Emmaus girls lacrosse head coach Roxann Betz, in her first year at the helm, saw a lot of good things from her young team last Saturday afternoon.

Earlier in the week, the Hornets saw their undefeated mark in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference come to an end when they lost to Easton. They had won the previous five league contests, including a one-goal victory against defending champ Parkland.

But Emmaus (9-3 overall, 7-1 EPC) bounced back two days later and beat Freedom on senior night, then followed that up with an 18-7 victory against Liberty last Saturday afternoon at Bethlehem Area School District stadium.

“During the Easton game we were down, on the scoreboard and energy level overall,” said Betz. “After that game we pulled them aside and told them to forget about that one and move on. When we play together as a team, they play well. We needed to do more of that against Easton. But these last two games they’ve certainly done that. There’s better communication and better teamwork all-around, and you can just tell in the play on the field.”

The Green Hornets were forced to play without some of their starters and senior leaders, as Maddy Dorn and Hannah Maron, along with sophomore Taylor O’Brien were on the sidelines due to injuries or illnesses.

Some younger players stepped up in their absences.

The Hurricanes actually put Emmaus into an early hole by scoring the game’s first goal less than a minute in as Anissa Abboud found the back of the net.

But the Hornets were quick to respond, and didn’t waste any time building a comfortable lead in the first half. After giving up the opening goal, Emmaus scored five straight. While Liberty got within two goals, the Green Hornets ended the first half scoring four consecutive goals to hold a 9-3 lead into halftime.

Five different players scored for Emmaus over the opening 25 minutes, with Lizzy Ninesling (3), Paige Weaver (2), and Holly Brinckman (2) also recording multiple goals.

“We want to have that balanced offense where on any given night a different girl can lead the game in goals scored,” said Betz. “We feel that we could have changing leading scorers. Whatever we need for the team to be successful is what I want these girls to be able to do.”

Grace Hall (3), Weaver (2), Claire Nielsen, Jillian Reichley, Zoe Kocis, and Ninesling all tallied second half goals to propel Emmaus to the victory.

Ninesling (2), Laura Boyko, Kaitlyn Csensits, Brinckman, and Weaver all had assists in the win.

“Today was just about trying to get girls some playing time and experience that we haven’t seen yet at the varsity level,” Betz said. “We wanted to move around some positions to see if we had any flexibility there. The biggest thing was not to panic when we went down today, because you have to be able to battle adversity.”

The Green Hornets had a few days off until playing two nonconference games in a matter of two days. They face Council Rock North Thursday and travel to CB East on Friday.