The Parkland Lady girls soccer team picked up its sixth straight conference championship last week with a 2-1 win over Emmaus in the East Penn Conference finals.

The win was the third this season for Parkland over Emmaus, with the three games being decided by just two goals as Parkland won two of the games and the teams played to a scoreless tie in the third.

Mother Nature played a role in the championship game by providing a brisk wind that blew from one goal to the other at the Zephyr Sports Complex at Whitehall High School.

Parkland came out firing with the wind to its back and picked up two quick goals, taking a 2-0 lead over Emmaus just eight minutes into the game.

The first score came on a header from Emma Schock in the second minute of the game. Less than six minutes later, senior Ava Schaller broke free and fired a shot past Emmaus goalkeeper Alexa Ryan to give Parkland an insurance goal.

“With the wind at your back and you get those two goals, you are running down hill in a game like that,” said Parkland head coach Al Haddad. “In all honesty, we didn’t think they had a chance of scoring in the first half after that.”

Emmaus settled in after the two quick goals, but the Parkland defense withstood the challenge, with goal keeper Teresa Gonzalez providing athletic saves in goal.

Gonzalez stopped a shot by Emmaus’s Maddi Woodward in the 24th minute of the first half. Parkland’s offense also had its opportunities, but the Emmaus defense was able to turn them away.

The wind remained strong to open the second half, but this time with Emmaus having the wind at its back.

Just over three minutes into the second half, Emmaus took its first penalty corner of the game and Gianna Albanese beat Gonzalez with a shot to make it a 2-1 game.

The Hornets looked to tie the game when Grace Eisenhard took a free kick and put it off the crossbar. Parkland was awarded a free kick just a couple of minutes later and the kick was headed toward the goal, but Ryan again made an athletic stop to keep it a one-goal game. Later, Schaller looked to score her second goal of the

night when she had a breakaway opportunity, but Ryan again was able to make the stop.

“We knew at halftime that we couldn’t foul, which we did,” said Haddad of the second half. “We couldn’t give up corner kicks, which we did. We do everything we can to possess a little bit and keep the ball on the ground and we did it here and there, but not as well as we could.”

Emmaus had one final gasp to tie the game when it was awarded a penalty corner with time running down. Emmaus put a shot on goal, but Gonzalez made the stop as time ran out in regulation.

“That was something we were not expecting, but we just did what we needed to do and the defense got in their way enough so that they didn’t have a good shot,” said Gonzalez.

Next up for the Trojans is the District 11 playoffs, which they have won each of the past three seasons. The Trojans have a first-round bye and will host the winner of the Liberty-Nazareth matchup in one of Thursday’s quarterfinal games.

Parkland is the top seed in the tournament, with Emmaus coming in at number-two. The two teams could face a fourth meeting for the District 11 championship, should they both advance through their brackets.

“It’s definitely a great rivalry,” said Gonzalez of the possibility of a fourth game with Emmaus. “We love it partly because there’s so much support behind it.

“You go to other games and there aren’t a lot of people there, but whenever we play, there are a lot of people and they’re really into the game just because it’s Parkland and Emmaus. The environment is amazing when we play.”