NORTHAMPTON — It was a thriller in the EPC girls lacrosse semifinal as Pleasant Valley came back to defeat Liberty 14-11 to advance to the conference championship. It looked like the Hurricances were on the verge of upsetting the 4-time conference champions, but a strong second-half performance from league MVP Rylee Rath and sophomore Brielle Halamar gave the Bears the edge.
It's hard for a win like this to be the second-most impressive thing that happend Thursday night, but that's what happened as Rath broke the District 11 all-time record for goals and points, finishing the game with six goals and five assists. Both records were previously held by another Pleasant Valley great, former league MVP Devon Bush.
"Devon was an amazing player, so being able to surpass that record of hers is great," Rath said. "She's one of my best friends and I'm super close to her, even after she graduated. So knowing that I get to have the record, and she was the one to have it before me, it's a great thing knowing it's sticking around PV."
The Bears had some self-inflicted damange during the pregame warmps as head coach Hanna Doerner said she accidentally broke the starting goalkeeper Emilynn Stipeck's stick.
Doerner thought she was joking at first, but after realizing it really snapped, they had to use the JV goalie's stick for the game.
"It wasn't pretty, but she made it work," Doerner said.
The Warrior Way:Justin Williams, Jonathan Adjin-Tettey will join ESU football
Pleasant Valley ended the first quarter with a 5-3 lead, during which Rath set the new career points and goals marks. But the second quarter is where the Hurricanes flipped the script, scoring four straight and ultimately taking the 9-7 lead into halftime.
Advertisement
The momentum favored Liberty after two quarters, but the Bears responded in the third, outscoring their opponent 4-2 to tie the game 11-11. Then Rath showed why she and her team were the defending champs, shutting out the Hurriances 3-0 in the fourth to walk away witht the victory.
PV has played many close games this year, and the experience paid off when it mattered most.
"Those games taught us 'Don't get in your heads,'" Rath said. "We got down a couple of goals and thought 'OK, we're good.' Then when we stayed down, it was 'all right we need to kick it into gear now.' We weren't freaking out. We knew what we needed to do. The earlier game against Southern Lehigh taught us we can come back from anything.
"I wasn't nervous. I knew we would come back. I would go up and down the field thinking 'we're not losing, we're fine."
It also helps when Rath, who's committed to Northwestern afterwinning back-to-back EPC MVPs, steps up and plays like the best player on the field. Opponents have tried to double and triple-team her, but no one's more dangerous when it's winning time.
"She shines bright when the lights are bright," Doerner said about Rath. "She loves and lives for these moments."
Pleasant Valley, which already owns the record for most consecutive EPC Tournament championships, has a chance at itsfifthconsecutive title when the Bears play Nazareth, a team they've defeated 10-6 in the regular season.
The championship game is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. on May 12 at Northampton High School.
This article originally appeared on Pocono Record:Rath's record-breaking night helps Pleasant Valley GLAX to EPC final