Meredith Sholder hasn’t become as good as she is in field by letting things stop her. She is constantly double and triple-teamed and for a while, was playing with a sore wrist and stitches in her pinky, making it tough to get a good grasp on the stick.

No matter. In what was the biggest game of the season for Emmaus so far, the senior star scored three goals and assisted on two others as the Hornets downed Stroudsburg 5-0 to give the Mounties their first loss of the season.

Kira Koehler and Riley Baughman both added goals against Stroudsburg and Kacie Patton added an assist in the game.

Sholder, who broke the Emmaus all-time record for goals last season and recently went over the 100-assist mark for her career is one of only four players nationwide, and the only player ever in Pennsylvania to score 100 goals and add 100 assists in their career. She will likely become only the second player to finish her career with 200 goals and 100 assists. Sholder’s career numbers stand at 189 career goals and 108 career assists.

Sholder was quick to credit her teammates for helping drive her career numbers in both goals and assists.

“I owe that to my teammates and coaches,” said Sholder. “We’re always well prepared. For instance, we put in three new corners just for this game – and I’ve had great players around me. If I’m triple-teamed, then someone else is open and we have other people who can make plays for us.”

The senior, who will continue her field hockey career at the University of North Carolina next season, is currently playing with a sore wrist and the day after the game with Stroudsburg, had stitches removed from her finger.

“I’ve had some nagging stuff before and I can play with this,” said Sholder with her ever-present smile. “It’s a little tough to grip the stick sometimes, but it’s not really too bad.”

After Stroudsburg, Emmaus took on another undefeated team in Liberty and added a second 5-0 win to the ledger, with goals from five different players in the game. Alison Johnston, Emily Ingalls, Baughman, Koehler and Sholder all scored against the Hurricanes to put Emmaus at 8-0 in the EPC and 10-0 overall this season.

If there was a potential hole coming into the season, it was the defense, which is very young and was in somewhat of a rebuild. As it turns out, it was more of a reload than a rebuild, since the young players have developed into quite a force and repeatedly shut down attacks from Stroudsburg, allowing just three shots on goal.

Against Liberty, the young defense allowed just one shot on goal. After allowing a goal in their season-opener against Parkland, the Hornets defense has been in shut-down mode and have nine straight shutouts, covering just over nine-hours and 10 minutes of field hockey.

“This is a good group,” said Emmaus head coach Sue Butz-Stavin. “They’re very young, but they’ve really played like much more experienced players and now, they’re really hitting their stride. It was nice to see how well they played here today [against Stroudsburg].”

Emmaus will get a chance to avenge that lone goal of the season when they play at Parkland on Friday. The following day, they host Downingtown East and then have Northampton at home on Tuesday.