The Northampton field hockey team advanced past the district quarterfinals for the first time in recent memory with a 4-0 victory over Nazareth on Friday at Joan Kremus field.

The K-Kids controlled the game from the outset. They outshot the Blue Eagles 6-0 in the first quarter and had 4 corners to the Eagles none. It was on that fourth corner, with 1:25 left in the period, that Northampton notched its first goal, Olivia Lorah from Bri Sell.

Jordan Somers scored at 11:33 of the second quarter to push the advantage to two goals.

Nazareth’s only shots on goal during the entire game occurred during a 3-minute stretch toward the end of the second period when they earned three corners. Goalie Kadee Schrader and the Northampton defense turned away all three shots to earn the shutout and send the K-Kids to the half up 2-0.

Two players who earned All-EPC honors last year teamed up to score Northampton’s third goal. Midfielder Morgan McIntire assisted on defender Taylor Kranzley’s goal off a corner at the 13-minute mark of the third quarter.

Head coach Carrie Saul talked about the contributions of two of her stars who often do not get the attention they deserve because they are not prolific scorers.

“Today she played an absolutely phenomenal game,” she said about Kranzley. “She’s just so calm and cool and collected. She knows how to make the opposing players angry and frustrated.”

In describing McIntire, Saul explained, “Morgan is a great distributor of the ball. She sees the big picture. She’s a great person in the middle to be able to work the left and the right sides and support that very nicely.”

The K-Kids fourth goal of the game was scored at 7:05 of the fourth quarter by Somers assisted by Raegan Iasiello.

Wednesday’s district semifinal games occurred after this article went to press. Northampton’s opponent was Easton, with whom the K-Kids split a pair of 2-1 decisions this season, each team winning on the other’s home turf. The Red Rovers ended Northampton’s season last year, so the Kids will be looking to return the favor.

The district final is on Saturday at 2:30 pm at Whitehall. Emmaus plays Parkland in the other half of the bracket. The Green Hornets are looking for their 32nd consecutive district title in field hockey. Because of the realignment of the state playoffs due to COVID-19, only this year’s district champion will qualify for states, unlike in past years where both finalists advanced.