Last May at Emmaus High School, the Southern Lehigh and Emmaus boys lacrosse teams battled to a 9-8, triple-overtime decision in the District 11 final with the Green Hornets coming out victorious.

Last Friday on the very same field, the two teams got together for a game of less magnitude, but for a greater overall cause.

It was a special night for both teams who came together for two great causes: Emmaus for The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and Solehi for The HEADstrong Foundation. Both teams wore special jerseys for the game with Emmaus wearing purple and white and Solehi lime and green. All proceeds from the nonleague game between area powerhouses went to both the foundations.

“It’s a horrible disease that affects every community and we really want to put an end to it once and for all,” head coach Scott Ketcham said. “We can do something to grow not only the game, but grow the positive feeling about great student-athletes who do wonderful things.”

Ketcham added that other programs are interested in joining and expanding the event in the future.

“There’s a sense of brotherhood around here,” he said.

The game was intense, but the players became friends. Before the game started, the opening faceoff was unique in its own right. Jerry McGee and Steve Steirer, both fathers of varsity lacrosse players and both in remission, had a friendly battle for the ball.

But the game itself didn’t turn out the way Emmaus had hoped. The Green Hornets (10-4) were leading 3-2 after the first quarter and held that one-goal advantage at 5-4 heading into the half. From there, however, it was all Southern Lehigh (10-1) as they outscored Emmaus 8-2 in the third quarter in opening up a 12-7 lead, and held on for a 13-8 win.

It was Southern Lehigh’s first win in program history over Emmaus.

“You can’t play a 41-minute game when there are 48 minutes on the clock,” said Ketcham. “They made a great adjustment after halftime and we fell a little bit asleep and didn’t get the stops we needed. It was a horrible six minutes for us and it was a learning lesson. But it’s April 29th and we’re running out of time for learning lessons.”

Southern Lehigh outshot the Green Hornets 22-13 and gained control on 20 of the game’s 23 faceoffs.

Hunter Krauss scored two goals, and Collin Mason, Blake Speicher, Gabe Kozel, Collin Tucker, Konner Haldeman and Tyler Corpora all added a goal.

Emmaus has a three-game week, playing at Northampton on Tuesday and at Central Catholic Thursday, and then host Hershey Saturday night followed by a game against rival Parkland on Monday.