NORTHAMPTON - “It feels good not to be a one-hit wonder.”

That’s how Pleasant Valley goalie Abygail Borger described having helped her team to win back-to-back EPC championships. The Bears won their second straight title with a 7-3 victory over Emmaus, using their strong defense to hold what can be a potent Hornets offense to just three goals.

Ironically, a key was that Pleasant Valley switched to a defense that was formerly the bread and butter of the Emmaus defense.

While the Green Hornets recognized what was going on, they struggled to generate any offense and went without a goal for the final 34:34 of the game after they had taken a 3-1 lead with 9:34 remaining in the first half.

After Devon Bush scored the opening goal of the game on a free position play just 2:35 into the first half, Emmaus became the aggressor and picked up the next three goals to take an early lead.

The aggressiveness of the Hornets was also part of their downfall as both Bri McClain and Natalie McKiernan were given yellow cards within a span of four minutes.

With the Emmaus aggressiveness under control, Pleasant Valley was able to get its offense going and added two first-half goals from Rylee Rath and Olivia Iandoli to even the game at 3-3 as it went into the break.

After some halftime adjustments, the Bears were able to create a stronger transition attack off their defense. That directly led to their next goal when they were able to get a quick transition down the field off a save by Borger and turned it into a score by Riley Green just :40 into the second half for a 4-3 lead.

“Everybody was cheering everyone else on and getting in on the defense and we had a great energy, and that helped the offense to make plays,” said Rath of the effort by the two-time champions.

Bush picked up her second goal of the game and just 3:00 later, Rath was able to make an excellent pass inside to Green, who beat goalie Alani Shotwell to put Pleasant Valley up 6-3.

“It feels exhilarating; that’s the best word I can use,” said Bush of repeating as league champions.

“It gives us a boost going into districts, but we’re not done yet. We have another championship to win.”

Whether it was frustration, aggressiveness, or a combination of both, McClain picked up her second yellow card and ended her night on the field. Rath put the icing on the cake with her second goal of the night with 2:49 left in regulation.

From there, it was just a matter of riding out the time to kick off the celebration.

“Winning back-to-back championships speaks to the success we have had at Pleasant Valley,” said Green of the team’s success over the past two seasons, and what lies ahead in districts and potentially states. “We have an amazing program here, and we’re going to keep going and put everything out there to see just how far we can go.”

The Bears begin the quest for their first district championship beginning on Monday when they play an undetermined team back at Northampton’s Al Erdosy Stadium, where they picked up wins in both the semis and finals of the EPC tournament.

Last season, the Bears downed Emmaus to win the league title, before they fell to the Hornets in the district championship.

STILL UNDEFEATED ... The win by Pleasant Valley pushes its record to 20-0. Emmaus dropped to 15-5.

THE STATS ... Borger finished with five saves for PV. Bush, Rath and Green each scored two goals, while Iandoli had one. Bush, Rath and Madison Fava all added assists.

DISTRICTS ... The Bears’ opponent in the first round of districts will be the winner of Thursday’s contest between Parkland and Freedom. PV is the top seed and will play at 7 p.m. on Monday in the semifinals. A win there would send them into the finals, which is scheduled for May 24 at 7 p.m. at Lehigh University.