The Emmaus field hockey team knows that it has a target on its backs every game. That's what long-term success does. No team makes the target bigger than Parkland and the latest meeting between the two teams resulted in a 1-1 tie, with the Lady Trojans becoming the first team in six games to score against the Lady Hornets.

Neither team was able to score in the first half, which was the first time Emmaus (5-0-1 overall, 5-0-1 EPC) was held scoreless in a half all season.

Parkland (4-2-1, 3-1-1) was the first to break through when Brooke Sherwin scored with just over 16 minutes left in regulation to give Parkland a 1-0 lead. Just over a minute later, Leah Zellner assisted on a goal from Kira Koehler as the Hornets tied the game 1-1 and seemed destined to claw their way to a win, but were unable to capitalize on the chances that they had.

"We played very sloppy against Parkland on our fundamental skills, receiving, connecting passes, repositioning; it wasn't there and Parkland schooled us," said Emmaus head coach Sue Butz-Stavin. "We had opportunities, especially in overtime. We had a couple of corners and we could have finished on corners, but didn't."

Coming into the game against Parkland, Emmaus had outscored opponents 41-0 this season. When all was said and done, Parkland outshot Emmaus 16-6 and goalie Tori Laczo made 15 saves, many of which were anything but routine. The senior goalkeeper is having an impressive season and hasn't allowed that one goal to change her outlook.

"It was definitely disappointing, especially when the outcome is a tie," Laczo said. "They had been putting a lot of pressure on us defensively, so as a goalie, you have to be able to brush it off a little and realize that there was a lot of pressure and I did take a lot of shots. You especially can't let it get to you when you're in the game and in the moment."

With a rebuilt defense in front of her, Laczo is seeing a lot more action this season than she has in the past, but it hasn't been anything that she can't handle.

"It's definitely exciting," she said. "There have been some games this year where there's been a lot more pressure, especially at the Parkland game, but definitely, I have been getting a lot of help from my defense."

Emmaus rebounded from the tie with an 8-1 win over Hazleton Monday, with the only goal they allowed coming in the final minute of the game. That lone goal proved a point about some of the things that Butz-Stavin has been stressing to her team that they need to improve on.

"[Monday], things were a little bit better," she said. "I don't like the way we finished here. I guess a little bit of inexperience, little things. They said 'she didn't take it back five [yards]…' you have to play the ball. There's no excuses. You have to play to the whistle and just play. You can't let somebody come into your house and steal the ball and somebody schools you back door," said Butz-Stavin. "They've got to pay attention to details and they're not doing that. Hopefully, we keep learning and learning and learning and start getting the little things right."

Emmaus still has a cushion over their division competitors, but with all five teams in the division being at or above the .500 mark, there will be a lot of tough division games down the road, including a rematch with Parkland on October 4. Laczo believes her team will be stronger down the road after readjusting and refocusing thanks to the tie against Parkland.

"Is it intensity? I don't think they were ever focused, so I don't know about refocused," said Butz-Stavin. "We have some things that we've got to work on.

"Rebuilding, reloading, it's all part of the deal here. Seven games in and we've got four games this week, so we've got to learn on the fly."