It was a slow start to the lacrosse season for Freedom’s boys, but the Pates look like they’re picking up steam at the right time.

After a 1-5 start to the season, the Pates have won four of their last five games to inch themselves up to 5-6 on the year.

Their recent run is putting them back in the playoff hunt and head coach Tony Fabrizio can sense the shift from the team earlier in the year.

“I feel like we are finding out who our team is now,” Fabrizio said. “We had a bit of a tough game Saturday but we were able to pull out the win.”

The Pates held off Liberty over the weekend for an 8-7 victory to give them a shot of momentum knocking off their city rival.

Connor DePaolis scored three goals for the Pates and Jaxson Stametz recorded nine saves in the win.

Nate Vella led the Hurricanes with five goals in the loss and Ronnie Heimbach registered 14 saves, as the Hurricanes (3-8) dropped their fifth straight contest.

The Pates look to continue their hot streak this week with a lone contest against Northampton (4-8) where they look to hit the .500 mark with a victory.

“We have definitely been playing better,” Fabrizio said. “We’ve found out our roles and will be looking to make some waves coming up.”

Liberty hopes they can end their slide this week when they take on Southern Lehigh (5-4) and Quakertown to get themselves back in contention down the stretch.