When sophomore midfielder Rachel Medlar received the ball around the top of the eighteen, she looked up and knew she needed to take a chance.

She took a pass from Jenn Guetzlaff, took a turn and fired a shot that soared over the arms of Anna Keffer, and into the back of the net to give Parkland a 1-0 win against Northampton Tuesday night at Parkland High School.

The victory keeps the Trojans (5-0 overall, 4-0 East Penn Conference) undefeated to start the year, and gave the Konkrete Kids their first loss in the conference.

"Northampton is a very good team," said Medlar. "But I think with the crowd being here and the playing under the lights, it gave us the intensity to push on and do our best."

It had the feel of an early playoff game, as both teams came out playing physical.

The Trojans dominated possession on their offensive half, and created more of the chances.

Parkland outshot Northampton 8-0 in the first half before the Konkrete Kids even attempted their first effort on goal.

If it wasn't for the outstanding play of sophomore goal keeper Keffer, Parkland would have taken a multiple-goal lead earlier in the game. But Keffer made save after save and frustrated the Trojans with each and every attempt.

Medlar was close to notching a goal midway through the first half, but a lob effort that seemingly had eyes for the corner, was punched away at the last second by a diving Keffer.

But it was only a matter of time for Parkland, as the Trojans kept putting pressure on Keffer's net.

Guetzlaff found Medlar, who was marked tightly with a defender on her back. The sophomore turned and ripped a shot that Keffer just could not make another spectacular save of.

"Jenn and I always find each other on the field," said Medlar. "This past practice, coach [Haddad] has been talking to us about hitting our outside shots, so I just saw an opportunity and wanted to go high post."

It is a nice win to have under their belts before the Trojans square off against conference foes Central Catholic on Thursday, and Emmaus on Saturday.

"I think we need to finish more of our scoring opportunities," Medlar said. "Just keep the intensity up all game long and we can play with anyone."