The high school football playoffs enter week two of the postseason: a quick reminder to bookmark and keep checking back to our website for our broadcast schedule of District XI and PIAA playoff games as we move through the post-season!

Before we unveil this week’s “Astounding 10” football teams in our Lehigh Valley coverage area, here’s a look back at highlights of games recently broadcast on the Astound TV Network…

Astound TV Network Sports: Whitehall vs . Pocono Mountain East (10/24)

Astound TV Network Sports: Freedom vs. Liberty (10/24)

Astound TV Network Sports: Emmaus vs. Parkland (10/24)

Now for the latest “Astounding 10’’ high school football weekly poll for this fall season.

Our pollsters give their selections for who they believe are the top 10 performing football teams that you’ll see on the Astound TV Network this fall.

Each voter will select the top 10 teams – with the top team getting 10 points, 9 for the second best team, 8 for third and so forth.
One caveat – in order to balance the bigger and smaller schools in the region, each pollster MUST include at least three teams that are NOT a 6A-sized school.

It’s a brand new way to gauge the top teams in Eastern Pennsylvania this fall, and we invite you to check back each week throughout this football season to see which teams make our poll…and who’s listed where, as decided by our diverse group of voters.

One other unique aspect to our poll…the coaches and athletic directors’ names are never revealed so they can vote with their minds…and also avoid any potential “bulletin board” material, so each one can make selections without repercussions.

Throughout the years that we have done our poll, the coaches and athletic directors have always maintained very objective opinions. If you look back through our archives, you’ll notice that our pollsters have been amazingly accurate and unbiased in their selections, and our polls’ top teams very often finish similarly in the same order as the “power points” system that District XI uses when compiling its standings and playoff positionings.

So without any further delay, here’s this week’s edition of the “Astounding 10” … (the number in parenthesis is the average points received for each team, with ‘10’ being the maximum.)

Easton (10)
Freedom (8.8)
Emmaus (8)
Northwestern (7)
Parkland (6.2)
Nazareth (3.8)
Southern Lehigh (3.6)
East Stroudsburg South (3.4)
Liberty (1.8)
Whitehall (.8)

Other team(s) receiving more than one mention: Notre Dame – Green Pond

Bookmark and return to our page each week and check back after this weekend’s game to see if your favorite teams moved up or down in the minds and opinions of our pollsters!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

First, we’d like to welcome three additional personalities to the ATVN Sports Team!

Mason Smith
Mason has been covering District XI high school sports for several years now and is particularly tuned-in to the local basketball scene.  He will be writing a bi-weekly blog on local hoops action for us this winter here on our website and, in addition, will be making regular appearances throughout the year on our “ATVN SportsTalk” program, which airs live on Thursday evenings at 7pm on the Astound TV Network and is also streamed for free on our YouTube channel.

Aziz Atiyeh
Aziz was a three sport standout at Whitehall HS (soccer, football, volleyball) and excelled at both soccer and volleyball at East Stroudsburg University.

While he will be able to contribute to Astound TV as a commentator for all three sports, he will be making his debut with his ‘favorite’ sport this Thursday as he provides analysis for the District XI girls and boys soccer championships.

Ben Childs
A former head basketball coach at Easton HS and a stellar baseball player at Lafayette College, Ben will be providing color analysis for both sports coming up for this winter and spring sports seasons.

Please join me in welcoming these new personalities to the Astound TV Network family!

Next, we want to honor this fall’s student-athletes identified as the best of the best in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference for girls tennis…

Regular Season Champions:  Parkland High School

EPC Tournament Team Champions: Parkland High School

EPC Tournament Champions by Bracket:
1st Singles: Helena Lynn – Liberty High School
2nd Singles: Maddie Groff – Allentown Central Catholic High School
3rd Singles: Valentina Munoz – Allentown Central Catholic High School
2nd Doubles: Aarohi Vaze / Kiana Miles – Parkland High School
3rd Doubles: Brooke DiGiacomo / Nat Hillegass – Emmaus High School
4th Doubles: Kylie Gleason/ Anahi Kanani – Emmaus High School

Congratulations to these athletes for these honors and keep checking back to the “SportsTalk Shop” for more accomplishments for student-athletes in our coverage areas!

