Last Friday, the Northampton field hockey team got their second crack this season at taking down Parkland. The earlier contest on Aug. 31 resulted in a 4-1 Trojans’ win, but the margin was deceptive as the Kids played well except for a 12-minute stretch in the third quarter.

In the most recent game, hopes remained high after one period. Northampton had the majority of offensive possession and generated 2 corners to Parkland’s 1. However, the teams were scoreless going to the second quarter.

The Trojans drew first blood on a fluky goal 3:20 into the period. A hard shot from the left of the Northampton cage was deflected into the air, caromed off the bottom of the crossbar, and settled into the goal.

A well-executed corner generated a second goal with 5:13 left in the half and the K-Kids headed into intermission down 2-0.

Parkland added a goal in the third quarter and while Northampton was pressing on offense in the final period, the Trojans tallied two more to make the final score 5-0.

A disappointed Carrie Saul summed up the performance, “They had some good sticks on the ball today in the air. Second, third, fourth efforts that we did not do today. That was the X-factor in today’s game. We got flat (after the second goal) and were giving up a lot of balls in the midfield. We knew Parkland plays a big ballgame and we were letting them do it.”

The team did bounce back with a 5-0 win of the own against PM East on Tuesday to bring their overall record to 10-4-1 and 7-3-1 in the EPC.

They are locked in a battle with Nazareth for the 4th and 5th seeds for both EPCs and districts. The Kids and Blue Eagles tied 0-0 on September 26. Northampton lost to Parkland and beat Stroudsburg, while Nazareth scored a draw against both. The results of the other games against common opponents have been the same.

The K-Kids close out the regular season with three home games against teams with .500 or better records. Wednesday – Liberty (6-6-1, league game), Saturday – Bangor (8-4-1, nonleague), and Tuesday – Whitehall (6-5-1, league game). The EPC quarterfinals will be played Saturday, October 14.