Whitehall’s defense kept visiting Pocono Mountain East off the scoreboard last Thursday evening, and Rachel Schannauer played a big role in helping to blank the Cardinals.

Schannauer, a defender/fullback for the Whitehall field hockey team, patrols the middle of the field along the Zephyr back line and is often in the thick of the action when an offensive rush is starting to formulate. That was the case a number of times against PME when the senior would shadow an opposing player and then work to poke the ball away, stopping the Cardinal offense in its tracks.

But what’s most impressive is what Schannauer does once she has the ball on her stick after she gains control. She can quickly get her team on the attack with a crisp pass, a “through ball” onto the stick of a midfielder or forward. Those long passes set up Whitehall’s offense and often times lead to scores.

Her ability to quickly transition from defense to offense helped the Zephyrs earn some corners against the Cardinals, and in turn led to some scores, as Whitehall defeated visiting PME 4-0.

Schannauer, who has twice been an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference second team all-star selection, said that their forwards do a good job of cutting the ball which gives her “a lot of open passes.”

“I just try to get the ball to them, and they’re really quick, like the Cunninghams and Cara Bonshak, and they’re able to turn up field and generate our offense off that,” said Schannauer.

Schannauer will also lift the ball, utilizing an aerial as she calls it, to get it out of harm’s way.

“The girls can’t reach that high with their sticks so it gives me an extra edge of getting the ball downfield without having the other team intercept it,” said Schannauer. “That way we can gain offense off that.”

She also plays a pivotal role on offense. When they set up for a corner, Schannauer is part of a two-person battery along with Cara Bonshak that receives the ball from the insert, or the player who sets up the play from the end line adjacent to the goal. As the defense emerges from the goal, Schannauer can either take a shot or pass it, and that role has earned her a number of goals and assists over her career.

Schannauer said whether she shoots or passes is predicated upon what signs come from the coaching staff. She said she’ll make a read, and then either pass or shoot. Shooting also creates opportunities for the tippers to score on rebounds, said Schannauer.

The Zephyrs had 12 corners against the Cardinals and Kate Bonshak found the back of the cage twice for the Zephs. Also scoring were Kassidy Cunningham and Jen Kromer.

Most of their offense was generated at the end of the first period, scoring three quick goals over a four-minute span.

Head coach Jennifer Bodnar said that during a timeout when it was still scoreless, she jokingly told them that she wanted one or two goals before the end of the half. They responded with three.

“When it clicks for us, and when we get our passing combinations down and we realize we need to do it together as a team, and that’s what we did,” said Bodnar. “The girls were completely unselfish in those passing combinations and it obviously results in some great goals.”

It’s been an up and down year so far for the Zephs. They’re currently 7-3 after winning against Liberty. Schannauer attributes some of that to their schedule which was stacked with some tough opponents in the beginning. As the year’s progressed they’ve settled into their roles.

“I think we’re getting in our rhythm now,” said Schannauer.

Bodnar said that they played a lot of hockey in a short amount of time against some quality teams and last week underscored that with two tough losses to Stroudsburg and Parkland. While they lost by just a goal to each of those opponents, Bodnar said they didn’t come out and play as strong as they would have liked.

“We didn’t feel we played to the best of our ability,” she said.

Bodnar said that their season isn’t going to be defined by that one week so they regrouped and made a conscious effort to “fix some things and start moving in the right direction.”

PME is one of the stronger teams in the league this year. They came into the game 8-2. They also lost to Stroudsburg by a goal earlier in the year, and much of Thursday’s game was back and forth.

“To come out and do as good as we did, I was real excited,” said Bodnar.

Schannauer said the younger players are getting more comfortable after being inserted into the lineup and that’s helped. They’ve also changed their formation, switching from a 3-2-3-2 to a 3-3-3-1.

Bodnar said that it gives opponents a new look. And while Bonder prefers the former since it generates more passing lanes through the use of angles, she felt her personnel was better suited to run the 3-3-3-1 since it requires a strong center midfielder which she has in Cara Bonshak.

“Cara did that tonight and she did it beautifully,” said Bodnar.

Cara Bonshak got robbed of a goal after splitting two defenders, but she tumbled into the goalkeeper and the goal was eventually put in by Kassidy Cunningham on the rebound.