A 5-0 halftime deficit proved too much to overcome as Northampton lost 9-6 to Liberty on Saturday in Eastern Pennsylvania Conference girls’ lacrosse action at Joan Kremus Field.

Despite the early deficit, the K-Kids (2-9, 0-6 EPC) outscored the Hurricanes (6-4, 3-3 EPC), 6-4, in the second half.

“I consider it a victory for the team because we won the second half,” said Vince Gonsalves, Northampton head coach. “We had to believe in the system. The system worked and we were able to chip away in the second half. We just needed more time.

Northampton played a patient style throughout, changing defenses from the first meeting between the two teams and maintaining possession on offense to maximize opportunities.

“What we did is because we knew we were playing them for the second time, we did not play our man defense,” Gonsalves said. “We went to a backer (zone) defense and we were very successful today.”

After Northampton held the ball for more than three minutes on its opening possession, the Hurricanes took the early lead just past the halfway mark in the first quarter on the first of four goals from Ellis Corr.

Following Corr’s second goal, Christina Bozakis scored with less than a minute to go in the first quarter, giving Liberty a 3-0 lead. The Hurricanes’ Lillianne Medaska scored twice in the second quarter, countering Northampton’s patience on offense, and giving Liberty a 5-0 lead at halftime.

Northampton started the second half strong, cutting the lead to 5-3 on a pair of goals from senior Lauren Reznick and a goal from junior Anna Caiazzo. However, Corr answered for Liberty, scoring twice in the third quarter. Adding on a goal from Elizabeth McClarin, the Hurricanes led 8-3 heading into the final quarter.

Medaska’s third goal early in the fourth gave Liberty a 9-3 lead, but the K-Kids fought back again, getting tallies from Reznick, Caiazzo and sophomore Emma Schall, Liberty’s offense maintained possession late to seal the conference victory.

Reznick scored a hat trick for the game.

“Lauren is our leading scorer,” Gonsalves said. “When she sees an opening, she has carte blanche to go to the goal. That worked out for us today.”

Meanwhile, Caiazzo scored twice and Schall scored once.

“The highlight was that of our 10 shots, only one went wide of the net. We are happy with our performance today,” Gonsalves explained.

Northampton hosts Freedom today. Liberty headed back on the road Tuesday to visit Emmaus before hosting Southern Lehigh today.