None of the current Emmaus girls varsity lacrosse players had beaten Parkland in any of the previous three years. The Hornets had not beaten the Trojans in girls lacrosse in much longer than that, and most of the outcomes hadn’t been close on the scoreboard.

But in the first meeting between the two schools of 2017, that streak came to an end.

Emmaus stayed undefeated in league play and beat Parkland for the first time since 2009. The Hornets got a team-high four goals from senior Maddy Dorn in Saturday’s 13-12 victory at Memorial Field.

“I was a starter all four years, and we’ve never come out on top of them,” Dorn said. “They’ve always beaten us by a good spanking. It was great. I knew they would come out strong. We were expecting to come out strong.”

Dorn, who may have looked a bit out of place on the field wearing jersey No. 8 after leaving her No. 7 at home, helped lead a game-changing second half charge. It’s been a common theme for the Hornets this season so far.

After Parkland (4-3 overall; 1-1 Eastern Pennsylvania Conference) scored three of four goals to end the first half and take a 6-5 lead into intermission, Emmaus (5-2; 3-0) turned the page and went on a scoring spree. Five goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half, capped by a Dorn goal from Grace Hall, gave the Hornets a commanding 10-6 advantage.

“That’s lately been our thing, to amp up in the second half,” Dorn said. “I don’t know what it really is. I think we kind of get a breather and we rejuvenate. We talk about everything that we need to go through again, and get our minds refreshed and everything.”

No team had led by more than a goal through 30 minutes. Paige Weaver’s fourth goal of the game with 18:08 to play gave Emmaus an 8-6 lead in the second half. Then, Lizzy Ninesling scored not even a minute later, and Dorn got the Hornets into double-digit goals.

Parkland, however, chipped away and would not go away without a fight. Abby Pope and Mackenzie Roth scored goals just 16 seconds apart and shifted the momentum back to the Trojans’ bench.

Camryn Barnett, who scored four of Parkland’s six goals in the first half, scored her fifth with six minutes to play that cut Emmaus’ lead to 12-10. Pope added another with 4:42 left on the clock to make it a one-goal game, but Dorn gave Emmaus some breathing room with a set piece goal minutes later.

“Their No. 4 [Barnett] was very good; she had five goals, so we kind of marked her a little tighter,” Dorn said. “I wouldn’t say we really face-guarded her tightly. She still got open a couple of times, but we definitely marked her a little tighter.”

Shannon Bushinsky kept Parkland’s hopes alive with a goal with 16 seconds remaining on the clock. And after the Trojans won the ensuing faceoff, the possibility of overtime became very much alive. Instead, a last-second Trojan shot was blocked by Hornet goalie Nina Carotenuto that sent an Emmaus rush onto the field.

“We kind of knew that we had a chance,” Dorn said. “They’ve always had huge groups of seniors every year that I’ve played them, so they had a lot of leadership and we never really had that. This year I think that was the tiebreaker.”