Last but not least, we have four high school football playoff games (and the District XI girls and boys soccer championship) coming your way this week on the Astound TV Network!  Be sure to bookmark and check out our “broadcasting schedule” page here on our website for our fall sports postseason coverage!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

The funny thing about field hockey in the Lehigh Valley come mid-October is the vastly different scenarios in which teams find themselves. Some teams are cleaning out their lockers and looking towards fall 2025. Other teams are vying to stay alive for as long as possible. And some teams, the very top teams in their respective classifications, are at the precipice of a whole new “season”. 

For those very select teams with eyes on the PIAA State Championship game at Cumberland Valley High School on Saturday, November 16th, there’s another month’s worth of training and somewhere near eight or nine “win-or-go-home” games to get through to make it there. 

At this point, the season is over for anyone who failed to qualify for the District playoffs. For those who advanced to Districts (see below), the champion and runner-up from the largest school classification (3A) District XI playoff and the smallest school classification (1A) District XI playoff will advance to the state tournament, while only the champion from the 2A Class District XI playoff earns a spot in the PIAA State Tournament.

District Qualifiers:

3A: 1. Emmaus, 2. Nazareth, 3. Easton, 4. Parkland, 5. Stroudsburg, 6. Northampton, 7. Whitehall, 8. Liberty

2A: 1. Southern Lehigh, 2. Salisbury, 3. Pocono Mountain East, 4. Bangor 

1A: 1. Northwestern, 2. Palmerton, 3. Wilson, 4. Pen Argyl, 5. Catasaqua, 6. Saucon Valley

But before we totally shut the door on the regular season of play for the EPC and Colonial League, let’s recap how we got here.

Eastern Pennsylvania Conference

Surprise! Emmaus won the EPC championship. After going 13-0 in league play, the Green Hornets brought home their 42nd league championship with a 4-1 win over Easton. Emmaus will be the top seed in the District XI 3A where they’ll compete to earn their 36th consecutive district championship. Which is absolutely incredible, but is hardly even news around here these days. 

Easton, who went 11-2 in league play, advanced to the EPC championship after beating Stroudsburg (8-5 in EPC) 2-0 in the quarterfinal and beating Nazareth (11-2 in EPC) by the same score in the semi-final. 

Parkland (10-3 in EPC) also advanced to the semi-final round with a 5-2 win over Northampton (9-4 in EPC), ultimately falling to Emmaus 4-0.

Also earning an appearance in the EPC playoffs were Liberty (7-6 in EPC) and Whitehall (10-8 in EPC), who both failed to advance from the quarterfinal round.

Colonial League

As a very wise Lehigh Valley field hockey blogger suggested may happen earlier this season, Salisbury (13-3 in CL play) made a little noise in the Colonial League playoffs. The third-seeded Falcons upset #2 Southern Lehigh (15-1 in CL play) in the semi-final round by a score of 2-0. The Spartans had just beat Salisbury by a score of 2-0 less than a week earlier in league play and once more earlier in the season by 1-0. While league favorite Northwestern Lehigh (15-0 in CL play) ended up taking home the league championship, defeating Salisbury 3-0, this Salisbury team took their program to new levels with their championship appearance, having failed to qualify for the league playoffs any time in recent history.

Northwestern made their way to the championship with a quarterfinal win over Saucon Valley (6-8-2 in CL play) 7-1, and by beating Wilson (8-6-1 in CL play) by a score of 8-0 in the semi-finals. So, yes, you counted that right. The Tigers scored 18 goals in three games in the Colonial League playoffs.

Northwestern Coach Lissa Opolsky’s team boasts an experienced crew, including eight seniors and 11 juniors. 

“Once you learn how to win, it’s a lot easier in those big games and big moments,” said Opolsky. 

Also making Colonial League playoff appearances were Bangor (7-6-2 in CL play), Pen Argyl (6-7-2), and Palmerton (10-5 in CL play). All three teams failed to make it past the quarterfinal round, with #4 Palmerton being upset by #5 Wilson in a tight 3-2 contest. 

For the teams that play on, the first round of the District XI playoff will begin on Wednesday, 10/23 for 1A and on Thursday, 10/24 for the 2A and 3A classes. 

