Parkland Press

South Parkland had plenty of opportunities. It just didn’t capitalize on those chances when it needed to most during Tuesday’s Lehigh Valley Legion game.

The Trojans left the bases loaded in the first two innings, the first with just one out, without scoring a run. Salisbury took advantage of those missed opportunities. The Falcons (6-1) scored two in the bottom of the second and held on for a 2-1 victory on Tuesday night at Salisbury High School.

Pretty much everything tried to stop Parkland from making history last Thursday night. Not only did a fast start from Emmaus put the Trojans’ first ever district boys lacrosse championship in jeopardy, two 30-minute weather delays also threw a kink in the their plans.

But in the end, nothing could stop the top-seeded Trojans from writing history.

Neither team had much breathing room at any point of last week’s District 11 Class 3A girls lacrosse championship game. But much like the previous two meetings against Easton, Parkland had the Red Rovers’ number down the stretch.

Easton, the No. 1 seed in the tournament, got within a single goal on two occasions in the final 6:25 after Parkland had led 8-5 a little beyond the midway point of the second half. But the No. 2 seeded Trojans were able to run out the clock down the stretch for their second consecutive district crown last Wednesday at Lehigh University.

It looked as if Parkland was out to make a statement after losing a heartbreaker to Central Catholic in last week’s East Penn Conference championship game.

Message received loud and clear.

The top-seeded Trojans scored the first four goals, led by five at intermission, and disposed of No. 4 Easton on Tuesday night at Northampton High School’s Erdosy Field. The win advances Parkland to Thursday’s District 11 Class 3A championship against Emmaus where it will look for that elusive title.

Some people that follow high school lacrosse in the Lehigh Valley thought Parkland’s Camryn Barnett should have been the East Penn Conference MVP. The junior midfielder scored five goals in the Lady Trojans conference championship win last week.

And again on Monday, Barnett made a solid case for those MVP arguments.

Spirits were certainly low after the way Central Catholic defeated Parkland in Monday’s Eastern Pennsylvania Conference boys lacrosse championship. But all is not lost if you ask Trojan head coach Brad Schifko.

Just as Parkland seemed to take control of the game in the third quarter, Central had an answer. The top-seeded Vikings (19-1 overall; 12-1 EPC), after trailing 10-7 in the third, scored six of the next seven goals to secure their first EPC championship in school history with a 13-12 win at Northampton High School.

If there was any doubt about Parkland being a dynasty before Monday’s Eastern Pennsylvania Conference girls lacrosse championship, the Lady Trojans left Northampton High School with little still in question

Camryn Barnett scored a game-high five goals, and Abby Pope and Morgan Herd each scored four in Parkland’s 14-10 victory over Easton in the EPC championship game. The win was the Lady Trojans’ fifth consecutive league title.

Plenty was on the line in Monday’s Emmaus-Parkland girls lacrosse rematch.

For one, the host Trojans had a chance at redemption after Emmaus used a strong second half to top Parkland last month, 13-12. But more importantly, the No. 1 seed for this week’s Eastern Pennsylvania playoffs was up for grabs.

Not only did the Trojans earn that top seed on their home turf Monday night, they left little doubt as to why. Parkland (9-1 in EPC, 14-4 overall) jumped out to an 8-0 lead through the first half and was never tested en route to a 14-2 rout of the Hornets (8-2, 13-5).

Parkland’s last and only conference loss came nearly three weeks ago when Emmaus used a strong second half to down the Trojans by a single goal. Since then, Parkland has won six of its last seven games, including all five EPC matchups.

While that loss to the Hornets was just a week into April, Parkland head coach Dawn Cipolla’s team learned a lot from that meeting. It set a spark in which Parkland has been able to outscore its league foes 71-33 during that stretch.

For just about two-and-a-half seasons, the Parkland boys’ volleyball team had not lost an East Penn Conference match. The Trojans were seldom tested by league foes during that stretch.

The Trojans lost just one set—not match, but set—over the past two seasons combined to EPC opponents. The team was seemingly untouchable.