The Northampton field hockey team took a few minutes to wake up during their Saturday morning start against Northern Lehigh as they surrendered a goal 5 minutes into the contest but roared back, scoring 10 unanswered goals, as they rolled over the Bulldogs 10-1 in a nonconference matchup at Joan Kremus Field.

Lauren Reznik scored 4 goals, including a natural hat trick in the second period. A plethora of other K-Kids added their names to the scoresheet as most of the varsity roster saw action in the blowout.

Grace Roberts (1 goal, 2 assists), Alyssa Chromey (1 g, 1 a), Madison Williamson (1 g, 1 a), Brooke Saul (2 a), Maggie Woolslayer (1 g), Lily Yusko (1 g), Riley Hafner (1 g), Kacee Medei (1 a), and Alexandra Tretiak (1 a), all made the box score for Northampton.

The game was a welcome respite after the Kids had faced the 30-plus years in a row district champions from Emmaus the previous afternoon, losing to the Hornets 7-0. (Trivia question: Which was the last school other than Emmaus to win the District XI 3A field hockey title? Answer at the end of column.)

Despite the loss, head coach Carrie Saul was heartened by her team’s performance. She explained, “Yesterday’s game was so hard-fought. I thought the score was not indicative of how well we played. We got some shots. We got some corners. Our midfield play was very nice. We were frazzling them, especially in the first half (the score was 2-0 at the half).”

“My kids hustled the full 60 minutes and that’s the best I’ve ever seen one of my teams play an Emmaus team. I was very proud of them,” she added.

Junior defender Brooke Spadaccia spoke about the importance of getting the bounce back win, “It was really good. It lifted our spirits up. We didn’t get discouraged by that game and now we’re better and ready for Easton on Tuesday.”

Spadaccia conceded that the defense is often overlooked but explained its role, “It’s hard sometimes, but defense really does make a game by preventing the other team from scoring goals. We have vision of the whole field so we’re really scanning and talking to our offense and helping them with their plays, too.”

The team has a pair of home games in the upcoming week. Tonight, they take on a winless and scoreless Bethlehem Catholic squad to tune up for a clash with always tough Parkland on Tuesday.

Trivia answer: Allen was the 3A field hockey champion in 1988, the last time Emmaus did not win it.