There’s a point in every game where the outcome gets decided. Sometimes it’s early in the contest. Sometimes it’s later.

In this year’s District 11 Class 3A girls lacrosse championship game, that point came right in the middle, of the game during a period that spanned the latter part of the first half and the early part of the second.

Emmaus scored five straight goals over the final nine minutes of the first half then weathered a Pleasant Valley barrage early in the second half to maintain its lead en route to an 11-6 win and this year’s title.

Deadlocked at 3-3 with the first-half clock showing less 10 minutes, East Penn Conference MVP Julia Cote scored a go-ahead goal with 8:42 left in the half. She scored another just over four minutes later and teammate Olivia Schmidt scored 30 seconds after that one. Two more goals by Jordyn Poll and Sophia Candy in the final 1:34 of the first half put Emmaus ahead 8-3 at intermission.

“They came out determined and I think that was obvious in the first half that they wanted this game, they wanted revenge on PV,” said Emmaus head coach Roxann Betz. “They played lights out tonight. It was a very great game to watch for us.”

Pleasant Valley tried to mount a comeback in the second half. A pair of goals by Brielle McInaw in the first two minutes of the second half brought the Bears close. A Devon Bush goal with 15:17 made it 8-6 with over 15 minutes left in the game, which was played at the Ulrich Sports Complex at Lehigh University’s Goodman Campus.

“We were definitely a little flustered,” said Cote. “At halftime we kind of had big heads and thought we were going to win. They started coming back and we needed to refocus. That’s exactly what we did. We called a time out and our coach told us to relax and that’s what we did and got the win.”

Pleasant Valley didn’t score again in the game. The Hornets added goals by Cote and Emily Hollinger to stretch the lead to 10-6 with 8:44 left. From there Emmaus (19-3) did its best to hold the ball and let the clock run, dominating possession over the final seven minutes without taking many shots.

“I think our defense was on it tonight,” said Hornet senior Marybeth Smith “Tonight we adjusted to the calls really well. We knew what refs we had. We knew what Pleasant Valley likes to do. They draw those eight-meter fouls and they score off every eight-meter they get. We were really adjusting to that shooting space. We didn’t throw our sticks around or do any bad checks. We were composed.”

The win avenges the Hornets’ loss to Pleasant Valley in the East Penn Conference title game. The Bears also beat the Hornets in a regular season meeting this year.

“That was a big factor,” said Cote. “We wanted this win so badly after losing in EPCs and the regular season. It pushed us and got us the win.”

“The EPC (playoffs) and even the first game that we played them,” said Betz, “we didn’t play our best. The EPC game, we really wanted that but this was our goal from the beginning of the season.”

Pleasant Valley head coach Toni Bush said the Hornets made some adjustments since their game two weeks ago and played a bit quicker this time around.

“They moved the ball a lot faster,” she said. “They pressured our offense a lot harder. Our offense, with the young players we have, the inexperience, they didn’t handle themselves like they needed to under that pressure tonight.”

The loss ends Pleasant Valley’s best season in program history. The Bears finish at 17-6 overall and picked up their first league title in 2022.

While the Bears normally dominate the X, the Hornets were able to limit Pleasant Valley’s face off success to an 11-7 margin and even picked up four draws in a row during the decisive stretch of play late in the first half.

Cote led all scorers with six goals and Hollinger had two, while three other Emmaus players had one goal each including Candy, Poll and Schmidt. PV goals were scored by Devon Bush (3), McInaw (2) and Alexandra Bush (1).

Emmaus, which has only three losses this season and two of them came against the Bears, won its first district title since 2011. It will move on to the state tournament to take on Radnor, the fourth-place team from District 1, on Tuesday at Memorial Field.

For a class of seniors that missed their entire sophomore varsity season, an extended season in their final year might help make up for some of that lost time.

“We are so pumped,” said Cote. “We are so ready.”