Ryan Kiernan’s game-winning goal in the District 11 Class 4A championship isn’t the prettiest goal the senior has ever scored for the Emmaus boys soccer team, but it may be his nicest important.
Kiernan converted two penalties, including the second, which Freedom junior goalkeeper Micah Lawser nearly saved, to lead the second seed. Green hornets to a 2-1 victory against the fourth seed Patriots at the Zephyr Sports Complex in Whitehall on Saturday evening.
“After I hit him, I didn’t feel like I hit him well enough,” Kiernan said. “Honestly, it probably wasn’t that good a PK. I saw him (Lawser) rebound, and I was so happy he went in.
Emmaus, competing in its 13th consecutive district title game, won its seventh championship in that streak and first since 2021.
“This year has been a year of revenge,” Kiernan said, referring to the Hornets’ heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Parkland in double overtime in last year’s D-11 4A championship. “Everyone wanted this match so much, including me. That’s all I thought about this whole week, was that championship game.
The Green Hornets (19-2-1) will host Council Rock North, fifth in District 1, in the first round of the PIAA 4A tournament on Tuesday.
It is an often debated topic in the football world whether a player should take two penalties in the same match, as the opposing goalkeeper could potentially detect a pattern during the first penalty.
Longtime Emmaus coach John Cari didn’t hesitate to send Kiernan there twice.
“He’s just our leader. He’s a strong player,” Cari said of Kiernan. “We know he’s our go-to on PKs and we knew putting him back on second, we knew he was going to take care of it. We were convinced in this situation that he was capable of stepping up his efforts. It wasn’t really a question.
The game’s deciding moment came with 26:07 left when Kiernan caught a pass on the left side of the offense. Lawser had come off his line to clear the chance and, after getting past Freedom senior defender Marcus Brown, Kiernan fired low toward the near post. Patriots junior left guard Connor Blake slid to try to stop the ball from crossing the line, but the ball hit the back of his arm. Although it was not an intentional hand ball, Blake received a red card because the hand ball was the only thing preventing a goal.
“It was hard. I feel bad for Connor, he’s been phenomenal for us all season,” Freedom coach Tyler Nolan said. “Experiencing a moment like that during a final is not something you really want. After that, I found that our response was again very good. We didn’t give up, we knew we needed a goal. We had chances, we had chances, but at the end of the day, they don’t fall; it’s a cruel game.
Lawser guessed right away as he headed to his left to stop Kiernan’s low shot on the spot, but couldn’t make the save.
Junior Michael Deluhery nearly equalized for the Patriots less than three minutes later. Deluhery’s curling shot from a free kick about 23 yards from goal on the right flank hit the side netting at the near post.
Freedom switched from a back four to a back three and pushed the numbers forward late, but recorded three tame shots on goal before junior defender Logan Schupp headed in the long ball from junior midfielder Brady Sutton from a free kick over the bar about 10 yards out in the final minute.
“At that point, unfortunately, tactics go out the window a little bit,” Nolan said. “You’re just looking for, can you get an opportunity, can you get a loose ball, can you get a header. We’ve had a few, we’ve had opportunities, sometimes they don’t fall for you.
“It was hard. It was hard until the end, I thought (Liberty) really gave us a lot,” Cari said. “Even until the end they were down, they still gave us everything they could. ‘They had. It was not an easy victory to achieve.
The Patriots struck first just 3:35 into the game. Moments after Emmaus had a penalty kick that wasn’t given at the other end of the court, senior Corey James led a counterattack down the left side and slipped a pass to Deluhery. Deluhery took two touches inside before firing a high shot at the near post that found the roof of the net.
“Their players are very talented, very fast. Corey James, Michael Deluhery, they obviously challenged us,” said young Emmaus defender Brayden Dang. “We had confidence in our defense; we have confidence in our midfielder; we are a strong team.
Dang’s delivery into the box from a free kick led to the Hornets’ first penalty. Brown was judged to have brought down Kiernan in the box as both players went for the ball.
“I have confidence in my teammates. We have a lot of size on our team. Kiernan, Dahlin (Allport), they’re really good at taking flight on that,” Dang said. “Kiernan’s size leads to fouls like how he won the first penalty.”
Kiernan slipped a low shot to Lawser’s left after Lawser started moving the other way. The penalty kick conversion tied it at 1-1 with 18:19 left in the first half.
“On the first one, someone said, ‘You know where he’s going,’ so I knew they spotted my PKs,” Kiernan said. “I had to put it on the other side.”
Nolan made it clear that he didn’t agree with the first penalty decision, but was happy with how his team responded to both penalties. The Patriots, seeking their first D-11 title since 2018 and third in program history, finished the season with a 17-4-2 record and will lose six seniors to graduation.
“I’m so proud of this group,” Nolan said. “They understood what we wanted to do this summer, adopted the tactics, the ideas, the enthusiasm that we had. What was great was we were getting production, getting feedback on all these different pieces.
Aside from reaching the PIAA 4A semifinals in 2020, Emmaus has fallen in the first round of the state tournament every year it has qualified since 2006. The Green Hornets lost to Council Rock North in the first round States in 2016 and 2011.
“The home game is amazing,” Kiernan said. “We are all very excited to play. This will be our last home game. I’m a senior… That means a lot.
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Desmond Boyle can be contacted at [email protected].
