Winning is always a good feeling and Freedom’s field hockey team was able to get a dose of that last week.

The Pates (1-4) picked up their first victory of the season with a 9-0 result against Bethlehem Catholic and head coach Chelsea Quinn hopes it could be a steppingstone in the right direction.

“It was great to get the win over Bethlehem Catholic,” Quinn said. “I think it was an essential game and hopefully leads to a turning point in the season for us. It was definitely a relief to not only get a win under our belt, but to do so decisively.”

After getting shutout in three of their first games, getting a scoring flurry along with a win was something that may have been building for the group.

“Generating offense and finishing in the circle has been a focal point for us,” Quinn said. “So to do that nine times was a big confidence booster for the girls. Not only creating the opportunities for ourselves offensively, but capitalizing on them when it counts, was a goal we set for ourselves and really saw come to life in that game.”

Now the reality of trying to pull themselves back to .500 comes into play this week with a three-game slate against Stroudsburg (4-2), Emmaus (6-0) and Northampton (4-3). It’s a tough run of games against quality teams in the conference, especially a juggernaut in Emmaus, but Quinn is looking at the daily improvement.

“Moving forward, we hope to keep working on our ball movement up field and keeping possession,” she said. “Our strong defense has been under a lot of pressure each game which we hope to change.”

Bethlehem Catholic (0-4) still haven’t found the back of the cage this season in their four losses thus far. They take on East Stroudsburg South (2-4), Easton (3-0) and Nazareth (5-0) in another tough week of games for the Hawks.

Liberty (1-4) is fighting to stay competitive, narrowly losing their last three games by a 6-1 margin.

With Easton, Pocono Mountain West (0-4) and Whitehall (4-3) on tap this week, it’s an opportunity for them to add to their win column.