After outscoring Emmaus 8-1 in their two regular season meetings this season, it looked like the Eastern Pennsylvania semifinal matchup between the Trojans and Hornets was going to be somewhat lopsided when Parkland jumped out to a 3-0 lead with 15 minutes left in the first half.

Parkland is known for making adjustments at halftime that generate more goals in the second half, but this time it was different. In the end, Parkland grabbed a 3-2 win, but it wasn’t easy as the Hornets completely outplayed Parkland in the final half.

“Hats off to them,” said Parkland head coach Al Haddad. “We haven’t been outplayed in a lot of 10-, 15-minute segments, let alone an entire 40 minutes. I thought they outplayed us for the full 40 minutes and hats off to them.

“I’m really proud of our girls to be able to take punches for 40 minutes. Even though they lost the half on the scoreboard, because we had a really good first half, we were able to come through with a win.”

Helen Flynn got the scoring started just 9:50 into the battle. Flynn took a pass from Brooke Schutter and was able to put it past goalie Alexa Ryan. Before long, Schutter added a goal of her own and then another to put Parkland up 3-0. Katrina Olenwine and Lindsay Reightler assisted on Schutter’s goals.

Haddad elected to rest some of his starters late in the half and Emmaus took advantage of it when Sophie Pickering scored for the Hornets with just over three minutes left in the half. The goal ignited Emmaus fans and their players, but the half-time break figured to kill the momentum.

“I thought we would respond in the second half, but this is the first time in the last two or three years against them where we just weren’t all over them,” said Haddad. “Instead, they were all over us, so we got a taste of our own medicine there.”

Schutter’s two goals and an assist were just the latest episode in what has brought Schutter high accolades from not just the Lehigh Valley, but from around the state.

“That’s why she is who she is,” said Haddad of his senior player. “She scores goals in these big games. She’s not one of these kids who scores four and five against the weak teams. She’s a finisher and that’s why she’s all-state and that’s why she’s league MVP, because she’s a finisher and she does it on the big day.”

Parkland, the top seed in the EPC, now plays second-seeded Easton Thursday for the EPC title. The Red Rovers downed Pleasant Valley in the other semifinal game.

Easton and Parkland met in the regular season, with the Trojans winning 4-2. A win for Parkland would give the Trojans their fourth straight conference title and their sixth in the past seven seasons.

“They’re going to come out with everything that they have and come out with nothing to lose and everything to gain,” said Haddad. “We have to be prepared for a team that comes out with energy for 80 minutes. We have to get early goals and feed off of them and not let the team back in.”