Given that I called the Salisbury upset, I’ll throw my two cents out there again. I’d venture to guess we’ll see Emmaus, Southern Lehigh, and Northwestern bring home District gold by month’s end. 

But as that same very wise Lehigh Valley field hockey blogger once said—only time will tell. 

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Before we take a look at recent high school football highlights, the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference just released its “All-EPC” teams for both girls volleyball divisions and for its all-league team members for this fall season…

2024 EPC Girls Volleyball All-Conference All Stars

All EPC: First Team

Milly Wolf – Allentown Central Catholic (Co-MVP)
Anna Quinn – Allentown Central Catholic
Emerson Springs – Allentown Central Catholic
Jocelyn Bell – Bethlehem Catholic
Bailey Corrigan – Liberty (Co-MVP)
Morgan Holland – Nazareth
Hailey Wanko – Nazareth
Izzy Fekula – Parkland (Co-MVP)

All ECP: Second Team

Grace Coppola – Allentown Central Catholic
Piper Ruggiero – Bethlehem Catholic
Lauren Horvath – Emmaus High School
Maleya Hinds – Emmaus High School
Elizabeth Sheldon – Northampton
Sarah Furey – Parkland
Rylee Ruggiero – Pleasant Valley

All ECP: Third Team

Grace Coppola – Allentown Central Catholic
Piper Ruggiero – Bethlehem Catholic
Lauren Horvath – Emmaus High School
Maleya Hinds – Emmaus High School
Elizabeth Sheldon – Northampton
Sarah Furey – Parkland

2024 EPC Girls Volleyball Divisional All Stars

East Division: First Team

Jocelyn Bell – Bethlehem Catholic
Piper Ruggiero – Bethlehem Catholic
Bailey Corrigan – Liberty
Malena Sabol – Liberty
Hailey Wanko – Nazareth
Kami Kirkham – Nazareth
Morgan Holland – Nazareth

East Division: Second Team

Sophia Bedics – Bethlehem Catholic
Landry Guman – Freedom
Abigail Schessler – Liberty
Jackie Henninger – Nazareth
Addison Morgan – Northampton
Elizabeth Sheldon – Northampton

North Division: First Team

Rylee Ruggiero – Pleasant Valley
Laura Ballek – Pleasant Valley
Isabella Slizewski – Pleasant Valley
Amiyah Poliseno – Pleasant Valley
Alexys Fulkerson – Pocono Mountain East
Leila Noboa – Pocono Mountain East
Jaylyn Rowe – Pocono Mountain West

North Division: Second Team

Amber Beckworth – East Stroudsburg North
Rylee Harris – East Stroudsburg North
Isabella Wickberg – East Stroudsburg South
Stasia Wills – East Stroudsburg South
Maeve Mazza – Pocono Mountain East
Kornelia Wszolek – Stroudsburg

West Division: First Team

Milly Wolf – Allentown Central Catholic
Anna Quinn – Allentown Central Catholic
Emerson Springs – Allentown Central Catholic
Lauren Horvath – Emmaus
Maleya Hinds – Emmaus
Izzy Fekula – Parkland
Sarah Furey – Parkland

West Division: Second Team

Brianna Bauer – Allentown Central Catholic
Grace Coppola – Allentown Central Catholic
Cirrae Cuffy – Emmaus
Kasia Burda – Parkland
Genda Avdijaj – Parkland
LaSereon James – aWhitehall

Now here’s highlights of recent games as seen on the Astound TV Network (Copies of these games can be purchased by contacting the ATVN studio offices at 610-443-2765).

Enjoy!

High School Football Highlights

Astound TV Network Sports: Whitehall vs. Emmaus (10/24)

Astound TV Network Sports: Pen Argyl vs. Notre Dame Green Pond (10/24)

Astound TV Network Sports: Liberty vs. Nazareth (10/24)

Astound TV Network Sports: Freedom vs. Bethlehem Catholic (10/24)

Astound TV Network Sports: Dieruff vs. Whitehall (9/24)

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

After another exciting weekend of football games on the Astound TV Network, we’re ready for more this week!

The playoff races are heading up and both the race for the final playoff spots – as well as the battle to try to secure home field advantages – will come down to the final two weeks of the regular season.

