Every team wants to be playing its best when it reaches the postseason. The Parkland girls lacrosse team has been one of the hottest teams in the district over the last few weeks and continued its winning ways by taking down Pleasant Valley 21-7 Monday night at Northampton Area High School’s Al Erdosy Stadium in the District 11 Class 3A semifinals.

The Trojans boast a well-balanced scoring attack on offense, and that showed early on as they had five different goal scorers in the first half and six different players total find the back of the net.

“We play as a unit, we don’t play as individuals,” said junior Jill Bushinsky. “We just want to work together. We all have the talent. We all have the athletic ability. We know that we can play with anybody because of the talent we have up and down the roster. Our coach has been pushing us to our limits. I feel like having that team effort will put us where we need to be.”

Parkland (14-7 overall) started fast against the Bears (14-6) and never looked back, running out to a comfortable lead and putting the game out of reach within the first 10-15 minutes. The Trojans scored the game’s first eight goals and netted 14 total in the opening half, while holding Pleasant Valley to just two, putting the game into the mercy rule and making quick work of the Bears.

Morgan Hurd tallied all five of her goals in that first half barrage, while Bushinsky posted four goals and Emily Leiby recorded three of her game-high six goals to pace Parkland.

“We were working on our fast breaks this weekend (at practice) and I think we really did that well,” Leiby said. “We’ve been working on moving the ball and looking for an open player and I think we really executed in this game.”

Pleasant Valley kept pace with Parkland in the second half, netting five goals and only being outscored 7-5, but the first half was just too much for the Bears to overcome.

Hurd also had five assists to go along with her five goals and Bushinsky also added an assist. Maeve Leonzi contributed three goals and an assist, and Kaz Kennedy scored twice for Parkland. Senior goalie Mackenzie Galucy made eight saves for the Trojans.

The Trojans have now qualified for the district championship game for the eighth straight season, winning four of the last five years, including three in-a-row. They will see a common opponent in Easton as the two will meet in the final for the fourth straight year at DeSales University Wednesday.