Bethlehem Catholic beats No. Lehigh in field hockey

BETHLEHEM — The once mighty Bethlehem Steel stacks no longer spew the smell of coke, instead the reminints are the offspring of the former workforce.

To be sure, field hockey wasn’t in the conversation a century ago when steel production was starting to peak.

But a short distance from the now closed Bethlehem Steel plant, field hockey is now in the spotlight at Bethlehem Catholic High School.

On Wednesday, the Lady Hawks found a way to beat Northern Lehigh, 2-1, in the opening round of the District 11, Class 1A playoffs.

It was not what the visiting Bulldogs had hoped for, especially after they outshot the home club (8-5) and had more corners (12-4).

“That’s been one of our difficulties this season, finishing on goal,” pointed out Northern Lehigh coach Jess Frew. “We fought the fight to get up to the circle, but didn’t finish.”

That was very evident in the opening 30 minutes, where the Bulldogs had 10 corners and nary a point to show for their fortune. Meanwhile, the Hawks got an opportunity late in the first half and jumped in front when Jaleesa Lanier received a pass from teammates Dhaniella Mae Babelonia and knocked in the first goal.

“We are pretty decent at taking advantage of opportunities,” said winning coach Lucas Wilde. “We put ourselves a good position with (Lanier) who comes from a long line of good field hockey players.”

Northern Lehigh kept knocking on the door throughout the first half, but Becahi goalkeeper Catherine Scheidel came up big, turning away five shots.

With all the pressure the Bulldogs had asserted in the first half and unable to notch a score, they did finally get to punch a shot home early in the second half. With 19:48 showing on the clock, Rachel Nonnemacher got a pass from Madison Posivak for the equalizer.

The euphoria didn’t last long for Northern Lehigh. Lanier posted her second goal off another corner this one at the 18:31 mark, which seemed to also empty the Bulldogs’ tank.

“That was such a huge score for us,” said Wilde. “Northern Lehigh is always so well prepared, but our team has been playing well of late and we just wanted to continue that into the postseason.”

The loss ends Northern Lehigh’s season.

“Lanier is very skilled and she was able to breakdown our defense,” said Frew. “We had practiced to stop the corners, but they still scored twice.

“It’s a frustrating loss.”

FROM TURF TO GRASS … Frew felt that teams playing on turf then moving over to grass are at a disadvantage. Becahi has a grass field.

FIGHTING PAIN … Top flight Northern Lehigh junior forward Olivia Romig had her thigh wrapped due to sciatica and hip injury. She was nowhere near 100-percent. Romig is one of the better players in the sport in Frew’s eyes.