Kelly Backenstoe talked about "having fun and communicating" at practice last Saturday.

Backenstoe's Northampton field hockey team took her prodding and bounced back from a 2-0 loss to Parkland with a 2-1 victory over host Nazareth.

The beginning of the Lehigh Valley Conference play began last Wednesday with a 2-1 victory over host Whitehall.

Then, Friday "the roof sort of fell in" as the Kids "looked bad" in the first half as the Trojans scored twice. But, the Kids "came out of it" in the second half and played the Trojans even.

Tuesday night at Nazareth, it was "completely different" as Northampton scored twice on route to the K-Kids 2-1 win. Makenna Marhefka scored first on an assist from Kate Fehnel and Rachel Heimbach added the clincher on a rebound. Sophomore goalie Shannon Dalton was outstanding and especially stood out when she blocked a penalty stroke in the second half after Nazareth had scored its lone goal.

"We came out strong and it's better to score first then having to play panic ball trying to catch up," said Backenstoe. "We went 50-50 on balls and had good passing on offense and our defense was great with Bri Dalton, Autumn Klucsarits, and Amber Saylor leading the way."

Klucsarits had big plays with possession passes and Saylor supported the defense as the "flyer" as she helped hold Nazareth scoreless on 15 corners.

In the Kids' win at Whitehall Megan Wiest scored twice with Taylor Kerbacher picking up two assists.

With Dieruff, Bethlehem Catholic, and Freedom coming up next, Backenstoe hopes for "some free time" as the Kids are now 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the LVC's North Division along with Parkland and Nazareth.

"I'm really proud of the girls, hoe they play and for their efforts and resiliency," concluded Backenstoe.