Among this weekend’s broadcasts on ATVN include two of the top Eastern Pennsylvania Conference teams – Easton (7-1) and Freedom (8-0) – squaring off against each other.  

Then on Saturday, we’ll have NCAA football as Lafayette hosts Sacred Heart at 12:30pm.

We’ll also have four more games NEXT weekend – the final week of high school football regular season action.  Check back to our broadcast schedule page here on our website early next week to see the teams and air times of those contests.

Now for the latest “Astounding 10’’ high school football weekly poll for this fall season.

Our pollsters give their selections for who they believe are the top 10 performing football teams that you’ll see on the Astound TV Network this fall.

Each voter will select the top 10 teams – with the top team getting 10 points, 9 for the second best team, 8 for third and so forth.

One caveat – in order to balance the bigger and smaller schools in the region, each pollster MUST include at least three teams that are NOT a 6A-sized school.

It’s a brand new way to gauge the top teams in Eastern Pennsylvania this fall, and we invite you to check back each week throughout this football season to see which teams make our poll…and who’s listed where, as decided by our diverse group of voters.

One other unique aspect to our poll…the coaches and athletic directors’ names are never revealed so they can vote with their minds…and also avoid any potential “bulletin board” material, so each one can make selections without repercussions.

Throughout the years that we have done our poll, the coaches and athletic directors have always maintained very objective opinions.  If you look back through our archives, you’ll notice that our pollsters have been amazingly accurate and unbiased in their selections, and our polls’ top teams very often finish similarly in the same order as the “power points” system that District XI uses when compiling its standings and playoff positionings.

So without any further delay, here’s this week’s edition of the “Astounding 10” … (the number in parenthesis is the average points received for each team, with ‘10’ being the maximum.)

1. Freedom (10)
2. Parkland (9)
3. Easton (7.8)
4. Nazareth (5.4)
5. Northwestern (5.2)
6. Emmaus (4.8)
7. Liberty (4.2)
8. Notre Dame (2.8)
9. Southern Lehigh (2.6)
10. Saucon Valley (.06)

Other team(s) receiving more than one mention: (none)

Bookmark and return to our page each week and check back after this weekend’s game to see if your favorite teams moved up or down in the minds and opinions of our pollsters!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

As a player, Allie Mikelson was a textbook example of the talent that exists in the Lehigh Valley field hockey community. After playing four years at Emmaus High School, complete with a PIAA 3A State Championship in 2010, she went onto the University of Delaware where she won three Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) championships, was named the CAA’s Most Outstanding Performer in 2014, and was a two-time Team MVP and co-captain before graduating in 2016.

[Mikelson as a player at Emmaus High School. Contributed by Mikelson.]

[Mikelson as a player at the University of Delaware. Contributed by Mikelson.]

[Mikelson as a player at the University of Delaware. Contributed by Mikelson.]

No big deal, right?

While Mikelson may not be the only field hockey player from the Lehigh Valley to have had an exceptional playing career at the Division I level (recall that seven Lehigh Valley natives appear on the rosters of the top ten Division I teams according to the 2024 NFHCA Preseason Poll) what makes her story unique is what came next.

Mikelson began officiating indoor field hockey at her home club, the Firestyx (where most Emmaus players play club hockey), in 2014 while in college. By luck, Mikelson ended up paired with Fran Corl, a veteran umpire who has a strong presence in USA Field Hockey, her first time umpiring.

“[Corl] was like, ‘If you like it, you should keep doing it and I’ll help you get your way through USA Hockey and get some umpiring opportunities’,” said Mikelson.

“I don’t know if I would be here, necessarily, if I wasn’t working with Fran that first time I was ever umpiring.”

[Mikelson and fellow umpires. Contributed by Mikelson.]

Mikelson continued umpiring field hockey competitions throughout her time as an undergraduate student at University of Delaware and then during her time in graduate school where she was studying to become an Occupational Therapist (OT). She had her first NCCA appearance as an umpire in 2019 and received her first appointment to officiate an international competition in 2022 for the Junior Pan American Games and Hockey5 Pan American Cups.

Today, Mikelson umpires NCAA field hockey (primarily at the Division I level) and International Hockey Federal (IFH) Hockey competitions (which is the organization that operates the majority of the major international hockey competitions). She travels the world umpiring games between both men’s and women’s teams—notably all in addition to her day job as an OT and her role as a volunteer coach on the Emmaus field hockey coaching staff.

