For Emmaus, it was their 37th straight. For Northwestern Lehigh, it was their fourth straight. And for Salisbury, it was their first ever District XI championship. Over the course of the last week of October, District XI 1A, 2A, and 3A field hockey champions were crowned–with Salisbury defeating Southern Lehigh on Wednesday, Northwestern beating Wilson on Friday night, and Emmaus taking down rival Parkland on Saturday morning.

For Salisbury, the Falcons had to regroup after falling in the Colonial League playoff to Northwestern 3-2 after entering the tournament as the #1 seed and finishing the regular season with an overall record of 16-1. Northwestern would later go on to defeat Southern Lehigh in overtime for the Colonial League championship by a score of 2-1.

With Northwestern dropping to 1A in the District XI playoffs, Salisbury did not have to worry about meeting up with the Tigers again. Instead, it would be defending District XI 2A champion Southern Lehigh, a team that Salisbury split with during the regular season–taking the first matchup in late September by a score of 3-0 before falling to the Spartans 2-1 in the last regular season game of the year. This would be the only regular season loss for the Falcons.

In the rubbermatch, Salisbury was able to convert on two penalty corners and keep the Spartans off the scoreboard–leading to a 2-0 victory and their first District XI championship of all time. For a team that struggled to even qualify for the playoffs just a few years ago, the Falcon’s trajectory has been remarkable. As of late, there seems to be a budding rivalry emerging between Salisbury and Southern Lehigh.

Speaking of rivals, it was a pair of familiar faces meeting at Salisbury High School on Saturday morning as Emmaus and Parkland vied for the District XI 3A title. The Trojans made sure the Hornets’ 37th straight District XI title did not come easy. It wasn’t the first time this year Parkland gave Emmaus a scare–having fallen to the Hornets by a score of just 2-1 in their last regular season conference game of the year. Perhaps then, it’s no surprise that the second meeting would be just as tight.

It took over 20 minutes of play for Emmaus to find the back of the net– finally doing so on a goal from Sharlise Solano off a penalty corner in the third quarter. Despite several additional scoring opportunities for both teams, that would be the one and only goal of the game. It was as tight of a contest as Emmaus had seen all year.

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

Last one for the fall before the final championship games this weekend… 

Our pollsters this fall will be giving 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 points for the second-best team, 8 for third and so forth.  The voting committee itself consists of media members, football coaches and athletic directors in this region (we randomly select different coaches and “ADs” each year to get different points of view). 

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 different 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, our voters 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 positioning’s. 

As far as which media members have a say?  Don’t be surprised if they identify themselves on our Thursday SportsTalk show, which, this fall, will be streamed live on YouTube.com/@AstoundTVnetwork on Thursdays at 7pm, in addition to being broadcast each week on Astound TV Network. 

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

1. Parkland (9.33) 
2. Easton (9.17) 
3. Northwestern (8.17) 
4. Liberty (7.4) 
5. Southern Lehigh Nazareth (5.17) 
6. Nazareth (4.83) 
7. Whitehall (4.67) 
8. Freedom (2.83) 
9. Notre Dame-GP (2.3) 
10. Schuylkill Haven(2.17) 

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 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 or any other agency, organization, employer or company. 

For the first time all fall, we have the most “competition” among the top 4 spots in our poll then we have had at any point this season… 

Our pollsters this fall will be giving 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 points for the second-best team, 8 for third and so forth.  The voting committee itself consists of media members, football coaches and athletic directors in this region (we randomly select different coaches and “ADs” each year to get different points of view). 

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 different 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, our voters 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 positioning’s. 

As far as which media members have a say?  Don’t be surprised if they identify themselves on our Thursday SportsTalk show, which, this fall, will be streamed live on YouTube.com/@AstoundTVnetwork on Thursdays at 7pm, in addition to being broadcast each week on Astound TV Network. 

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

1. (tie) Easton/Parkland (9.33) 
2. Liberty (8.4) 
3. Northwestern (7.5) 
4. Nazareth (5.17) 
5. Southern Lehigh (4.67) 
6. Whitehall (3.5) 
7. Notre Dame-Green Pond (1.83) 
8. Freedom (2.3) 
9. Schuylkill Haven (1.5) 

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 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 or any other agency, organization, employer or company. 

