.

But seven minutes later, Emmaus forward Elizabeth Bender found the bottom right corner to put the Hornets on the scoreboard.

Sofia Isaksson was credited with the assist.

“We just had to get into the game, and we didn’t find our way into the game until 60, 70 minutes in, so there were really no adjustments to make,” said Hain. “We just had to start playing and competing.”

Emmaus goalie Ashley Stine had two saves. Northampton’s Fry made five saves.

“I think they’re fast, and they’re well-coached, and they’ve just got great players,” said Northampton coach Mike Missmer, “so I think it was a matter of that kind of play was wearing on us, and they started to push players up. I made a couple of changes that weren’t working out, so we kind of went back to normal, but the girls on the field figured it out.”

The Kids avenged a first-round league playoff loss to Emmaus with their win in the district title game.

Northampton, which was the No. 4 seed in districts and knocked off top-seeded Nazareth in the semifinals, will host a team from District 1 in the first round of the state playoffs, while Emmaus will travel south to District 12.

“The one good thing about tonight is it’s not the end of our season, and we get to keep playing,” Hain said. “And to be honest, every day that we get to step on the field with these girls is a good day.”

District 11 Semifinals

Emmaus (16-5) reached the title game by beating No. 2 seed Parkland in the semifinals to end the Trojans’ streak of five straight district championships.

The Hornets’ Ella Scharper scored the game’s only goal in last Tuesday’s semifinal off a corner play. Stine made six saves on six shots to post her 15th shutout of the season.