After winning their first 17 games of the season, the Emmaus field hockey team went to Parkland High School for the final game of the regular season looking to remain perfect for the third straight season.

After giving Emmaus all it could handle in a 2-1 overtime game earlier in the season, Parkland was looking to end that streak of perfection. Parkland again gave Emmaus a strong effort last week, but came up short in a 3-0 loss to the Hornets.

“Our effort was really good again tonight,” said Parkland head coach Lizzie Millen. “That’s been a constant for us is that the girls always play hard, but sometimes we just can’t seem to pull it all together.”

Emmaus picked up its first goal from Olivia Krogermeier on a penalty stroke with 17:16 left in the first half. Krogermeier has gone six-for-six this season on penalty strokes for Emmaus. In the second half, Leah Zellner scored two goals for Emmaus to put the game away and finish the regular season undefeated.

Parkland finished the regular season with a 9-6-1 record in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference and a 9-9-1 record overall..

Senior goalie Brie Barraco made 26 saves and Kelsey Higgins added a defensive save for Parkland. Unfortunately for the Trojans, the daunting Emmaus defense proved a little too much.

It didn’t help that freshman Aubrey Semler, Parkland’s leading scorer this season, wasn’t at full strength coming off of a concussion and suffering through a bout of strep throat.

Higgins, who Barraco referred to as “the best defensive player I’ve ever played with,” turned in another tough defensive performance for Parkland and believes that the Parkland defense can help the team find success in the postseason.

“A few of us have been playing together for a long time now and especially Brie and I just have a chemistry,” said Higgins. “We’ve been playing together since fifth grade and I know when she’s going to come out and need me back there and I know when she’s going to move one way or another and she has the same feeling for how I play.”

Parkland has a young roster that has continued to develop over the season and the team goes into the playoffs much stronger than they were even just a few weeks ago. They reached a point in the season where things just seemed to click and players started coming together and putting together a string of good games.

“I think the younger players have done a really good job this season,” said Higgins. “It’s going to be interesting to see how we play in the postseason and how far we can go.”

The Trojans moved on to the league playoffs and fell to Easton in the first round. See next week’s Press for more about that game.