Emmaus earned two dramatic wins in the penalty-kick portion of overtime during the District 11 tournament.
So, when Saturday night’s PIAA Class 4A quarterfinal vs. West Chester Henderson was still scoreless after 80 minutes of regulation time and 30 minutes of overtime action, Green Hornets senior goalkeeper Will Peck felt positive vibes as the Green Hornets prepared for PKs.
“We definitely were comfortable,” Peck said. “We’d already won two this postseason.”
This one, though, didn’t end up like the first two.
Henderson prevailed over Emmaus in PKs, 4-3, with senior goalkeeper Dylan Arrison diving to his left to swat away a shot off the foot of Aleksander Przybylski to seal the Warriors’ win in the nightcap of a boys soccer doubleheader at Quakertown Community High School’s Alumni Field.
The No. 3 seed from District 1, Henderson (20-3-1) advances to Tuesday’s state semifinal to play District 11 champ Parkland (23-1-1) at a site and time to be determined.
Warriors coach Chas Wilson echoed the sentiments of most scholastic coaches when it comes to PKs in overtime.“It’s tough. The uncertainty of it – whether you’re good at PKs or bad at PKs. It’s really a coin flip,” Wilson said. “We went to PKs against Haverford [in the District 1 semifinals] and it didn’t go well for us. We didn’t handle it well. But we used it as a learning moment.
“I had a quiet confidence tonight we were going to find a way to get it done. And when you have a goalie as good as ours [Arrison], it makes it a little bit easier, too.”
Both teams failed to connect on their first penalty kick opportunity – Henderson shot wide left and Arrison made a save – but it was tied at 3-3 after the fourth of five rounds. Arrison easily converted to lead off the fifth round, and then he stopped the Prybylski attempt to end it.
“We went through the state playoffs,” Cari said, “without letting a goal in and we did a good job defensively, we just couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net when we needed to. That’s how it is when you go into PKs. It’s never easy.”
Nothing came easy for Cari’s Green Hornets this season, but they still excelled thanks to their dominant defense.
Emmaus and Henderson took turns through regulation and overtime turning away each other’s offensive attacks.
Both the Hornets and Warriors had several opportunities to put one away but neither team could convert. Both Arrison and Peck played outstanding in goal.
Emmaus (20-3-3) seemed to gain an upper hand when Henderson junior captain Jake Brogan received a red card with 8:20 left in regulation but the Green Hornets couldn’t capitalize.
“Statically, we had the better of the shots actually,” Cari said. “I thought we did some good things. I thought in the first half we had two really good chances. He [Arrison] made some good stops.”
“Both teams,” Wilson said, “really excel at keeping the other team off the scoreboard. I think they’ve given up six goals all season. We’ve given up 12 in 20-something games. Both are really defensive teams. I figured it was going to be a bit of a rock fight. I was still really proud because I thought we created some really good opportunities and were unlucky not to score.”
Henderson now takes aim at another District 11 opponent. Parkland knocked off Haverford 4-3 in Saturday’s first 4A quarterfinal in Quakertown.
Emmaus, meanwhile, is left to reflect on its memorable season that included an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference title and think about the possible all-District 11 state semifinal.
“Would’ve been cool,” Cari said.
The Green Hornets graduate six senior starters, including forward Canyon Reinhardt who led the team with 12 goals. The senior class compiled 58 wins over the past three seasons, Cari pointed out.
“They won 20 games this year. You’re going to look at this team in the history books in the state of Pennsylvania for goals against average for only letting in six in 26 games. Historically, it’s very strong,” said Cari, who completed his 21st season as coach and owns a 359-96-31 record.
“They have a lot to be proud of. It’s hard for any season to end and it’s especially hard for seniors who’ve been with me for a long time but there’s a lot to be proud of.”
Peck agreed with his coach.
“It was a great run. It really was,” the goalkeeper said. “It’s a special group of guys this year. To win the EPCs, then get to the district final and play a great game against LaSalle [a 1-0 win in the first round of states], we kept fighting and never stopped fighting.”
PIAA Class 4A boys soccer quarterfinals
West Chester Henderson 1, Emmaus 0
(WC Henderson wins PKs 4-3)WC Henderson 0 0 0 0 1 – 1Emmaus 0 0 0 0 0 – 0WC Henderson – SOG: 6. Corners: 6. Saves: Dylan Arrison 9. PKs: Carter Lee (miss), Lucas Whittle (make), Parker Nesbitt (make), Jack Overton (make), Arrison (make).Emmaus – SOG: 12. Corners: 2. Saves: Will Peck 6. PKs: Brennan Stack (miss), Rio Johnson (make), Conner Powell (make), Maseyn Muthard (make), Aleksander Przybylski (miss).
Michael Blouse is a freelance writer.
