Last season, the Emmaus field hockey team won 26 straight games before falling to Hershey in the state semifinals.

This season is taking much of the same course, with the Hornets going 11-0-0 to open the season and already having qualified for districts where they will attempt to make it 31 straight District 11 championships.

Things get much tougher for Emmaus this week as far as the schedule is concerned. After beating teams with a combined record of 6-23-1 over the past week, the coming schedule has games against Northampton (8-2-0 overall, 7-2-0 EPC) and Easton (9-1-0, 8-1-0), who Emmaus beat in last year’s District 11 championship.

The Hornets also have late-season games against Pocono Mountain East (10-0-1, 8-0-1), Liberty (8-3-0, 7-3-0) and Parkland (9-0-1, 9-0-1) on the schedule.

“We’re making some adjustments and everyone has been willing to fill in and move around to see how we can get the strongest players in the right spots,” said Hornet head coach Sue Butz-Stavin. “Our tough games are coming up, so I want to make sure that we are healthy for those games and of course, for the playoffs.”

The question mark will be the return of Annika Herbine, who has been out with a sprained ankle. Butz-Stavin said they will rest Herbine as much as they need to, but she’s hopeful that she will be able to play this week through the tough part of the schedule.

Over the past two weeks, Emmaus has outscored their opponents 57-1 in a stretch of six games. One of the reasons has been the development of young players, who have filled into key holes for the team and have been able to take on expanded roles for the Hornets.

“We’re getting a lot of playing time for the freshmen and the sophomores are stepping it up,” said Butz-Stavin. “We’ve got kids from different classes out there playing and it’s very nice to have that mixture.”

In a 12-0 win over Freedom, it was the senior class that was on display, with Liz Mazzella and Rachel Herbine each collecting three goals and two assists in the game. Freshmen Abby Burnett and Ava Zerfass also chipped in with two goals each in the win.

One of the players who has accepted a new role is Liz Mazzella, who has moved onto the offensive side of the field for the first time in her career this season. The results have been good and she’s excited about the opportunities.

“I think I’ve had a lot of growth,” said Mazzella, who admits that the change has been made easier by the help of her teammates. “In the beginning it was really tough for me, but I knew that I had to step up because that’s where the team needed me to go. There’s always a little nervousness with moving into new roles, but we’ve adapted well.”

With a mix of upper and lower classmen all contributing to the success of this year’s team, in some ways, Emmaus may be stronger than they were last season. They can get contributions from different players on different nights and have shifted well to cover up any holes like the one made by the loss of Herbine.