The Northwestern Lehigh field hockey team has had a busy week as it faced six games in eight days against some difficult teams. With one game left in the stretch, Northwestern has gone 3-2-0 with both losses coming in nonleague games, including a 1-0 loss against defending class 1A state champion Oley Valley. The other loss came against EPC heavyweight Nazareth, who downed the Lady Tigers 3-1.

In the three Colonial League games, Northwestern downed Palmerton, Catasauqua, and Northern Lehigh by a combined score of 18-1.

In the win over Palmerton, the two teams had to play through a cold, misty rain at Tiger Stadium. The two teams, who could potentially battle again in the postseason, fought the elements and each other with the Tigers coming out on top 5-1.

If the weather affected the game at all, it may have taken a toll on some of the player’s psyche. The Tigers had several early opportunities and controlled play throughout the first quarter, but came away empty until the final minute, which combined with the weather made things difficult mentally.

“I think the biggest issue with the weather is that it brings down everyone’s mood,” said Northwestern’s Cara Thomas. “I think the hardest thing is to just keep the morale up and be excited to play when it’s raining and we’re getting all wet. It was frustrating early on. A lot of times we start off slow and then once we get a goal, we rack them up from there, but it was frustrating early on tonight.”

With :59 left in the opening quarter, Hannah Gober took the ball down the middle and fired a shot from about eight yards in front of the goal and got the ball past goalie Sarah Sabo for a 1-0 lead. From there, Palmerton got their first pressure of the game on the Northwestern defense as they pushed deep into Northwestern territory but were unable to get a good look at the cage for a shot.

After the break, Northwestern came out more determined than it was in the first half and in the first minute of play, senior Carsyn Van Norman made a move past a defender to find a path to push the ball through to make it a 2-0 edge for the Tigers.

Just :41 later, it was Thomas who found an opening to give the Lady Tigers three goals in a span of 2:18.

Palmerton coach Megan Leadbetter took a time out and when play resumed, Palmerton came out with more energy and picked up its first corner with 8:55 left in the quarter.

Unable to convert, the Bombers were awarded another corner, and this time Megan Pengelly found herself at the left corner of the goal where she received a pass and pushed it past junior goalie Ryan Smolinsky for the first goal of the night for Palmerton.

The Bombers were again threatening after intercepting a pass and moving quickly toward the goal, but a shot on goal that was turned away by Smolinsky with a sliding kick save.

Northwestern was awarded a corner with :03 left and was unable to convert although they did draw another corner but were again thwarted by Palmerton.

With a 3-0 lead to open the third quarter, Thomas picked up her second goal of the game after Sabo had come out of the goal to make a play and was unable to get back after Taylor Langley pushed a pass to Thomas who deposited the ball into the cage just ahead of a sliding Palmerton player attempting to make the save. As momentum shifted throughout the quarter Northwestern would put one more goal on the board when Haley Kershner put a shot toward the mouth of the goal and Van Norman was able to deflect it away from Sabo to make it 5-1with just 3:48 to play.

In a 6-0 win over Catasauqua, the Tigers saw two senior players hit career milestones as Carsyn Van Norman recorded the 100th point of her varsity career and Cara Thomas reached the 150-point plateau.

After their long stretch of games ends with a trip to Palmerton, Northwestern has a week off before they close out the regular season at home against Lehighton.

The Lady Tigers will be no lower than the number-two seed in the Colonial League playoffs and can wrap up the top spot with one more win as they hold the tiebreaker against both Southern Lehigh and Salisbury, the only two teams within striking distance.

Editor’s Note

A recent headline on a Northwestern girls field hockey story stated incorrectly “Costa scored twice over Spartans.” The headline should have read “Costa scores twice against Saucon Valley.” The Press apologizes for the error.