NORTHAMPTON - For years, they were the hunters.

Now, they’re the hunted.

Pleasant Valley’s lacrosse team knows what it’s like to compete against top-seeded teams, having done so the past few seasons during the playoffs.

The roles have become reversed in 2023, as the Bears went undefeated during the regular season and teams are now looking up at them.

On Thursday, PV took to the field as a No. 1 seed. And although it took a little while, it lived up to that billing by pulling away from fourth-seeded Parkland for an 18-3 victory in the semifinal round of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference tournament.

“We know about that,” said Bears head coach Toni Bush. “We had a conversation about that today. I reminded them that they know what it’s like to be on the other side. And now the bullseye is on our back. I told them to remember where we came from ... remember where you were and what got you here.

“We came into this (with an) 0-0 record. The regular season is done. As far as I’m concerned, we have a clean slate. Any one of these teams can give us a run for our money, so today I wanted to leave 1-0, and we were able to do that.”

The Trojans did give the Bears (19-0) some trouble early.

PV’s Rylee Rath scored three goals, all off the free position, to help give her team a 4-1 lead. But Addison Winfield tallied for Parkland off a feed from Gigi Leonzi to cut the deficit to just two 16 minutes into the contest.

That prompted a timeout by Bush, who encouraged but also firmly reminded her players what needed to be done.

“The timeout was kind of a ‘What are you doing?, Get it together’ timeout,” said Bush. “And also get your head on straight. We were making some stupid mistakes, mistakes that you don’t make in a high stakes game like a semifinal game. You know, just poor decision making.

“They kind of said, ‘Ok, we’ve got to get it together.’ And they went out and they made better decisions.”

Did they ever.

The Bears ended the first half on a 5-0 run to push their lead to 9-2.

Devon Bush, who was face guarded by Parkland’s Winfield throughout the game, tallied off a free position and then on a rush to start the spurt. Rath accounted for the other three first-half goals, the last one coming with under a minute left until the break.

“Coach told us that we just needed to keep our composure, and on defense to stop fouling and not give them as many opportunities,” said Rath of the timeout. “We didn’t want the game to be anywhere near as close as it was. So, I think that just got us going and everybody ended up having an amazing game.

“My teammates set me up for everything. We practice every situation that we think can happen, so we came in really prepared.”

Parkland (6-10) couldn’t have been prepared for what happened at the start of the second half.

With Devon Bush creating some room by winning draws and using her speed, Pleasant Valley scored four times within the first three minutes to quickly extend its advantage to 13-2.

Bush assisted Rath for the first two goals, and fed Olivia Iandoli for the third before scoring herself.

“Tonight, right off the bat Devon was face guarded,” said Coach Bush. “I don’t know why teams do that, honestly. We have too balanced of an offense. Rylee knew she was going to have to step up, and she played a great game for us.

“If we can get Devon moving before she gets locked on in the face guard, then she can get the ball in the cage or set someone else up. But once they locked in on her, that’s when Rylee comes in.”

Parkland ended the scoring run with a goal midway through the second half, but Bush, Iandoli and Rylee all scored again after that to put the game away.

“We try to include everybody in the offense,” said Coach Bush. “I know Rylee was the big scorer tonight, but she couldn’t have done that without her teammates. They’re all pieces of the puzzle, that’s what I tell them.”

TITLE GAME ... Pleasant Valley advances to Tuesday’s championship game against second-seeded Emmaus. The Bears pulled out a 9-5 win over the Hornets during the regular season. “We had a great game against them last time,” said Rath. “As long as we play our best, like we did today and the way we played them last time, I think we can come out with a win.”

FINAL STATS ... Rath finished with nine goals and two assists, while Bush and Iandoli both tallied four times. Bush added three helpers, and Iandoli one. Alivia Rath accounted for the other PV goal, while keeper Abygail Borger was solid in front of the cage with 11 saves.