It went from bad to worse for the Emmaus boys lacrosse team last Thursday night. The Green Hornets knew before the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference semifinal game against top-seeded Easton that they would be without their head coach Scott Ketcham because of surgery earlier in the day, but then the team had to deal with the loss of starting defender Michael Seitz due to a concussion suffered in the first quarter.

The depth and talent of the Red Rovers was just too much for the shorthanded Green Hornets, as they fell 11-3.

“There were two teams on the field tonight and one was better, clearly better,” said assistant coach JD Wilson, who led the team for the second time this season against Easton. “When we lost Mike [Seitz], it made us rotate people in different positions. We were fine up until that point in the game when the score was 1-0. Then we had to adjust. We had to move positions and then our match ups weren’t good.”

The Red Rovers had their way on offense and outscored Emmaus 8-2 in the second and third quarters.

Easton also beat Emmaus 13-6 back on April 16.

“We were on defense all night and then when the offense got the ball we weren’t able to convert,” said Wilson. “It’s called A-B passing. It went from A past B out of bounds. You can’t be on defense all night. That team is too fast, too athletic and too experienced for us to be on defense all night.”

Easton (17-3 overall) was led by Stephen Masi, who scored three of his game-high four goals in the second half. Michael Scrafano had a hat trick, and sophomore Micah Ballew added a pair of goals for the Red Rovers. They led 5-1 at halftime, and were never really threatened.

Sophomore Hunter Krauss, senior Gabe Kozel and junior Tyler Corpora had the three goals for the Green Hornets (11-8 overall), who were held to their lowest point total of the year.

“I’m not all disappointed in the effort,” said Wilson. “I’m more disappointed in the execution of the plan. We need to get a little healthier and then they have to look in the mirror and decide do they want to show up and work to implement a plan and execute it. That’s a gut check thing. I can’t invent speed and I can’t invent your guts. You’ve got to want it. I think they have to go home and dwell on their effort. Adversity exposes true character.”

The District 11 tournament begins Thursday.