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.]
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.