[Mikelson and the Emmaus High School field hockey coaching staff. Contributed by Mikelson.]

“In my head, I have my full-time job, which is being an OT. That comes first, and then umpiring. I do all the international stuff I can do, but you do kind of have to set boundaries for yourself and some other things may have to give because you just never know when an international opportunity is going to come up,” said Mikelson.

Mikelson has made the most of her opportunities on the international stage, having umpired the Pan American (Pan Am) Cup men’s indoor hockey final between Trinidad & Tobago and Argentina this past March in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

[Mikelson as an umpire. Contributed by Mikelson.]

On the domestic side, she was chosen to officiate the Ivy League tournament before umpiring the semi-final for the NCAA Division I tournament in 2023 between Duke and Northwestern. Mikelson was the reserve umpire for the championship game as well.

If her appointments to officiate games of such significant magnitude don’t show just how exceptional an umpire Mikelson is, her umpiring resumes does: In 2023, Mikelson was named the winner of the USA Field Hockey National Umpire Award.

It’s not about the big awards, selections, or appointments to Mikelson, though. She’s most proud of having the opportunity to represent the U.S. internationally.

“Just the work I put in over quite a few years to develop myself in order for the U.S. to trust me with representing us as an official outside of the country,” Mikelson shared when asked of which of her accomplishments she is the most proud.

“There’s a lot that goes into it. There’s a lot of time. There’s a lot of self-growth that you have to go through. Umpiring is a lot of dedication if you want to do the international stuff—and even the NCAA stuff. There’s sacrifices you make.”

Mikelson’s goal is to continue to represent the U.S. on the international stage—with hopes of potentially one day officiating an Olympic or World Cup hockey competition.

 “I got into umpiring because I enjoy the game a lot,” she shared.

“As long as it continues to be fun, I think that’s the goal. I want to enjoy the journey to get there every step of the way.”

[Mikelson as an umpire. Contributed by Mikelson.]

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

We had four exciting high school football games last weekend on the Astound TV Network.

 Undefeated Freedom kept up its great season with a big win over its rival from Bethlehem Catholic and continue to be the number-one ranked team in our poll, as they have been since week three (more on that below).

Head Coach Jason Roeder and those same Patriot players will be in our studio this Thursday to talk about their great week one win up in New York City, their successes so far this fall and the read ahead, on this Thursday’s ATVN’s “SportsTalk” show, live on our network at 7pm.

We’ll also have interviews from this year’s top boys and girls finishers in the District XI golf tournament.

If you can’t watch the show from your home television set, the program will also be live-streamed at youtube.com/@AstoundTVnetwork 

Sign up to get alerts about all our free, live streaming programming when you log on to YouTube.

Then on Friday, we’ll have a pair of 6-1 teams (Easton vs. Liberty) live at 7pm, followed by Freedom and Northampton.  On Saturday we’ll have Parkland playing Central Catholic – both teams are coming off big wins last weekend.

Now for the latest “Astounding 10’’ high school football weekly poll for this fall season.

Our pollsters give their selections for who they believe are the top 10 performing football teams that you’ll see on the Astound TV Network this fall.

Each voter will select the top 10 teams – with the top team getting 10 points, 9 for the second best team, 8 for third and so forth.

One caveat – in order to balance the bigger and smaller schools in the region, each pollster MUST include at least three teams that are NOT a 6A-sized school.

It’s a brand new way to gauge the top teams in Eastern Pennsylvania this fall, and we invite you to check back each week throughout this football season to see which teams make our poll…and who’s listed where, as decided by our diverse group of voters.

One other unique aspect to our poll…the coaches and athletic directors’ names are never revealed so they can vote with their minds…and also avoid any potential “bulletin board” material, so each one can make selections without repercussions.

Throughout the years that we have done our poll, the coaches and athletic directors have always maintained very objective opinions.  If you look back through our archives, you’ll notice that our pollsters have been amazingly accurate and unbiased in their selections, and our polls’ top teams very often finish similarly in the same order as the “power points” system that District XI uses when compiling its standings and playoff positionings.

So without any further delay, here’s this week’s edition of the “Astounding 10” … (the number in parenthesis is the average points received for each team, with ‘10’ being the maximum.)

