On Wednesday, Oct. 26, Northampton’s field hockey season-long journey came to an end in the District 11 Class 3A quarterfinals.

With a record of 13-6-1, Northampton fell to Whitehall 4-2 in a hard fought game at Lou Wolf Field inside Al Erdosy Stadium in Northampton.

“All the girls deserve credit for this year,” said head coach Carrie Saul. “We ended the game with all of the seniors on the field. Eleven seniors, eleven positions, so I thought that was a nice way for them to end their high school careers.”

Patricia Dalton, Anna Filchner, Emily Henry, Bryanne Horn, Kennedy Jamicky, Ashley Kunsman, Morgan Monschein, Hallie Muffley, Devon Saul, Danielle Straub, and Alyssa Tomsic round off the seniors who played their last games for the black and orange.

It was Filchner who gave Northampton a 1-0 lead with 27:16 to go in the first half. The game was a close-fought battle within the first half, but the second half saw Whitehall outshoot Northampton 7-1 in shots.

“We missed some key opportunities in the first half that could have turned the tide a bit more in our favor but it is what is, I’m proud of the work the girls put in,” said Saul.

With the game tied 1-1 at the end of the first half, Whitehall jumped to an early lead with 27:10 left in the second half and the team never looked back. That was despite another NHS goal, this time by Henry with 6:03 left.

Henry, who was named first team all-conference, plans on continuing her education at Saint Joseph’s University and will continue playing field hockey for the university.

Saul praised Henry for her work ethic.

“Emily leads by example; she’s a workhorse through and through, always playing at the top of her game both in practice and when it matters most in the games themselves. There’s never a drop in her game,” Saul said.

Saul also gave praise to goalie Ashley Kunsman for the season.

“Ashley was named second team all-conference, had seven shutout games, and had an 84-percent save rate. She came through in big games and was a great voice out there to command our defense,” Saul said.

Despite the loss Saul is very much excited to continue coaching Northampton for years to come.

“I’m definitely looking forward to next year,” Saul said. This was my first year with the girls and the returning players now know what to expect from me. The girls don’t want to put their sticks down and that’s great to have players that are committed and love the sport. And I also wish all the seniors good luck in their future endeavors.”