Northampton head coach Jeff Jacksits couldn’t be happier to return to practice this past week before his team’s opener Thursday at Liberty.

At the beginning of the revamped practice schedule, Jacksits tested positive for COVID-19 and quarantined. Assistants Andrew Snyder and Rick Worman ran practices.

“I feel fine now, but I wouldn’t wish this on anyone,” said Jacksits about his bout with the coronavirus. “Andrew and Rich have been doing a great job.

“It has been an interesting year, and it seems very strange.”

Jacksits stated his starting five has returned. Senior Morgan Sterner is 196 points away from the 1,000-career point plateau.

Other starters are juniors Taylor Kranzley, Kylie Gilliard, and Devyn Demchak along with sophomore Grace Lesko.

“Our five has played together well,” said Jacksits. “It makes it easier for us to have our starting five back. Morgan knows what she needs to do.”

The Konkrete Kids’ bench will be the issue.

“I don’t know,” said Jacksits. “We have some girls in mind, but we don’t know how it is going to play out.”

Senior transfer Kelly Tita and sophomores Nicole Yellin and Madeline Hurst are the early candidates. Sophomore Kadee Schrader, an all-league soccer goalie, has been a surprise and will provide depth.

“Those girls have been doing well,” added Jacksits. “We just don’t have any height off the bench. Kadee is a rugged player who will help.”

The Kids will have a rematch with Liberty at home Saturday. They then have a home-and-home series with Easton next week. They currently have a 10-game schedule with Northampton County-based team in the revamped East Penn Conference.

Jacksits was hopeful to add some independent games to their slate, but he is grateful to be back on the court for his 17th season. He expects a steep challenge yet ahead against perennial league powers Bethlehem Catholic, Freedom. Nazareth.

“It will be an interesting year, and we are in a difficult division,” he added. “We’ll see how we respond and what happens.”