Emmaus beats Easton in girls lacrosse semi
The Emmaus and Easton High School girls lacrosse teams have seen plenty of each other in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference tournament over the last couple of seasons. And the Hornets have gotten the better of the Red Rovers the last two years in the semifinal round.
That trend continued last week, as Emmaus downed Easton again in the semifinals of the conference tournament to advance to their fifth consecutive EPC final.
Last Thursday night, in the latest matchup in EPC semis at Northampton High School’s Al Erdosy Stadium, it was once again a one-goal game in the end. The second-seeded Red Rovers scored two goals less than a minute apart, the last of which came with 3:33 left, to pull to within one goal. Easton won the final draw control, but lost possession due to a moving pick penalty, and the Hornets (12-7 overall) held on for the 9-8 victory.
Emmaus never trailed against Easton (12-6) as it raced out to an early lead, scoring the first three goals and leading 3-1 after the opening quarter. The Hornets then outscored the Red Rovers 3-2 in the second to lead 6-3 at halftime. Both teams scored twice in the third and then Easton recorded three of the four fourth quarter goals to put some pressure on Emmaus.
Rylie Poll led the offense with four goals and three assists. Taylor Younker, Kate Newhard, Sarah Palazzo, McKenna Guzick and Sarah Gross found the back of the net once to round out the scoring. Abby DiComes recorded three assists. Devin O’Neill finished with seven saves for the Hornets.
In EPC semifinals the last four years, Emmaus defeated Easton 10-6 last year, 12-9 in 2023, took down Parkland 16-2 in 2022 and beat Freedom 11-6 in 2021.
Emmaus met Pleasant Valley in the championship game for the fourth straight year this past Tuesday night, back at Northampton. The Hornets had lost each of the last four meetings in the final.
The District 11 Class 3A Tournament begins with the semifinal round on Monday night back at Northampton. The Hornets are expected to be the two or the three seed and meet the Red Rovers again.