The Northwestern varsity field hockey team certainly had a successful season at the high school level, going 8-6-2 in the Colonial League and advancing to the District 11 Class 2A semifinals.

A number of key graduates will leave that team, but the future is certainly bright for the Tiger field hockey program. And it begins at the middle school level where Northwestern had one of its best seasons ever.

Led by coaches Jen Hammack and Heather Hartman, the Lady Tiger seventh and eighth graders guided Northwestern to 15 wins this past fall season at the middle school level. The Lady Tigers’ lone loss came in a nonleague game against Orefield Middle School.

“From Day 1 of preseason, anything we asked of these girls they went above and beyond expectations,” Hartman said. “We ran them pretty hard at practices, usually at least a mile every day, and they were always positive and focused. They earned and deserved every win they got.”

Hartman recalls a familiar saying that her high school coach had preached throughout the season. And this team took on that mentality to ride a wave to a 15-0-1 Colonial League mark.

“I played for coach Cathy McCullough at Northwestern, and she always told us offense wins games, defense wins championships,” Hartman said. “Obviously our offense was on fire scoring goals, however the defenders and our goalie rarely get much recognition and they held many teams scoreless.”

In those 16 Colonial League games, the defense allowed just four goals. Goalkeeper Maxine Hoffman anchored that unit with 13 shutouts, while Karleigh Hobel held down the middle back position and newcomer Brynn Balliet played a key part on defense as well.

While it’s tough to single out certain players, as the Tigers rallied behind one another as a complete team, the offense was led by leading goal-scorer Maddie Santana with 21 goals. She, along with returning starters Ali Lister, Charlotte Horn and Lauren Schellhammer, held down the forward and midfield positions. Tess Ledeboar and Reagan Hernandez also helped anchored the midfield unit.

“The team had great cohesion, picked each other up when needed, and bought into the team-first concept,” Hammack said. “Our team was also in great physical shape and we have some players with exceptional speed. We focus on our endurance at practice and it showed late in games. I don’t think there was another team that out-hustled our team.”

Most of this unit was made up of eighth graders, so they’ll be moving up to the high school ranks next year. Some will be junior varsity players, while soem could crack the varsity lineup as Northwestern looks to take the next step forward after a number of successful seasons.

“This team was mostly led by eighth graders who had a year of experience playing at the middle school level,” Hartman said. “Although most of the seventh graders didn’t get much playing time, the eighth grade class really took them under their wing and set an example for the younger girls. We will be losing a lot of eighth graders who will be playing at the high school level next year. The future looks bright for Northwestern field hockey.”