1. Freedom (10)

2. Parkland (9)

3. Easton (7.6)

4. Nazareth (5.4)

5. Northwestern (5)

6. Liberty (4.8)

7. Emmaus (4.2)

8. Blue Mountain (1.2)

9. Southern Lehigh (1)

10. Notre Dame – Green Pond (.08)

Other team(s) receiving more than one mention: Saucon Valley

Bookmark and return to our page each week and check back after this weekend’s game to see if your favorite teams moved up or down in the minds and opinions of our pollsters!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

We hope you enjoyed Astound’s exclusive coverage of the Celtic Classic last weekend but looking ahead, we’re back with yet another big weekend of HS football on ATVN, with four games coming your way!

On Thursday, we’ll have another Bethlehem battle as undefeated Freedom plays Bethlehem Catholic.   On Friday, we’ll have yet another undefeated Christmas City team – Liberty – taking on Nazareth (the #4 and #5 teams in our poll – see below), followed by Whitehall traveling to Emmaus.  On Saturday, we’ll once again feature the Colonial League with two teams coming off explosive victories last week: Notre Dame – Green Pond and Pen Argyl.

Now for the latest “Astounding 10’’ high school football weekly poll for this fall season.

Our pollsters give their selections for who they believe are the top 10 performing football teams that you’ll see on the Astound TV Network this fall.

Each voter will select the top 10 teams – with the top team getting 10 points, 9 for the second best team, 8 for third and so forth.

One caveat – in order to balance the bigger and smaller schools in the region, each pollster MUST include at least three teams that are NOT a 6A-sized school.

It’s a brand new way to gauge the top teams in Eastern Pennsylvania this fall, and we invite you to check back each week throughout this football season to see which teams make our poll…and who’s listed where, as decided by our diverse group of voters.

One other unique aspect to our poll…the coaches and athletic directors’ names are never revealed so they can vote with their minds…and also avoid any potential “bulletin board” material, so each one can make selections without repercussions.

Throughout the years that we have done our poll, the coaches and athletic directors have always maintained very objective opinions.  If you look back through our archives, you’ll notice that our pollsters have been amazingly accurate and unbiased in their selections, and our polls’ top teams very often finish similarly in the same order as the “power points” system that District XI uses when compiling its standings and playoff positionings.

So without any further delay, here’s this week’s edition of the “Astounding 10” … (the number in parenthesis is the average points received for each team, with ‘10’ being the maximum.)

1. Freedom (10)

2. Parkland (9)

3. Easton (7.2)

4. Liberty (5.6)

5. Nazareth (4.6)

6. Northwestern (4.2)

7. Emmaus (4)

8. Tamaqua (1.8)

9. Blue Mountain (1.2)

10. Notre Dame – Green Pond (0.8)

Other team(s) receiving more than one mention: Southern Lehigh

Bookmark and return to our page each week and check back after this weekend’s game to see if your favorite teams moved up or down in the minds and opinions of our pollsters!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Before you get ready for another weekend of high school football games, a quick look back at some great games – and some unbelievable plays – from the last few weeks as seen on the Astound TV Network.

Among them include Becahi’s Cayden Vassa’s amazing touchdown run on a broken play, and several great plays in Easton’s dramatic overtime win over Emmaus.

Enjoy!

Astound TV Network Sports: Emmaus vs. Easton (9/24)

Astound TV Network Sports: Allentown Central Catholic vs. Bethlehem Catholic (9/24)

Astound TV Network Sports: Parkland vs. Nazareth (9/24)

Astound TV Network Sports: Stroudsburg vs. Liberty (9/24)

Astound TV Network Sports: Nazareth vs.  Whitehall  (8/24)

Copies of all of ATVN’s sports broadcasts are available by contacting our studio.

Also, don’t forget to check out all of Astound TV’s exclusive coverage of this weekend’s Highland Games Athletic Championships and the Celtic Classic in Downtown Bethlehem, all weekend long on the Astound TV Network! 

