Spring of 2020 was supposed to be the debut for lacrosse as a varsity sport at Northampton. The school has fielded teams for a number of years previously, but those teams were considered club teams.

Senior Laura Tucker, who will be playing lacrosse at Lebanon Valley College next year, described her feelings of the cancellation of last season.

“I was so disappointed,” she said. “I was outside every day for like four hours. I kept thinking, ‘We’re going to get back soon.’ I worked up my skills for the season and the summer tournaments. It was really depressing, not being able to play.”

Last Thursday, the team won its second game, a 14-1 thrashing of Bethlehem Catholic. The K-Kids led 13-0 at the half. Head coach Kandiss Schrader then juggled lineup to get the bench players some playing time and get others playing time at different positions.

Tucker led Northampton with 5 goals and 3 assists. Sophomore Mia Davis-Luizer tallied 3 goals and an assist. Freshman Jayla Seko scored 3 goals. Brianna Gora, Alivia Bankos, and Nicole Yellen added goals. Rachel Kulp added a pair of assists.

The rest of the varsity roster is as follows:

Seniors – Meredith McGraw (D), Morgan Heffelfinger (G), Sadie Decker (D), Jenna Desh (O), Alyssa Wruble (M).

Juniors – Olivia Vooz (O), Felicia Paly (O), Gianna Coccetti (D), Madison Siegfreid (O).

Sophomores and Freshmen – Payton Huff (D), Kadee Schrader (G), Audrey Wiesner (O), Ella Steirer (O).

Coach Schrader, who instructed many of her current players as they came up through Northampton’s youth program, spoke about her team’s experience level.

“We have some players that are brand-new,” she said. “Those players are still learning the basics. We have other players like Tucker, who plays club and travels all over playing on her club team. She and Rachel Kulp, who also plays club are more advanced.”

Schrader described trying to build a roster through the pandemic.

“We had a few girls that were trying it for the first time last year and didn’t decide to come back after everything was canceled,” she said. “We’re a little lower than I’d like to be numbers-wise, but the girls we have are working hard. Some are playing both varsity and JV and it’s impressive, the time they’re putting in.”

Northampton’s next two games are at undefeated Emmaus Thursday afternoon and then undefeated Freedom on Tuesday for Senior Night at Al Erdosy stadium.