Having witnessed her team lose a two-goal lead within a matter of minutes, Emily Wold of Freehold Borough didn’t panic. Rather, the senior forward relished what lay ahead.

"I pulled ahead of a defender and when I looked up, there was an opening (in the cage)," Wold said. "I thought to myself, ‘Sweet’ and took the shot."

The aforementioned shot hit paydirt with 1:13 left in regulation, giving Wold a hat trick for the game and lifting Freehold Borough, No. 5 in the Star-Ledger Top 20, to a 3-2 victory over No. 7 Warren Hills in the NJSIAA/Investors Bank North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 championship game in Freehold.

It was the second straight sectional title for Freehold (20-1), which takes on No. 17 West Milford, a 2-1 winner over ninth-ranked High Point in the North 1, Group 3 final, in a Group 3 semifinal tomorrow. Freehold is seeking its second straight Group 3 championship.

Wold is no stranger to scoring goals in a big spot. She recorded a hat trick in last year’s Group 3 final when Freehold edged Wall, 3-2. Yesterday’s three-goal gem gave her 44 on the season, including six in the NJSIAA tournament.

Freehold applied most of the offensive pressure in the first half, including eight corners, but was unable to find the back of the cage.

"You have to credit Warren Hills’ goalie (Katie Wintersteen) for making some very good saves," Freehold Borough coach Jerilynn Acevedo said. "Warren Hills is a very good team. We knew we’d be in for a battle. I told our kids at the half we needed to finish plays. I didn’t care if it looked like we were outplaying them. Bottom line was the game was scoreless. We needed to finish plays."

Freehold struck quickly in the second half when Wold was awarded a penalty stroke three minutes in after a Warren Hills player attempted to stop a potential goal with her hand instead of trying to deflect the ball with her stick. Wold converted the shot for a 1-0 lead.

Fourteen minutes later, Wold found a seam in the Warren Hills defense and drilled home a line drive to the right side of the cage, giving Freehold a 2-0 lead.

“I’ve always said a 2-0 lead is the most dangerous,” Acevedo said. “Because if a team scores quickly, then it’s a one-goal game and suddenly they have all the momentum. That’s what happened to us and Warren Hills came right back.”

Whitney Kowski began the comeback for Warren Hills (22-2) when she took a pass from Niki Miller and blasted a slapshot from 15 yards away to make it 2-1. Shortly after Kowski’s goal, Warren Hills was a player down after a five-minute yellow card was issued, but the Washington-based school applied the pressure and tied it with 3:30 left on an unassisted tally by Kayla Grater.

“I can’t tell you how proud I am of these kids,” Warren Hills coach Laurie Kerr said. “They never quit. We kept playing hard and took advantage of some opportunities. These kids have done this all season long.”

Grater’s goal set the stage for Wold, who had a simple message for her team.

“I kind of said ‘This isn’t where want to be’,” Wold said. “We needed to get our aggressiveness back on offense. This was a good win for us, but we can’t let down. We want to win that Group 3 championship again.”

“Emily and I have been best friends since pre-school,” Martino said. “She’s that kind of player. I thought we bounced back really well after losing the Shore Conference final (1-0 to Shore Regional on Oct. 30) and Emily has been our leader. Last year, we lost to Shore in the conference final and came back to win the Group 3 championship. We’re hoping to do that again.”