A game that was supposed to open Emmaus’s season was postponed until mid-April due to some unfortunate weather early this spring.

When Hershey visited the Hornets this past Friday, the Emmaus boys lacrosse team continued its hot start to the season and showed no signs of slowing down. The Hornets broke an early 2-2 tie with four straight goals and defeated the Trojans, 12-4, at Memorial Field.

“We ran the offense and listened to coach,” sophomore Michael Leschinsky said. “We listened to what we have to do and put the ball in the back of the net.”

Under first-year head coach Desi Gonzalez, who spent plenty of time under former coach Scott Ketcham, the offense hasn’t missed a beat. The Hornets have outscored their opponents 120-23 in their eight-game win streak to open the year.

The next day, however, the winning streak came to an end with an 11-3 setback against District 3’s Wilson West Lawn.

Following two quick goals from Hershey’s Mark Sickler that tied the game at 2-2 with six minutes remaining in the opening quarter, Emmaus went on a game-defining 4-0 spurt. It started with two of the Hornets’ senior leaders.

Senior attacker Hunter Krauss scored the first of his three goals that put Emmaus back up just 18 seconds after Hershey tied the game. Then, senior attacker Bennett Nakao punched in a goal in the final minute of the quarter.

Krauss would then set up junior midfielder Bailey O’Connor for a goal nearly six minutes into the second quarter. The Hornet defense did its part the rest of the way, holding Hershey scoreless for a 20-minute stretch between the first and third quarters.

Leschinsky’s second goal with 3:35 to play in the opening half put the Hornets ahead 6-2 and seemingly in complete control.

“I think just working hard this offseason,” Leschinsky said of Emmaus’s fast start. “All of the work we put in at St. Luke’s and practicing hard has transferred into the games.

“It’s not super different [from prior seasons under Ketcham]. We’re still at St. Luke’s and still working hard.”

Sickler cut Emmaus’ lead in half with an early goal in the third quarter, but Hershey’s momentum was short-lived. Emmaus scored the next three goals, which came from O’Connor (two goals), Leschinsky (three goals) and junior midfielder Jon Csensits, for a 9-3 advantage.

Krauss added his second and third goals of the game in the fourth quarter, and then assisted on the other score as Emmaus closed out the 12-4 victory.

Seven different players scored in the win, led by three a piece from Krauss and Leshinksy.

“I can’t really compare us to last year’s team or the year before that,” Leschinksy said. “But we are a very well-rounded team with a bunch of different goal-scorers.”

Hornet goalie Levin Sarver recorded seven saves in the win.