The Emmaus girls lacrosse team finished its 2023 season in the District 11 semifinals with a 9-8 setback to Easton, a team that it beat in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference semifinals to advance to the championship game.

The Green Hornets fell just short of their goals of winning titles, but head coach Roxann Betz was pleased with how the season went overall, going 15-6.

“We were very happy with the overall success this season,” said Betz. “We knew coming in, losing a large senior class from last year, we were going to be young and rebuilding our team, but we were also excited to be one of the competitive teams in playoffs.”

Betz highlighted a few of her favorite moments of 2023, which included numerous positive accomplishments by the team.

“A few favorite moments include game one against District 1 power, Spring-Ford coming from behind and winning that game,” Betz said. “At that point we knew we could compete with each team we faced this season. Another enjoyable moment was the dominating win over Easton in the regular season. Our team was very pumped up to play that night and played a magnificent game as a team showing tremendous chemistry between one another.”

After defeating them in the regular season and then again in the EPC semifinals, it was a different story against the Red Rovers in the Green Hornets’ final game, the District 11 3A semifinals back on May 22. Easton pulled out a one-goal win, 9-8, to advance to the final. They went on to beat top seed Pleasant Valley in the district title game, handing the Bears their first loss of the season.

Emily Hollinger led the way for Emmaus with five goals. Bri McClain tallied two goals and Jordyn Poll rounded out the scoring with a goal. Melea Weber contributed two assists and Alani Shotwell had five saves in goal.

“Easton is always a very tough team to face,” said Betz. “They are very aggressive and typically very fast. We expected tough competition in playoffs against Easton, which they showed in both games. They made adjustments to slow down our game and in the end it was successful in the district semifinal.”

Five seniors will graduate from the program this year. This group helped bring Emmaus its first district title in over 10 years last season. Natalie McKiernan, Emily Wassel, Emily Hollinger, Hannah Schneider and Evelyn McAllister make up the quintet.

“Our senior group this year was one of my all-time favorites,” Betz said. “I’ve been working with these players since they were youth players at [Lower Macungie Youth Association] and I built strong relationships with each and every one of them. They will be missed dearly, not only with their lacrosse skills, but with their personalities and hard work. We wish them nothing but the very best.”

The Green Hornets might have fallen short of their yearly goals of winning gold in conference and/or districts, but Betz knows she has the talent returning to make another serious run in 2024.

“We were young this year and will return many talented players next season, as well as JV players that will have the opportunity to work into varsity spots next year,” said Betz. “Our class sizes have gotten larger, which is a tremendous help to the program as the girls continue to play and push one another to be the very best lacrosse players they can.”