The intense rivalry between Emmaus and Easton in girls’ lacrosse is well-documented.
In the last 10 matchups between the two schools, the Red Rovers have gotten the better of the Hornets winning six while dropping just four.
Easton has also ended Emmaus’ season the past two years in the District XI Tournament.
Where the Hornets have found success, however, is in the EPC playoffs having defeated the Red Rovers in back-to-back years.
That trend once again continued last night and now head coach Roxann Betz’s squad is headed back to the finals yet again.
Behind a seven-point effort of four goals and three assists from junior Rylie Poll, third-seeded Emmaus was able to survive a late flurry from second-seeded Easton to pull out another one goal victory, this time a 9-8 result at Northampton High School.
With the win, the Hornets (12-7 overall) advance to the championship for the fifth straight year where they’ll face a familiar foe in the three-time defending champs, Pleasant Valley, who defeated Nazareth 17-5 in the other semifinal. The title game will be played on Tuesday, May 13 at 5 p.m. back at Northampton.
Junior Sarah Gross wound up scoring the game-winning goal, her 35th of the season off a Poll assist, with 7:47 left in the fourth quarter for the Hornets, won their sixth one goal game of the season.
Easton, which had gone on the road and defeated Emmaus earlier this year 7-4, scored a pair of goals late in regulation to make it a one goal game, but the Red Rovers could not get any closer as the Hornets celebrated the victory.
Emmaus had a balanced scoring attack with five different players scoring goals. Besides Poll’s four goal effort, teammates Taylor Younker, Kate Newhard, Sarah Palazzo and McKenna Guzick also tallied goals while Abby DiComes dished out three assists. In goal, Devin O’Neill made seven saves.
Easton was led by Olivia Milia who had a six-point game (4 goals/2 assists). Teammate Tyler Young added a pair of goals for the Red Rovers who dropped to 12-6 on the season.
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Emmaus 9, Easton 8
Em – 3-3-2-1- 9
Ea – 1-2-2-3 – 8
Scoring:
Em – Rylie Poll 4g/3a, Taylor Younker 1g, Kate Newhard 1g, Sarah Palazzo 1g, McKenna Guzick 1g, Abby DiComes 3a, Sarah Gross 1a, Devin O’Neill 7 saves
Ea – Olivia Milia 4g/2a, Tyler Long 2g, Addison Stem 1g, Rowan Krieger 1g, Karsen Hippert 1a, Ava Parker 1a, Olivia Heryla 3 saves