Parkland-Emmaus more than rivalry

When Parkland's Tara Huber, Emily Schneider, Courtney Paxson, Kim Angelina and Brigit McLaughlin line up against Emmaus' Rachel Watson, Ali Brosky, Cristina Calogero, Kaity Dychala, Jordan Egge and Alexa Nisiotis, the 11 girls will see more than rivals standing in each group's way of a Lehigh Valley Conference girls soccer championship.

They'll see their friends and, in some cases, future college teammates.

Two days a week during the high school season and more often in the offseason, these 11 comprise most of the Vincent United club team based in Pottstown.

''They're always my friends,'' Parkland's Schneider said of Emmaus' six seniors.

Schneider has been playing with the Emmaus group since middle school. Most of the others have been club teammates for the last three years.

Despite Emmaus' LVC domination (seven consecutive league titles) and Parkland's continued climb to the top under current coach Al Haddad, there is no animosity among the players.

''We joke around a lot with each other,'' Parkland's Huber said. ''We have a lot of fun. Sure, we want to beat them but playing together has helped us become better players.''

The friendship will take an 80-minute (or longer) break Friday night when Emmaus visits Parkland.

It will be one with special meaning to Emmaus coach Rob Rooney, because he also coaches the club team.

''The Parkland kids are great kids,'' Rooney said. ''When the day comes that we lose to Parkland, it probably won't bother me much.''

Emmaus has owned the recent series, winning all seven meetings in the seniors' careers by a combined 25-0 score.

''We probably psyche ourselves out too much for Emmaus,'' Angelina said. ''They are our biggest rival.''

''We just have to try to treat it as just another game, just another team,'' Paxson said.

But these 11 seniors know it is more than just another game.

Emmaus' Watson and Nisiotis likely will be college teammates with Parkland's Huber, Schneider and Katy Fexa at Bloomsburg University. Egge will see plenty of that group in the next four years since she's attending fellow Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference foe California (Pa.).

News and notes: Katie Sales became the first Nazareth girl to reach 50 career goals earlier this season. She registered her 51st goal Wednesday in a win over Northampton. Â… East Stroudsburg North is off to its best start in school history at 4-1 overall, 2-1 in the Mountain Valley Conference. Â… Before losing this week at Central Catholic and Northampton, Emmaus was 58-2 in Lehigh Valley Conference play in under Rooney. Things don't get any easier for the Hornets. They face Nazareth, Whitehall, Parkland and Easton in their next four conference matches. Those four foes have a combined 10-4-1 LVC mark. Â… Northampton's win over Emmaus comes after losing the previous five series meetings by a combined 30-0 score.

Note : All stats and standings are based on information provided to The Morning Call.