It’s been just over six years since the Emmaus field hockey team took to its home field and didn’t come away with a win. That time, they had to settle for a 3-3 tie against Penn Manor in a nonconference game on September 12, 2009.

That streak was put to the test Saturday in another nonconference game, this time against Owen J. Roberts. Heroics from Meredith Sholder, who scored twice in the span of five minutes, gave Emmaus a 3-2 win over the Wildcats in overtime.

With Emmaus down 2-1 and just 39 seconds left in regulation, Emmaus seemed to be struggling to get in position and set a play. The Hornets got the ball in just as time was running down and Sholder launched a shot past goalkeeper Amanda Lamb to send the game into overtime.

Then, five minutes into overtime, a penalty corner from Delaney Ahn went to Sholder, who again beat Lamb for the game-winning goal.

“It was really nerve-wracking,” Sholder said. “Time ran out, but the whole entire team was really supportive. They came up to me and were like ‘Mere, you got this, we all got this, you’re going to score this.’ It was a great feeling to know that my team was all there for me. It brought a lot of encouragement and I wasn’t scared to shoot, because they really helped me out there.”

Even stoic coach Sue Butz-Stavin admitted that things were starting to get a little scary late in regulation.

“I was getting concerned when the clock went under three minutes,” she said. “And then, with 39 seconds, we’re still trying to figure out who’s going to get the ball and bring it back. We work on plays where, what are we going to do in the last two-minutes of games?

“We were hoping that we got the ball into the circle and came away with a corner, so that was great. For Mere to be able to come away with a rocket of a shot, too. She worked extremely hard tonight for her goals.”

Emmaus held a 12-3 edge on corners, but wasn’t able to take advantage of them as well as their coach would have preferred. She also noted a couple tactical mistakes that she believes can be easily corrected in practice.

Owen J. Roberts came into the game 11-1 on the season, with an 11-game winning streak. The team found out just about a month before the start of the season that its coach was leaving, adding some chaos to the preseason. The Wildcats lost their opener to Neshaminy, but have regrouped and played well thanks to a core group of seniors, who have been contributing since their freshman seasons.

“They were probably one of the best defenses that I ever played against,” said Sholder. “They sure took the ball away from me a couple times and even had me fall a couple times. It was really great competition.”

Butz-Stavin loved the tenacity and heart that her team displayed. Even though it was Sholder scoring all three goals, both the coach and her star player admitted that it took a full team effort to come away with a win against the Wildcats.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them,” said Sholder of her teammates. “It was definitely a team effort. I made mistakes out there and other players made mistakes, but as a team, we brought it back and stepped it up at the end to come back with the win.”