'Going undefeated is on our list of goals,' West Perry senior Lauren Foster on defeating Northern field hockey 5-0

West Perry field hockey lost six games in 2022. 

Compared to previous Mustang squads throughout the past decade, the teams of the 2020s began to take deep pride in their hard work ethic. And, started to up their skills as the game increased its pace. 

That was apparent Thursday night in West Perry's contest against Northern.

West Perry won 5-0 and remains undefeated on the season at 5-0. The athletes who play on the Mid-Penn Conference high school team, located in the beautiful Appalachian Mountains of Perry County, want to be seen. 

That transformation is noted in this year's roster, which already has standout college commits on it.

Recently, senior Jordan Byers, who hasn't announced her college pick as of September 10, recently broke the school's all-points record last month. Autumn Albright announced her commitment to play Division I field hockey in the Big 10 conference at Penn State. Molly Zimmerman, also a senior, is off to Villanova next fall, where she'll be part of Big East Division I action. 

"I feel like we just work really well together," senior Lauren Foster said after the Northern game. 

Foster scored three goals on the night. 

"I was expecting Jordan to score all the goals," she said laughing. "Offensively, we were just talking about passing the ball a lot and not holding onto it as much. And, trying to get it up our field and keeping it from them so they couldn't get corners. I feel like we did very well, passing-wise. I think Shay Dyer and Julie Loy did great passing." 

The West Perry Mustangs, who won the annual Perry County field hockey tournament, known as PECO, for the first time in 24 years, believe they have what it takes to become the next Boiling Springs. Boiling Springs went undefeated in 2022. 

The Bubblers and Mustangs compete in PIAA Class 1A. 

"I think we're going game by game," Foster said. "Going undefeated is on our list of goals." 

Thursday's game had its setbacks for the Mustangs. Not only was it an hour drive to visit Northern, but also there were thunderstorms nearby.

Athletes either hunkered down on a bus or in a building while the weather passed through the area. Neither the drive nor the weather delay affected the athletes from enjoying the journey. 

"Even when we were sitting in there for two hours, everyone was having a good time," Foster said. 

The Mustangs took six shots Thursday. And, they scored on five.

Defensively, they thwarted five Northern corners by pressuring the Bears offense, intercepting the shot, or popping off post to deflect it away from the cage. 

"I felt that we had a great passing game, and that's how you're going to win against any strong team, is a great passing game," West Perry head coach Wendy Byers said. "And, as long as we can do those quick passes - I told the girls, the ball doesn't get tired, we do - so, if you could just move as a team in a fluid motion up the field, it's a much prettier game to watch." 

Coach Byers supported Foster's hopes for an undefeated season, but also grounded them by emphasizing the team's focus is on one game at a time. 

"We never want to jump one game ahead," Coach Byers said. "This was a big game for us; so, we're very happy about tonight." 

An interesting fact about West Perry's corner defense, the athletes don't practice them. 

Northern drops its first loss to West Perry 5-0 - FAN (female-athlete-news.com) 

"Because we've had severe injuries with our corner practices, what we do instead, we'll push pass to different spots," Coach Byers said. "We don't practice defense, we've had casualties and it's not worth it. [The defense] talk and have a discussion on where they want to be. They all trust each other back there." 

Up until Northern met West Perry, the Bears also hadn't lost a game. 

"I think that you see the score and think that it's a one-sided game, but it really wasn't because they had just about every shot on goal, and it went in," Northern head coach Amelia Martire said after the game. "They didn't have the ball all the time on their end. It's just that they put the ball in the cage and we weren't taking shots or they weren't going in. We're working on finishing. They did their best and that's all you could ask for." 

Northern has graduated standouts like Duke University's Brynn Crouse. And, the Bears feature players who have participated in USA Field Hockey's Junior Olympics, among other competitive high-level selection opportunities. 

Now that the Bears have faced one of their harder season tests, they can begin to adjust for future challenges, Martire said. 

"It's still early in our season and we'll see [West Perry] again," she said. "Our goalie is brand new. It was pretty much a situation of, 'hey girls, we need someone to be goalie.' New in the cage, new in pads, up until the season, she has never been in the cage before. We're getting her comfortable." 

Throughout the next few weeks, Northern will continue to focus on its intellectual side of the game. 

"We've been really working our doubles, and our channels, and don't just hit and hope," Martire said. " We're playing our small game, give and go's." 

The Game

The entire game was circle to circle plays with Northern earning the first corner of the game.

Albright defensively picked up the hit from post and carried the ball all the way down to West Perry's circle. 

The fluidity of West Perry's passing stood our right away as seen in sequences like Zimmerman to Jordan Byers to Loy, where Foster was parked.

Foster scored two goals under two minutes apart in the first, giving the Mustangs a decent lead. Loy assisted Foster on both goals. The duo then again scored once more in second, earning Foster a hat trick and Loy another assist. 

Northern's Maura Simpson tried to get the Bears on the board when she smashed a ball toward cage on a corner in the second, but there weren't any Bears tippers on post or in front of the goalie to finish the shot. 

Jordan Byers found the cage again on a corner in the third hammering the ball into the lower left from the top of the circle. 

By the fourth quarter, the score was 3-0 with West Perry continuing to take advantage of its scoring opportunities. 

Jordan Byers had Northern defenders' sticks glued to her in the fourth, which turned into a stroke call. The breakdown foul didn't allow her to take a shot.

Zimmerman stepped up to take and make her shot making the final score 5-0.