Things went pretty much to plan for Parkland’s girls soccer team Tuesday night as it jumped out to an early lead and then relied on defense to take a 3-0 win over Emmaus in the District 11 Class 4A semifinals at Northampton High School. The win puts the Lady Trojans into the district championship and guarantees them of a spot in the PIAA Tournament.

Parkland’s game plan consists of getting off to an early start offensively, and it took the Trojans about 10 minutes to get on the board against the Hornets.

Devyn Anderson placed a corner kick in front of the net and Rachel Laird used her height advantage to head the ball past goalkeeper Jess Harnett, giving Parkland a 1-0 lead. The two teamed up again five-minutes later and Parkland had the quick start that they wanted with a 2-0 lead less than halfway through the first half.

Laird had an easy explanation for how she got the first goal, while Parkland head coach Al Haddad preferred a more technical explanation. When asked about the ongoing success that Anderson and Laird have had with that corner play, the senior owed it all to genetics.

“It’s just a matter of me being freakishly tall,” said the senior forward.

Haddad believes the play, which his team has executed with great success throughout the season, has more to it than just height.

“Rachel Laird has a gift,” he said. “Her ability to go up for a header is like no other girl.”

As Emmaus looked to settle in and tried to mount a comeback, Brooke Schutter gave her team even more breathing room when she took a crossing pass from Michaela Cohick and didn’t miss the opportunity to put it squarely into the back of the net.

Parkland and Emmaus met four times this season, with the Lady Trojans winning all four games by a combined score of 12-1.

Haddad switched the focus to defense in the second half rather than looking to add to the score. Having seen his team suffer a number of injuries this season, Haddad also looked to minimize the chances of anybody else going down with an injury by pulling his starters midway through the second half.

“I liked how strong we came out in a big game against a rival team,” said Haddad, who often talks about getting an early lead so his team can play “downhill.”

While Parkland has won three straight conference titles, and five of the last six conference titles, their last district title came in 2012. Laird believes this year’s team is well positioned to take gold and then go deep into the PIAA tournament, which Parkland qualified for with the win over Emmaus.

“Right now, it’s all about districts, but I think we can do well in states,” said Laird. “We just have to stay plugged in. It feels good knowing that we’re going to get deep into the postseason.”

Parkland, the top seed in District 11, will play sixth-seeded Stroudsburg, who knocked off Whitehall 2-1 in overtime Tuesday night in the other semifinal match up. That title game will be Thursday night at 6 p.m. at J. Birney Crum Stadium in Allentown. Parkland and Stroudsburg didn’t play during the regular season and haven’t crossed paths in the postseason this year.