Following last Tuesday's overtime loss to Nazareth, the Emmaus girls lacrosse team was back on the field two days later against Central Catholic looking to get back on track.

And just a few minutes into Thursday's contest against the Vikettes, the Hornets began to make their statement to the rest of the conference.

Kayla Mack netted the Hornets' first goal just 2:33 into the game, and Kaitlyn Wills added her first of four goals 1:08 later that put Emmaus ahead 2-0. The Hornets scored the first five goals, and that lead ballooned to 11-2 at halftime before Emmaus (2-4, 2-1 LVC) came away with the 17-2 victory over the Vikings.

"We had to just look ahead," said head coach Nancy DeBellis of the Nazareth game. "It's early in the season [and] the girls know that. We'll play those teams again and we'll look to be a more improved team."

Including Wills - who had a game-high four goals to go with an assist - three other Hornets scored three goals in the contest. Samantha Abel and Dakota Walck each tallied three goals and an assist, while Mack added three goals as well.

"Especially with the girls, we're all becoming closer as the season goes," said Wills. "That will improve our game play early, and the closer we are the better we'll play together as a team. We're getting used to our styles and more comfortable to our positions, which is really a benefit to our team."

Although the Vikettes cut the Hornets' lead to 6-2 with just over three minutes to play in the first half, Emmaus went on a tear that essentially ended the game.

Over the final 2:30 of the first half, the Hornets scored five consecutive goals to push their margin to nine at the break. Abel started the rally, scoring her third of the game to make it 7-2. After a goal by Wills with 1:01 to play that pushed it to 8-2, the Hornets scored three more with under a minute to play. Walck and Mack scored back-to-back goals 21 seconds apart, and Wills scored another with two seconds left in the half.

"I think truly our goal, especially in the beginning of the year, is to focus on becoming better as a team and to fulfill that potential we know we have," said Wills. "We're a baby team, but we're strong and we have a lot of potential. So in the end, we learned a lot from this game especially with working with each other and working on some plays."

Sidney Wilson started in goal for the Hornets and had three saves. Annie Kennedy tallied two goals and two assists, while Cecilia Rogers and Joanna Hawkins each tallied second half goals.

"It was a good win for the girls [to] get them back on track," said DeBellis. "[They were] working together [and] they were talking together. We're just looking to keep improving day after day."

The Hornets will next host Freedom on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.