'One step, one punch, one round.' Pleasant Valley lacrosse's motto to maintain focus

NORTHAMPTON — When you win as much as the Pleasant Valley girls lacrosse team has won, it's easy to take the success for granted.

The Bears finished undefeated for the second straight regular season and defeated Emmaus for the EPC Tournament championship, their third consecutive title. But coach Toni Bush and her team have adopted a motto for this season, one that pays tribute to Philadelphia's favorite son and Bush's favorite movie series.

"One step, one punch, one round at a time," Bush said, reciting the line from Rocky Balboa in the movie "Creed." "You have to stay humble and understand that on any given night, anything can happen. We take every game as if we're playing the best team in the league. We try not to go into any game cocky, and I think that helps us out a lot."

The motto served Pleasant Valley well as it helped the team not lose sight of what's in front. It was also fitting considering the heavyweight bout the Bears had with the Green Hornets, in which several yellow cards were dealt and one Emmaus player received a red card, disqualifying her from the game.

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"It was just about keeping my composure," said regular season MVP Devon Bush, who is Toni's daughter. "They were getting chippy and aggressive with us. It all works out as long as we keep our composure and put the ball in the back of the net."

The coach was prepared for a physical contest with Emmaus.

"We knew that's how this game would be," Toni Bush said. "We talked about it and worked through it, and we decided on our individual defensive matchups. I feel like everyone, from the coaching staff to the players, did a really nice job of anticipating and preparing for what was going to come at us."

Pleasant Valley played through the physicality — and the rain — to get out to an early 5-0 lead after the first quarter and ultimately win the game 9-4. Four different players scored two goals, the latest example of how many weapons the Bears have.

"It's exciting to see people who aren't our top scorers score," Devon said. "We all get excited. It's nice to see something different out there."

Now that the EPC tournament is over, the attention shifts to the District 11 tournament where Pleasant Valley has lost the last two years in the championship game. The loss is magnified because only the district champion qualifies for the state tournament, but the Bears are ready for the challenge.

"No pressure, no diamonds," Toni Bush said. "Even though we take one game at a time, we've had it in the back of our minds the whole season. We'll make some subtle adjustments and do what we've done all season. We still have the semifinals to win before we can get to the finals.

"We want gold."

This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: 'One step, one punch, one round.' Pleasant Valley lacrosse's motto to maintain focus