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

If you don’t look too closely, it may appear like another “rinse and repeat” year in the Colonial League. As of September 19th, Northwestern, who won the District XI 1A championship and finished second in league play in 2023, sits atop the league standings, with an undefeated 8-0 overall record. The Tigers are trailed by reigning league champion Southern Lehigh, who sits at 7-1 overall. The Spartan’s one loss came to Northwestern in a September 13th matchup in which the Tigers bested the Spartans 3-2. 

In 2023, the Tigers and the Spartans were joined in the Colonial League playoffs by Palmerton (11-3 in the Colonial League in 2023), Bangor (8-5-1 in 2023), Wilson (7-5-2 in 2023), and Moravian Academy (7-6-1 in 2023). Palmerton and Bangor managed to advance from the Quarterfinal Round to meet Northwestern and Southern Lehigh, with Palmerton upsetting the Tigers in the Semi-Final Round before falling to Southern Lehigh for the championship.

Business as usual in the Colonial League in 2024? Not so much. 

A closer look at the league results shows an unlikely competitor rising through the ranks: the Salisbury Falcons. The Falcons failed to make the league playoffs in 2023 after going 6-6-2 in Colonial League play. This fall, as of September 19th, Salisbury is 7-2 in league play, with their only two losses coming to Northwestern in their first game of the season on August 27th, and in a nail biter loss to Southern Lehigh on September 16, when the Falcons fell to the Spartans 1-0. Salisbury has scored 36 goals in just nine league games, while surrendering only 13. 

The Falcons are “co-oped” with Central Catholic, who does not have a field hockey team. With this co-op arrangement, girls who are interested in playing field hockey at Central can join Salisbury’s team. The program at Salisbury is certainly seeing benefits from this arrangement. For one, the Falcons welcomed the addition of midfielder Lauren Kushma in 2024. Kushma, who is committed to play field hockey at Drexel, transferred to Central Catholic for her junior year and joined the Salisbury field hockey team.

Having a hunch that the matchup would be closer than a Southern Lehigh-Salisbury field hockey game has been in many years (if ever), I made my way out to the new turf field at Southern Lehigh Middle School for the game. Having witnessed it myself, I can attest that the Spartan’s 1-0 victory was, in fact, a nail biter. 

The Spartans got on the board early in the first quarter after connecting a few passes and building an attack up the field and capitalizing on an open shot in the circle. Both teams battled back and forth with penalty corners and scoring opportunities on both sides, but neither could find the back of the net after the Spartan’s early tally. 

There was clear talent on both sides. Both teams strung passes together and showed stalwart defenses. There was a healthy number of skilled players in both uniforms, neither team relying on just one or two sources of talent. 

While the Spartans pulled this one off, they appeared more or less evenly matched by Salisbury. 

In fact, the game was so close, a Southern Lehigh fan in the stands remarked “We survived!”, when the final horn blew. 

[Salisbury at Southern Lehigh on 9/16/24 at Southern Lehigh Middle School. Contributed by Kate Arnold.]

After the game, Southern Lehigh, coach Adrienne Searfoss, acknowledged as much–noting that the Colonial League is “much tighter” than the veteran coach has seen in the past. 

“Every game, we have to show up,” Searfoss reflected. 

It’s not just Salisbury who has gotten into the mix for the Colonial League title. A new competitor exists in Lehighton, 4-3-1 in league play as of September 19th, who just joined the Colonial League in 2024. Wilson also rounds out the crew of teams with winning records (5-4) vying for one of the six top spots to advance to the playoffs. 

The Catasauqua Rough Riders are on the bubble at 5-5, after finishing league play with a 5-9 record in 2023. Saucon Valley (4-5 in in the Colonial League in 2024), Bangor (3-4-1 in 2024), Pen Argyl (2-5-1 in 2024), Palisades (0-8-1 in 2024), Moravian Academy (0-8 in 2024), and Northern Lehigh (0-8 in 2024) will look to turn things around with the remaining three weeks of the regular season. 

Given the jockeying for positions atop the league standings we’ve seen and will likely continue to see in the coming weeks, it’s unclear at this point how the Colonial League playoff picture will come together. 

Coach Searfoss agreed: “Records are so tight, it will be a close match in terms of seeding.”

Only time will tell if a new team will hoist the Colonial League trophy in 2024. 

[Salisbury at Southern Lehigh on 9/16/24 at Southern Lehigh Middle School. Contributed by Kate Arnold.]

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