Saucon Valley eyeing a spot in the CL tourney
Saucon Valley field hockey coach MK Omdahl began an interesting journey on Twitter on March 14, the first day that she, and many others, became isolated from most of the world because of COVID-19. She began counting the days in relative isolation on her team’s account, @SauconValleyFH, with diary-type messages.
Mar 14. Day 1. Spring clean the closet.
Mar 15. Day 2. … clean and organize the basement (least favorite day so far)
Her daily updates, which she originally thought might be only a few weeks, approached 100. She tweeted something new and interesting each day well into the summer. They became popular with her players to the point that they did not want them to stop.
“I didn’t realize [the pandemic] was going to last so long, and [tweeting] was fun,” Omdahl said. “And then I was like, ‘Oh, man. I’m running out of ideas here.’ I was going to stop, but the girls told me that they liked reading them.”
Omdahl now thankfully tweets news about the team and its 4-2-1 start. Photos of players and scores of games are now on the team’s feed instead of snippets about life in quarantine.
The Panthers are in good position to claim postseason berths in the Colonial League tournament (which starts Oct. 17) and the District 11 Class A tournament, which is scheduled to begin the week of Oct. 26.
“Things are going fairly well so far,” Omdahl said. “My kids really took it upon themselves to make sure they were in shape, regardless of whether we were having practice or not. I have nine seniors this year, which definitely helps. They are coming together more each game. We beat some really good teams this past week.”
Sept. 26. Senior Day!
Oct. 3. Highlights in a (2-0) win over Wilson.
Oct. 5. Another great team win today over Moravian Academy!
The win over Moravian was Saucon’s first win over the Lions in four years. Senior forward Katie Marker has led the Panthers in scoring, while goalkeeper Grace Albano, a Widener commit, and defender Kerry Lannon have played important roles. The Panthers have also gotten an assist from Becky Rasmuson, who played for Omdahl at Liberty and then played at DeSales. Rasmuson, a physician’s assistant, coaches goalkeepers.
Nazareth’s fast start: The unusual schedule that Eastern Pennsylvania Conference teams are playing has created some unusual scenarios. Parkland, for example, did not play during the first week because its opponent, Central Catholic, does not have a team. The Trojans did not play their third game until this week’s homeand-home with Allen.
Nazareth, on the other hand, has played all of its games and is off to its best seven-game start in Marissa Rotz’s 12 seasons as head coach. After Tuesday’s 7-1 win over Bethlehem Catholic, her Blue Eagles are 7-0 and second in the District 11 Class 3A seeding rankings behind Emmaus.
The Eagles and Golden Hawks were scheduled to meet again Thursday, because the EPCathletic directors set up its 10-game (for most) season with five straight weeks of two-game series between opponents.
“We’re off one day, see the other team again,” Rotz said.
Sophomore forward Zoey Emrick leads the team with 11 goals and four assists, while mids Sarah Osmun and Gianna Tripodi have given the Eagles, a senior-laden team, strength in the midfield.
“Our seniors have been displaying leadership,” Rotz said. “They’ve been doing a nice job working together. We have to take it one day at a time, stay healthy, and keep moving forward.”
The defense never rests:
Northampton got some revenge, beating Easton, 2-1, after the Red Rovers had beaten the Konkrete Kids in each of the last two postseasons and 2-1 earlier in the week. GK Kadee Schrader had 21 saves and Northampton’s defense (Meredith McGraw, Laura Filchner and Morgan McEntire, and Taylor Kranzley) defended 21 penalty corners.
Bri Sell of Northampton has 7 goals and 4 assists before Wednesday. Zoey Emrick has 11 goals and 2 assists and Sarah Osmun has 5 goals and 3 assists for Nazareth.
Notes: Emmaus added a home-and-home series with Wyoming Area, last year’s District 2 Class Arunner-upand PIAA semifinalist. The Green Hornets, ranked first in Pennsylvania and No. 4 nationally by topofthecircle.com, trailed 1-0 at halftime, but rallied to win 2-1 in OT on goals from Alexis Kociban and Rachel Herbine. ... Pleasant Valley (1-0) has played only one game because of a COVID-19 outbreak. According to first-year head coach Corin Owermohle, the Bears will resume play on Tuesday. Most of the lost games have been rescheduled. Schools need a minimum of nine games to compete in the postseason. ... Just an opinion here: The EPC has 17 teams because Central Catholic has no team. Lehighton does not have a league because the Schuylkill League has no other teams. Someone should consider allowing Lehighton to enter the EPC as an associate in field hockey. The Indians have proven over time that they can compete against bigger schools and are now in 2A, the same class as Pocono Mountain East and bigger than Bethlehem Catholic.
RANKINGS
1. Emmaus (5-0). 83-3over the past four seasons. Rematch with Wyoming on Oct. 17.
2. Southern Lehigh (6-0). Explosive offense has scored 25goals so far.
3. Pocono Mountain East (3-0). Has outscored opponents 24-0; key 1-0win over Stroudsburg.
4. Upper Perkiomen (3-0-1). Played to a 1-1tie with 3A power Methacton in PAC matchup.
5. Nazareth (7-0). Best start in at least 12 years.
6. Stroudsburg (4-1). Outscored the East Stroudsburg School District 34-0in four games.
7. Northampton (4-1). Split with Easton. 8. Easton (3-1). Split with Northampton. 9. Bangor (9-2). Only two losses to unranked Palisades and No. 2Southern Lehigh.
10. Parkland (3-0). Started a week late; will not get tested until Oct. 17vs. Nazareth. First four out: Northwestern (9-3), Palisades (7-4), Saucon Valley (4-2-1), Liberty (2-2).
STANDINGS
Eastern Pennsylvania Conference
Nazareth 5-0, Emmaus 4-0, Easton 4-1, Northampton 4-1, Stroudsburg 4-1, Parkland 3-0, PM East 3-0, ES South 2-2, Liberty 2-2, Whitehall 1-2, ES North 1-4, Allen 0-3, Dieruff 0-3, PM West 0-3, Bethlehem Catholic 0-5, Freedom 0-5.
Colonial League
East – Bangor 7-2, Saucon Valley 4-2, Palisades 5-3, Wilson 5-3, Moravian Academy 3-4, Pen Argyl 0-5.
West – Southern Lehigh 5-0, Northwestern 5-2. Palmerton 5-3, Salisbury 2-5,Catasauqua 0-6, Northern Lehigh 0-6.
Tim Shoemaker is a freelance writer.