The Emmaus boys soccer team fought its way to a District 11 championship with wins over Stroudsburg in the semifinals and Whitehall in the finals. The win over Stroudsburg featured a combination of strong outings by both the offensive and defensive units, while the win over Whitehall was led primarily by the defense, which delivered shutouts in both games to get the wins to secure district gold and a trip to states.

Against the Mounties (13-6-2), both teams had early opportunities, but pushed shots either just wide or over the top of the goal. Andrew Gaines got a good look and pulled the trigger on a ball that seemed destined for the back of the net before goalkeeper Christian Beebe made a play to keep the game scoreless.

Before the end of the half Gaines put one past Beebe off a corner kick. The Stroudsburg defense paused thinking a handball was going to be called, but Gaines didn’t miss a step and fired low into the far corner to put the Hornets up 1-0.

Marco Silva found space on a breakaway early in the second half and put Emmaus up 2-0 and Alexzander Toto finished off the scoring with a goal late in the second half to give the Hornets a 3-0 win.

“It was just a quick counterattack and he got around them and played it in front and I was there to finish,” said Silva. “I thought I mis-hit it a little bit, but it went right under the keeper and into the goal.”

In the finals, Emmaus (21-3-0) and Whitehall (13-8-1) played a scoreless first half, but Jake Groh, who put a shot off the crossbar late in the half, scored for Emmaus in the sixth-minute of the second half. Groh took a well-played ball from Gaines and fired it past goalkeeper Justin Mattison.

“It was a ball in played by Jaden and I flicked it on to Andrew and he managed to get it back to me, I don’t know how, and it kind of just happened,” said Groh. “It was a good ball by Gaines.

“It’s really exciting. We always thought we were going to be here since day one and we believe we can go on and win states. It’s great to achieve this and now we’re set to win at states.”

Whitehall had a last gasp as Kresstoph Whittick put an absolute laser on goal, but it went just wide and caromed off the post, coming back into play where it was cleared by Emmaus.

Hornet head coach John Cari credited Whitehall, who came in as the six-seed in the tournament and clawed its way to the finals with upsets over Liberty and Parkland.

“They had two big wins and I think they can play with anybody,” said Cari. “I think we were a little out of sorts early on and a little panicky, pressing a little hard, but I think we got the better of the play tonight. We did a great job on defense tonight.”

The Hornets were one of the local favorites coming into the season and were slowed only by injuries that at one point left them with only seven truly healthy players. The injury bug led to three straight losses, but they rebounded and are now healthy entering states. In addition to a strong defense, Emmaus has offensive depth and gets scoring from several different players.

“We talked about it from preseason, it’s the depth,” said Cari. “We have a lot of kids who can make things happen and they’ll share the ball. There’s not a lot of selfish play and they’re able to come from different angles and different directions. I think everyone is happy for each other when it happens.”