The Emmaus High School girls lacrosse team had a successful 2021 season, finishing runners-up in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference playoffs and falling one goal shy of making it to the District 11 Class 4A final. Emmaus went 18-3 overall and received the second seed in both EPCs and districts.

The Green Hornets and head coach Roxann Betz are hoping to finish off their goals and win some championships during the 2022 campaign.

Betz has a large group back from last year’s squad, including Julia Cote, Emily Hollinger, Jordyn Poll, Mikayla Viola, Marybeth Smith, Kam Watkins, Maddie Conway and Emily Wassel. There is also a big group of newcomers that Betz is excited about and hopes to contribute, including Sophia Candy, Alani Shotwell, Olivia Schmidt, Bri McClain, Hannah Schneider, Melea Weber, Alyssa Brader, Paige Peterson, Merry Shields, Maya D’Alessandro and Emily Steinert.

“We have a solid returning defense, speed in the midfield and a very talented offensive unit with tremendous stick skills,” said Betz. “We competed against the top team in the country and in Pennsylvania in the offseason, which pushed many of our players to the next level. We committed too many fouls last year, so we are working on minimizing unnecessary fouls this year.”

Coming just one win from a conference title and a district championship, Betz knows her team is in position to get over the hump this season.

“Our goal is to win a district championship and I feel that we are right there,” Betz said. “We have high expectations as we enter the season. We will take it one game at a time and make corrections/adjustments to be the strongest we can entering the post season. We expect to see some great competition against Easton, Pleasant Valley, Freedom, as well as some other Lehigh Valley teams this year. We have some strong competition in our nonleague games to help prepare us for a playoff run.”

The 2022 edition of the Green Hornets is a special unit according to Betz and she is happy to be leading them.

“This is an amazing group of young ladies committed to their school, their team, their coaches and their fans,” said Betz. “They are always giving 100 percent in all they do on and off the field. We should see a fun filled season with this group of individuals.”

Emmaus opens its 2022 season at home against Spring-Ford on Saturday morning. The first EPC game is the following Tuesday at Nazareth.