Emmaus High School boys lacrosse is looking to win back-to-back District 11 Class 3A championships this season. To do that, the Hornets will have to go through some tough competition in the district and Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, including unbeaten Parkland and one-loss Easton.

The Green Hornets (8-2 overall, 5-0 EPC) and head coach Stu Speicher have done their best to help make that happen by scheduling opponents that will challenge them, especially out of conference. In the last two weeks, Emmaus has played seven games, three last week and four this week.

“We welcome the opportunity to play as many tough teams as possible outside of our conference,” said Speicher. “It will hopefully help us improve and compete against teams we could potentially face in both the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference and District 11 playoffs.”

One of those challenging nonconference teams the Green Hornets took on of late was District One’s Garnet Valley last Saturday. Emmaus gainst the Jaguars, allowing the most goals it has all season and scoring the fewest while falling 18-2.

“Garnet Valley is a strong program and we hopefully learned and improved after having the chance to play against them,” Speicher said. “It was one of those games where we want to remember it but also forget it at the same time.”

The Green Hornets followed that up, however, with a double-digit victory over Northampton the following day to bring back some positive momentum. Speicher was proud of his group to be able to bounce back so quickly following their first defeat on the year, and there were a couple of individuals he wanted to highlight.

“We’ve had many great performances during the first half of our regular season,” said Speicher. “I’m especially proud of Connor Flok for reaching his 100th career goal scored and Aidan Garrett for displaying a commanding presence on faceoffs and defense.”

Last Saturday, Emmaus traveled to Southern Lehigh for not just a game but also for a good cause. The annual cancer charity games (Battle Lax) is an all-day event in which the Emmaus and Southern Lehigh lacrosse teams play to benefit the Pancreatic Cancer Hope Foundation and the HEADstrong Foundation, respectively.

“We’re excited to play Southern Lehigh and raise both funds and awareness for the Pancreatic Cancer Hope Foundation,” Speicher said. “It’s a terrible disease that has unfortunately affected too many of us in the Emmaus Lacrosse Family.”