For a while, it looked like Pleasant Valley was in trouble.

By the end, the Bears were exactly where they wanted to be.

After falling behind by six goals early, Pleasant Valley stormed back and then leaned on one of its captains in the biggest moment, with Rylee Rath scoring 32 seconds into overtime to lift the Bears to an 11-10 victory over Southern Lehigh in a matchup of District 11 girls’ lacrosse powers.

“It’s a game of runs, and to stay composed, to stay poised — that’s what this group does,” Pleasant Valley head coach Hanna Doerner said. “I didn’t learn anything new. I knew this team was resilient.”

Southern Lehigh came out firing, building a 5-0 lead by the end of the first quarter behind a dominant opening stretch from Lauren Miller, who recorded a hat trick in the period. The Spartans pushed the advantage to 6-0 early in the second quarter before Pleasant Valley began to chip away.

Rath sparked the comeback with the Bears’ first goal, and Brielle Halamar followed to make it 6-2. Rath added another with 7:53 left in the half to cut the deficit to three.

After Miller halted the run to give Southern Lehigh a 7-3 lead with 3:07 remaining in the half, Rath answered again just 46 seconds later. That goal ignited a late surge, as Rath scored twice more in the final 1:37 of the half to bring Pleasant Valley within one.

Samantha Miller capped the rally, finding the back of the net with 13.8 seconds left before halftime to tie the game at 7-7.

“That first quarter put us in a hole, and that’s not where we want to be,” Doerner said. “But we talked about taking it one at a time, doing your job, playing as a team and just chipping away.”

Southern Lehigh regained control in the third quarter, as Miller scored twice and Hailey Dougherty added a goal late in the period to push the Spartans back in front 10-7.

But once again, the Bears had an answer.

Early in the fourth quarter, Samantha Miller set up Rath to make it 10-8. Halamar followed with a goal just over a minute later, and Rath completed the comeback with 8:23 remaining, tying the game at 10-10.

From there, both teams traded defensive stops in a tense finish.

Southern Lehigh goalkeeper Corrine Houck came up with a key save on a potential go-ahead attempt by Rath with just over eight minutes to play.

Pleasant Valley goalkeeper Emilynn Stipeck answered with a pair of clutch saves down the stretch, including a stop on Allison Denzel with seven minutes remaining and a point-blank denial of Lauren Miller in the final seconds to send the game to overtime.

“I knew a shot was coming, so it was about staying patient and staying calm,” Stipeck said. “My defense had my back, and we just made sure everyone was communicating and ready.”

Stipeck credited the unit in front of her for helping limit clean looks in the closing minutes.

“It’s not an individual thing,” she said. “The defense makes it difficult, and I’m the last resort. I know they’ve got me, and I’ve got them.”

In the extra period, PV made sure there wouldn’t be another swing.

After winning the draw to give the Bears possession, the senior attacked the cage and scored the game-winner – and her eighth goal of the night – just 32 seconds into OT.

“When I went out for that draw, I knew that was the only one that mattered,” Rath said. “I just tried not to overthink it, did what I’ve been doing, and it worked.”

Once the ball was in her stick, Rath didn’t hesitate.

“I got the ball, saw the lane and just went,” she said. “There wasn’t a lot of thought — it was just time to go.”

Rath’s performance added to what has already been a historic season. The standout surpassed 500 career points and 800 draw controls last week and was named Times News Athlete of the Week.

But beyond the final goal, Rath pointed to the team’s ability to regroup after a slow start.

“We were playing a little individualized early, and that hurt us,” she said. “Once we settled in and started working together, everything changed. Nobody cared who scored — we just wanted to win.”

Southern Lehigh, meanwhile, showed its own resilience throughout the back-and-forth battle.

“We made some great defensive plays, and we knew they were going to challenge us on the draw,” Spartans head coach Eric Tesche said. “So we knew we had to do other things really well — and I think we did a lot of those things well.”

Despite the loss, Tesche praised his team’s effort in a game that featured multiple momentum swings.

“If the game was about effort and toughness, we’d be undefeated,” Tesche said. “I’m really proud of the way they kept playing — whether we were up six, tied or battling late.”

The Spartans built a six-goal lead, saw it erased, then responded with three straight goals in the third quarter before Pleasant Valley rallied again.

“That’s what we’ve talked about all season — staying composed,” Tesche said. “It’s a game of runs, so we tried to fight their chaos with some calm, and I thought we did that.”

Houck also reached a milestone in the loss, earning her 400th career save.

The matchup lived up to its billing, featuring two of the top teams in the district. Pleasant Valley entered as the top team in the District 11 Class 3A standings, while Southern Lehigh sits atop the Class 2A rankings. The Spartans have won the last five District 11 2A titles, while the Bears are the defending two-time 3A champions.

“It feels great,” Rath said. “It’s a huge confidence boost for us heading into the postseason.”

LOOKING AHEAD ... PV improved to 15-1 with the win and has won seven straight games since a 9-7 loss to Wilson West Lawn on April 11. The Bears have two games remaining in the regular season and also own a pair of one-goal victories this season.

Southern Lehigh fell to 11-4 and has three games left before the postseason.