Fresh off winning the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference championship, the Emmaus High School boys soccer team entered the District 11 playoffs hoping to earn it’s second straight district crown and fifth in the last six seasons.

Emmaus opened districts with a dramatic win over Whitehall as the No. 9 seed Zephyrs took the Hornets to overtime before the defending champs pulled out the win.

Top-seeded Emmaus (19-2-1 overall) started off strong scoring two goals in the first half to lead 2-0 at halftime. But Whitehall found the back of the net twice in the second half to force overtime.

Canyon Reinhardt made sure his team’s season wouldn’t end that game and scored the golden goal with 3:05 left in the first overtime period for a 3-2 victory last Thursday night at Memorial Field in a quarterfinal round game.

Callum Harvey and Mohamed Hassanali were also goal scorers for Emmaus in the opening half. Ben Grossi recorded two assists. Will Peck finished with two saves in net for the Hornets, who outshot Whitehall 16-10 overall and 7-4 on goal. Emmaus also had a 9-6 advantage in corner kicks.

For the Zephyrs, Eddie Saloum and Justin Hussett each recorded a goal. Cole Richards made four saves in net.

Emmaus played fourth seed Northampton in the semifinal round this past Tuesday night at J. Birney Crum Stadium. That game was played after Press deadline. The winner will take on the either two seed Parkland or three seed Freedom, in Thursday’s championship game.