It may have just seemed like business as usual when the Emmaus girls soccer team blasted the Dieruff Huskies 6-0 to win their second game of the season.

The victory, though, was something much bigger, as it provided head coach Rob Rooney with his 129th career win, making him the winningest coach in Emmaus girls soccer.

Looking back on his 129 wins, Rooney remembers a number of key games from his tenure that he is most proud of. The memories highlight an impressive career and a number of moments that Rooney cherishes. In fact, the memories date back to Rooney's second win as Emmaus coach.

"It was a 7-0 win over Parkland at Memorial Field," remembered Rooney. "It was in that moment that I realized how truly special the 2006 team was."

That team wound up going 24-1 and scored 144 goals as opposed to allowing just five goals in their 25 games.

Of course, there are a number of postseason games that stand out for Rooney, as well, including the 2008 LVC Championship game against Nazareth and the 2009 PIAA Quarterfinal win over Central Bucks South. The memorable 2010 late season wins leading up to the 2010 LVC Championship game against Parkland.

"We won the game in penalties over Parkland. The remarkable part was that just nine days earlier we had lost to Parkland, 5-1, in our LVC game with them," said Rooney. "Less than a week earlier, we had to beat Central Catholic twice in two days just to get into the LVC playoffs. We scored with 24.1 seconds left in overtime at home to win, 1-0, and force a tie in our division. We played them again, the next day at Whitehall, in a special one-game playoff which we won, 2-1, again in overtime."

The most recent memory is of a 3-2 win over Whitehall this past spring when Rooney's team started four freshmen and just two players who had started a game the previous season. Whitehall was heavily favored in the game, but the young Emmaus team pulled off the upset.

As for the 2012 version of his team, Rooney has high hopes and keeps his expectations high. As opposed to that spring win over Whitehall, the team returns 10 starters. After their first two games of the season against Allen and Dieruff the Lady Hornets were 2-0 and had outshot their two LVC rivals by a margin of 68-2. In their first non-league game of the season, Emmaus fell to Council Rock North 4-1.

"How good we are remains to be seen," believes Rooney. "We made mistakes against Council Rock North that we can not continue to make if we want to be able to play with the best teams in the district and the state."

Games with Nazareth and Whitehall later this week will help Rooney gain a better idea of just how good his team may or may not be.