Playing in its fourth straight Eastern Pennsylvania Conference championship, the last thing the Emmaus girls lacrosse team could afford to do against a team like Pleasant Valley was fall behind early.
Facing a high-powered offense that had put up over 300 goals on the season, the task heading into their third straight title matchup against the Bears in a steady rainfall on Tuesday Night at Northampton was going to be a tough one for Emmaus’ defensive unit.
And that, unfortunately, proved to be the case for head coach Roxann Betz’s squad as they fell behind early and had to play from behind, including a player down after the first quarter due to a red card, as the Hornets once again had to settle for a runner-up finish after falling to unbeaten Pleasant Valley 9-4.
“I think the most important thing is that we got off to a rough start tonight,” said Betz, the Hornets seventh year coach after her team’s second loss to Pleasant Valley this season. “We have to avoid that.”
“I am really proud, however, on how well the girls played from the second quarter on. We didn’t allow that many goals and our defense really started to shut them down. Moving forward, we just need to stay composed and focused and if we can do that we have a very good chance if we see this team again.”
The Bears, who entered the game as the only unbeaten team – girls or boys – in the area, scored early and often in the opening quarter with five quick goals and that was enough to win their third straight EPC championship, all coming against Emmaus.
PV had five different players score goals led by junior Alivia Rath who had a five-point game with two goals and three assists. Sophomore Rylee Rath and juniors Devon Bush and Olivia Iandoli each added a pair of scores for the Bears who improved to 19-0 on the season.
Emmaus, which had its seven-game win streak snapped, had four players figure into the scoring column with junior Abby DiComes and seniors Jordyn Poll, Bri McClain and Melea Weber each scoring once. Between the pipes, senior Alani Shotwell played outstanding after giving up five first quarter goals, allowing just four the rest of the way,
Pleasant Valley outshot Emmaus 16-11 in the game with the Bears holding a 10-7 advantage in the draw controls. The Hornets were hurt by 14 turnovers in the game compared to just 10 for PV.
Up next for Emmaus will be the District XI Class 3A Tournament, which gets underway on Monday, May 20. The Hornets will face a familiar foe in the semifinals as they travel to Easton at 5 p.m. The two teams have already met twice this season with each winning once. Easton ended Emmaus’ season a year ago in the same round, 9-8 at Northampton.
Pleasant Valley earned the top seed and will face the winner of No.4 Nazareth/No.5 Freedom at 7 p.m. also on May 20. The district final will be held on Wednesday, May 22 at 7 p.m. at Lehigh University. Easton is the defending champ after defeating PV in last year’s final, 12-10.
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Pleasant Valley 9, Emmaus 4
Em – 0-1-2-1 – 4
PV – 5-1-2-1 – 9
Scoring:
Em – Abby DiComes 1g/1a, Melea Weber 1g/1a, Jordyn Poll 1g, Bri McClain 1g, Alani Shotwell 10 saves
PV – Alivia Rath 2g/3a, Rylee Rath 2g, Devon Bush 2g, Olivia Iandoli 2g, Sam Miller 1g, Morgan Ryals 1a, Abygail Borger 6 saves
PHOTO GALLERY (Courtesy of Nathan Lewis)
