Whitehall and Parkland battled in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference championship and as much as Parkland tried to pull away, the Zephyrs kept catching up. Unfortunately, with the game on the line in penalty kicks, it was Parkland that came out on top, winning the penalty kick phase 4-2 and recording a 3-2 win in the game.

After Parkland took a 1-0 lead with 27:30 left in the first half, the Zephyrs came back 20-minutes later on a goal from Maddy Walker to tie the game 1-1.

In the second half, Parkland got a go-ahead goal less than eight minutes in, but it took only another four minutes for Kourtney Cunningham, who assisted on Walker's goal, to take a pass from Taylor George and put it past goalkeeper Becky Webster to again know the game at 2-2.

With 15:40 left in the game, it looked like Whitehall might have picked up another goal, but the ball had actually gone on top of the net, much to the disappointment of the Whitehall fans at the game.

"I thought both teams had a lot of chances and played well and it was a real gutsy effort by both teams. I'm really proud of our girls for competing," said Weitzman. "You think of the girls and the challenges that they had, getting a new coach, learning a new system, a new philosophy and really kind of learning my ways. I know the girls are sulking a little bit, but I'm really happy for them. I think they did Whitehall High School really proud tonight."

Both teams traded opportunities in the two overtime periods, but neither was able to break through with a goal, sending the game into penalty kicks to decide the winner. Parkland had to go to penalty kicks to reach the finals in their win over Easton. When the teams lined up for the kicks, Whitehall showed a change in goal, with Cunningham taking over. The change was something that coach Dave Weitzman had decided on in the days leading up to the championship.

"We really felt that Kourtney's really athletic and we practiced the last three days, going into the Nazareth game in the first quarter-finals and then, also, into the Emmaus game and last night we worked with her and she was saving just about everything. She's just a tremendous athlete and really competes, so we really thought that she would give us the best opportunity to win in PKs. It was unfortunate, I thought that she could have had that first one and she would tell you the same thing, but she just did great," explained Weitzman.

Cunningham, who plays both soccer and field hockey, was willing to take on any challenge that Weitzman presented to her and she willingly stepped into goal.

"It's a lot harder to save a shot than it is to make a shot and it's not always up to the goalie, so I didn't really feel pressured. It's just go out there, have fun and try to save a ball, that's it," said Cunningham, who admits playing both sports can be a little tough. "My legs hurt at times, but I go to the trainer and I get ice and treatment; our trainers are so unbelievably good with us. At times, I do feel it, like in overtime, in the last five minutes, I was thinking I can do it and your body can do a lot more than what you think, so it's just all mental and you've got to push through it."

After the game, the EPC announced their all-conference team and Cunningham was named to the first team, while goalkeeper Jude Luckenbill was named to the second team.

The Zephyrs now move on to the District 11 Tournament and could possibly see Parkland again, in the semi-finals, if both teams advance. It would be the fourth meeting in just over three weeks between the two teams. For Cunningham, there's also the district tournament in field hockey to compete in, but she isn't handicapping which team will go further.

"I don't know," laughed Cunningham. "I hope both are going to the championship."