Having weathered a brutal early-season schedule, the Northampton field hockey team closed out the first half of their 2021 campaign with a pair of wins against Freedom to move their record to 4-5.

The 3-0 K-Kids’ win on Monday under the lights at Joan Kremus field was not as close as the score indicated. In the first half, Northampton had 8 corners and 16 shots on goal to the Patriots’ none, yet neither team scored.

Head coach Carrie Saul described watching so many chances fall by the wayside.

“It was a little frustrating,” she said. “It ended up being a win for them (Freedom) after a dominating performance on Friday against them (a 7-1 Kids’ win). We did a lot of nice things but just didn’t put the finishing touches on our opportunities.”

When the second half started, it did not take long for the Kids’ offense to break through. Northampton earned a corner a minute and a half into the third period and Taylor Kranzley banged home Maddie Siegfried’s insertion pass to give the Kids the lead.

Two minutes later, another corner bore fruit as Raegan Iasiello knocked in a Kranzley pass to put Northampton up 2-0.

The final goal of the night came a little over a minute into the fourth quarter when yet another corner resulted in Iasiello returning the favor on Kranzley’s second goal of the game.

Goalie Kadee Schrader spent the majority of the game exhorting her teammates as Freedom rarely got the ball inside Northampton’s 25-yard line and mustered just a single shot on goal.

Kranzley, a two-time EPC All-Star defender, has embraced being more a part of the offense this season.

“I like being part of the offensive pressure,” she said, “but still do love defense.”

On playing under the lights she said, “I love night games. It’s a lot more fun, more special. It’s a cool thing to have.”

A 5-0 win over East Stroudsburg South on Tuesday evened Northampton’s record at 5-5.

Tonight, the team has a key game for EPC and district seeding at Stroudsburg. The Lady Mounties have struggled to an uncharacteristic 2-6 start, but their schedule has been extremely tough to start the season. On Saturday afternoon, the K-Kids host Muhlenberg (4-7) from PIAA District 3. On Monday, they get Allen at home. On Wednesday, Northampton travels to Nazareth looking to get revenge for a season-opening 2-0 loss at the hands of the Blue Eagles.