The last week has been a hard one for the Emmaus boys lacrosse program. After a fast start, winning its first 10 games of the 2019 regular season, the Green Hornets have lost two straight, both to long-standing Eastern Pennsylvania Conference rivals in Central Catholic (11-5) and Parkland (9-8).

In the latest setback, Emmaus (10-2 overall, 7-2 EPC), which has now lost to the crosstown rival Trojans (13-0, 9-0) eight consecutive games, trailed for most of the game, but had an opportunity late in the game to tie the score before the end of regulation. But a last-second chance on their offensive end did not go to plan and the Hornets fell to Parkland 9-8 last Thursday night at Parkland High School.

“We definitely had a chance,” said Hornet head coach Desi Gonzalez. “It was a tough one. I thought we played hard and I was very pleased with the effort of the guys tonight. We were only one play, one shot away from tying the game. It just didn’t happen for us there at the end.”

The Trojans remain District 11’s lone remaining unbeaten team.

The Hornets were behind after each quarter, but never by more than two goals. And that was the margin late in the fourth quarter.

Heading into the final frame, Emmaus trailed 8-6, and then was down 9-7 with about eight minutes remaining before a goal cut its deficit to just one, where the score would remain until the final minute of play.

Trailing 9-8 with 17 second to go, Gonzalez called a timeout. He dialed up a play that had been working on the Parkland defense most of the night. But when his attackers were trying to work a scoring opportunity, the clock just was not on their side, and they were unable to get a good look at the Trojans net.

“We have to learn how to finish a game,” Gonzalez said. “We match up well against Parkland and I’m excited about our chances down the line. We just have to make sure that we are executing on a couple more plays. A couple of bad turnovers, especially that last one at the end. This game was ours to take. We just need to clean those up.”

The Hornets were led offensively by Zach Whalen and Michael Leschinsky ,who each had three goals each. Matt Dapper and Jon Csensits both had a goal apiece. Elias Elcock, Sam Conway, Whalen and Csensits all contributed an assist for Emmaus. In goal, Ben Franco made 11 saves.

Emmaus has a tough week ahead as it faced a rematch with Central Catholic on the road Tuesday and then takes on Southern Lehigh in the fourth annual Relentless Hope game Saturday afternoon.