As the final 10 minutes of the game approached, the Emmaus field hockey team needed a spark during last week’s Eastern Pennsylvania Conference championship.

Stroudsburg was doing all it could to protect the 1-0 lead it took in the first half, but Emmaus wasn’t going to be denied.

The Hornets tied the game in the 49th minute when Kira Koehler scored with an assist from Meredith Sholder with 10:48 left to play.

Just over five minutes later, Leah Zellner scored her first of two quick goals that put Emmaus in control of the game en route to a 3-1 win.

Zellner’s first goal, assisted by Kacie Patton, came with 4:47 left in the game. She put in another one in, assisted by Madison Orobono, less than a minute later to all but seal the win.

“We were doubting ourselves a little bit in the first half,” said Zellner. “Once they scored we knew we had to start getting to business. We had our opportunities. At halftime coach said ‘It’s up to you guys to do this. I can’t do anything further. This is all you guys so just believe in yourselves and do it.’”

Throughout the first half Stroudsburg seemed ready to upset the defending state champs.

Stroudsburg did its best to contain Sholder, a four-time league most valuable player. But Emmaus (21-0-0) moved the senior around to several positions and created opportunities that just didn’t turn into goals early in the game.

The Mounties got on the board in the 19th minute of the first half when Lizzy Cunningham scored on a corner play, assisted by teammate Sydney Cramer.

Stroudsburg had two other corners in the half and finished with three to Emmaus’ four after 30 minutes. The teams were also deadlocked at three shots each in the first half.

“[Stroudsburg head coach Jennifer Lobasso] was doing a lot of substituting,” said Emmaus head coach Sue Butz-Stavin,“trying to put fresh legs in and trying to stay with the marks. She had a game plan of hovering around certain players.

“I think the first half was technically not a good first half for us – receiving the ball, making passes, playing good defense. That settled down at halftime and we tried to stick to our game plan.”

The momentum switched on Keohler’s tying goal. The Hornets earned seven corners in the second half, but they scored the game-winner on a counter play off a Stroudsburg corner.

The Mounties misplayed the corner insert pass and Sholder, who plays flier on corners, was on the ball before they could get possession. She got the ball moving up the field and within seconds Patton found Zellner in the circle for the game-winner.

“We call it the snowbird, when you break out from a corner,” said Butz-Stavin. “Those are set plays that we practice. Everybody has a role to fill breaking out. You break out and you try to get numbers up.”

It was the first time this season Emmaus had to play from behind. It could serve as a good learning experience as the team heads into the district tournament with a streak of 28 straight titles to protect.

“You learn from your adversity,” said Butz-Stavin. “It showed a lot of character for us tonight.”

“In a way we kind of needed that to happen,” said Zellner, a junior and three-year varsity starter. “This can happen in any game and I think we really picked it up after [falling behind].”

Emmaus goes on to Wednesday’s District 11 Class 3A quarterfinals as the top seed. The Hornets will host either East Stroudsburg South or Pocono Mountain East.