The Emmaus High School girls lacrosse team finished the 2026 season with another winning record and found success, even with a difficult schedule.

The Hornets went 12-8 overall and 6-2 in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, qualifying for both the EPC and District 11 tournaments, falling to EPC champion Nazareth in the semifinals of both tournaments.

“We were proud of our winning record this year,” said head coach Roxann Betz. “We knew going into the season we had a number of tough games and we definitely knew we had to play hard each and every night to make playoffs. Advancing to playoffs was a goal for our team and we obtained that goal.”

Emmaus competed in every game it played in 2026. Six of the team’s eight losses came by margins of two goals or less in 2026.

There were some exciting moments that Betz and her team enjoyed in 2026, right up to its season-ending 12-11 loss to Nazareth in the district semifinal..

“A couple of my favorite highlights include the Easton win with three seconds left, the one-goal wins, but honestly the most memorable was our final game,” Betz said. “Although we lost that game by one goal, our team overcame a lot of adversity, became united and played at their very best at the end of the season which is what every coach hopes for.

“We strive to improve after every game and this team never gave up, continued to push to improve and we left it all out there on the field that night.”

The Hornets graduate 11 seniors, including Kayla Wassel, Reese Gerhart, Kaitlyn Grochowski, Sarah Gross, Kathryn Newhard, Sarah Palazzo, Rylie Poll, Ava Roberts, Paige Schickel, Abbey Thomas and Taylor Younker.

“Our senior class was amazing,” said Betz. “So many great leaders on this team, some vocally, some led by example in their play, some quiet leaders, but many of them believed in the program, their coaches, and their teammates and because of that they united this team and the coaches are so proud of them.”

Poll led the attack with 51 goals and 25 assists on the season, including hauling in 53 ground balls and 60 draw controls. Sophomore Avery Aquino finished with 37 goals and 16 assists offensively and 43 ground balls, 24 draw controls and 12 caused turnovers defensively. Younker tallied 30 goals, 18 assists and 25 ground balls.

Gross recorded 29 goals and five assists, while adding 11 ground balls. Junior Ally Kusko contributed 19 goals and 14 assists, along with 14 ground balls. Newhard added 11 goals and 20 assists and Palazzo had 10 goals and four assists. Sophomore Evelyn Gavin notched nine goals, 15 assists, won 33 draw controls and collected 28 ground balls.

Junior goal keeper Kathleen Rainford finished with 90 saves on the season.

There are a few underclassmen that Betz will be relying upon to step up next season for the loss of a good amount of senior talent from this season.

“We had some young talent that stepped up big this season and we look forward to them continuing to grow over the next year,” Betz said. “The junior class is small in size but they are close, competitive, respectful and coachable and we know they will be amazing leaders next year.”