For the tenth season in a row, Emmaus field hockey players were awarded gold medals as champions of the Lehigh Valley Conference.

Emmaus went through the regular season with a 14-0 mark in the LVC and an 18-0 mark overall. It went on to beat Northampton 9-1 in the conference semifinals and bea rival Parkland 5-0 in the finals last week.

Freshman Meredith Sholder and senior Ashley Moxey each scored two goals and Joanna Hawkins contributed the other goal against Parkland. Against Northampton, Moxey scored four goals for the third time this season, while Sholder added three.

"It's always a great thing to have a medal around your neck and it's always a great experience and we always come out and try our hardest, no matter who we're playing," said Hawkins. "Everyone contributes to the win, so we're really a team."

Following the game, the LVC All-Star team was honored and included both Sholder and senior Krissy Mikelson from Emmaus. The two have anchored the attack for the Lady Hornets this season and coach Sue Butz-Stavin believes they're a key tandem for her team.

"They're huge," said Butz-Stavin. "Krissy takes total command of distributing the ball and she sets up Mere [Sholder] and Mere sets her up, they're just two great kids that set up on the attack. And now, Moxey's starting to come alive on the right outside, plus our defense is playing well; from Annie [Anna Kennedy] on back, they're tightening up."

Emmaus will be the top seed in the District 11 Tournament that begins this week. The Lady Hornets won't have a game until Saturday, giving them eight days off between games. Butz-Stavin isn't concerned about her team losing its edge and has a plan in place to have her team prepared for districts, which Emmaus has won for 24 straight seasons.

"We're going to give the kids a couple days rest here, we'll keep our legs moving, cardio-wise, but we'll give them a couple days off of practice," explained Butz-Stavin. "I'll see if we can get somebody to scrimmage on maybe Wednesday or Thursday and then move on from there."

As a freshman, Sholder has had a huge season, but is entering new territory for her as the team progresses through the post-season.

"It's all new and it's a lot of pressure, but the seniors calm me down and they're like 'you got this, Mere' and that helps a lot," said Sholder. "We make a goal first for LVC champs and then districts and then states. We never assume anything, but we make a goal for it and then try to reach it."

By the time Sholder is finished collecting varsity medals, she's likely to have a pretty impressive collection, but she's putting together a plan for what she's going to do with them.

"I'm going to make a nice stand for the medals," she said. "I'm excited for the years to come."