NORTHAMPTON - Pleasant Valley avenged an early-season loss to Easton with a 14-11 victory in Tuesday’s Eastern Pennsylvania Conference lacrosse semifinal game at Northampton High School.

“Tonight was a total team win, up-and-down the field,” Pleasant Valley head coach Toni Bush said. “I told the girls you’re going to win if you play together as a team, and they did.

“Everybody played their part and stepped up and did what they needed to do. Together, they were able to win.”

Pleasant Valley controlled possession on the field, especially early, as it built a commanding 10-4 halftime lead.

“Possession was key,” Bush said. “We were able to dominate on the draw circle, and that gave us possession and were able to play controlled and smart. We had 23 of the 27 possessions on draw controls. The controls were crucial tonight.”

Bush was happy with how her team executed its game plan.

“We knew that Easton is a fast, physical team, so we tried to work on some strategies to counteract their speed, or at least match it and be able to defend it.”

Pleasant Valley also had to counter the Red Rovers’ defensive strategy of trying to shut down its top scorers - Alexandra Bush and Brielle McInaw.

“They came in and were face guarding Alexandra, and then Brielle,” Bush said. “The rest of our attack had to step up because they tried to just shut down our top two scorers.

“The rest of the offense stepped up and were able to get the ball in the back of the cage, and that was key.”

Despite the attention they received from the Easton defense, McInaw led the Bears with five goals and also recorded an assist, while Alexandra Bush added a pair. Devon Bush stepped up as well with a huge four-goal performance.

Coach Bush said that the Bears’ success - they improved to 14-5 on the season - has come as a result of what they did in the off-season.

“We’ve done a lot of work,” Bush said. “Our season really started in October. We just work so much in the offseason as a program. Being up here (in Monroe County) where there’s not much lacrosse, our team has to travel, and we have so much dedication from everybody on the team.

“We have players driving to Philadelphia to play in a fall league, and players and their families driving to New Jersey to play in a winter league.”

Pleasant Valley now faces top-seeded Emmaus in the EPC final on Thursday at 5 p.m. at Northampton.

“They know what they’re doing,” coach Bush said about Emmaus. “They run an effective defense and have a fast offense. We know our work is cut out for us. At this point in the game, you go out with everything you got and give it 100 percent, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

MORE OFFENSE ... Riley Green scored two goals and Keylee Dugey added one to round out the Pleasant Valley scoring.

200 CLUB ... McInaw scored her 200th-career goal during the game. Her career total is now at 201.

PREVIOUSLY ... Pleasant Valley handed Emmaus its only conference loss of the regular season in a 15-10 win on April 11.

SENIOR LEADERSHIP ... “We were confident coming into the season that our seniors would give us great leadership and talent on the field, and they have done exactly that,” said coach Bush. “We have a lot of underclassmen, so we just really needed to put our veteran players in the right spots, and have them really serve as mentors to the younger players. It has worked out very well.”