The matchups between Emmaus and Parkland boys lacrosse in 2015 have been hard to understand. In the two regular season games, each team held a multiple-goal early lead, and then lost the game.

Last Thursday night, it was a similar start, but different ending.

The Trojans jumped out to a four-goal lead in the first 14 minutes, and then weathered a strong, late game comeback attempt by the Green Hornets to win the East Penn Conference semifinal contest 9-8 at Andrew Leh Stadium at Nazareth Area High School.

"We waited too long to get going," said Emmaus head coach Scott Ketcham. "It's doomed us all year, and we let it happen again. I was so proud of the last 30 minutes of lacrosse that we played. I think that's what we've wanted from them all year, but the part about being a young team is that you have to play 48 [minutes]."

The second-seeded Trojans entered the fourth quarter with a comfortable 9-5 advantage over the third-seeded Green Hornets. About six minutes and exactly three goals later, Parkland was on the ropes.

Konnor Haldeman scored his second goal of the quarter on an assist from Christian Shaffer with 5:52 to go, putting Emmaus within 9-8.

As Emmaus (11-7) rallied, Parkland struggled to keep possession or complete passes. Still, the Trojans obstructed Andrew Davidson enough for him to misplace a shot in transition with about 1:46 left.

Trojans defender Blaise Fugazzotto forced a Green Hornets penalty while clearing the ball with 37.9 remaining, allowing the defending league champions to complete their escape.

"In a one-goal game you're thinking 'what if this, what if that," said Ketcham. "We had some easy ones early we didn't put away."

Just like the two other games, this one again came down to the final seconds. Emmaus was victorious 9-8 in a dramatic early-season home meeting, and Parkland rallied its way to an 11-6 victory on the last game of the regular season.

Parkland goalie Joey Stevenson made six first-half saves to keep the Green Hornets at bay. Emmaus didn't register consecutive scores until its three-goal run in the fourth quarter.

It is the third consecutive year the Trojans reached the conference finals. But Ketcham is hoping it can be the third straight year for his team to win a district title, even after falling in the league playoffs. Thursday opens up district play.

"The kids know about it," said Ketcham about last year's district title. "They need to work hard and come out and win some games. If we don't, we're going home."

Seniors Claude Bradshaw, Pat Camilli and Andy Davidson, along with junior Collin Tucker were named First Team EPC All-Stars.