For most teams, a season following the graduation of eight seniors would have almost certainly been considered a rebuilding year. And maybe, early on, some people thought that’s what the 2025 season would be for head coach Lissa Opolsky’s Northwestern Lehigh Tigers. The Tigers proved those people wrong, upsetting the No. 2 seed Southern Lehigh Spartans in overtime 2-1 to win their second Colonial League Champion in as many years.

It wasn’t an easy road. Even though the current 2025 fall roster touted another 11 seniors, many of those players lacked the same experience that the 2025 graduates had.

The team started off their season with a 2-0 loss to Salisbury, who would go on to earn the top seed in the league playoff (only to be knocked out in the second round by Northwestern). They would suffer two additional league losses and two non-conference losses throughout the regular season.

Coach Opolsky reflected that it took some time to determine the right lineup.

“We knew that we were going to learn some things along the way. Losing tells you a little more about what you need to do,” said Opolsky.

“We have a lot of people that can play a lot of positions. Figuring out the right combination of that is dependent on getting a lot of competitive games.”

And while they seem to have figured it out, Coach Opolsky shared that she still evaluates each game and each opponent to determine what makes sense for her lineup. Sometimes, that means switching things up.

“Any given game may give us some different challenges along the road. Depending on who we’re playing, I could call on a different person to play a different position.”

For example, if a little extra fire is needed on offense, she’ll move senior center midfielder Hannah Gober to the forward line and have an underclassman fill her spot in the midfield.

It would be Gober who would set up the Tiger offense to take home the gold in the Colonial League championship.

After what was a back and forth, swinging momentum-style game, the Spartans and Tigers found themselves tied 1-1 at the end of regulation. It took a powerful speech from Coach Opolsky and just three minutes into overtime until Northwestern would find the back of the net in the sudden death period.

On their second attacking penalty corner, Gober received the insert at the top of the circle, skillfully read the Spartan defense and goalkeeper, identified that the keeper’s weight was shifted to one side, and played the ball towards the cage in the opposite direction. That would set up senior Taylor Langley for the game (check that–championship) winning OT goal.

Fittingly, Langley, who Opolsky called the Tiger’s “engine on the field”, is known for saying she’ll “do anything to win”.

Reflecting on the season so far, the coach also praised the performances of seniors Amelia Birch and Haley Kerschner, as well as junior Bloomsburg-commit Faith Slifer, who has stepped up in many games.

Northwestern will go on as the No. 1 Seed in the District XI 1A playoff, earning a bye for the first round. The Tigers will take on Palmerton in a second round match up at Northern Lehigh on Monday.

As is always the case, Opolsky shared, the goal is to earn another trophy. However, like any good coach, she noted that “above all else”, it’s about playing good hockey.

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

It’s time for this week’s rankings of the top teams in District XI as we reach the postseason…

Our pollsters this fall will be giving 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 points for the second-best team, 8 for third and so forth.  The voting committee itself consists of media members, football coaches and athletic directors in this region (we randomly select different coaches and “ADs” each year to get different points of view).

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 different 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, our voters 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 positioning’s.

As far as which media members have a say?  Don’t be surprised if they identify themselves on our Thursday SportsTalk show, which, this fall, will be streamed live on YouTube.com/@AstoundTVnetwork on Thursdays at 7pm, in addition to being broadcast each week on Astound TV Network.

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

1. Parkland (9.67)
2. Easton (9.33)
3. Northwestern (7.67)
4. Liberty (6.2)
5. Southern Lehigh (5.5)
6. Nazareth (4.33)
7. Whitehall (3)
8. Freedom (2.33)
9. Notre Dame-Green Pond (1.83)
10. Schuylkill Haven (1.17)

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

*Two voters were absent for this week’s poll results

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 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 or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

If you blink (or get tied up in a project at work…), you just might miss the high school field hockey regular season. Teams kick off official competitions in the last week of August, generally play 3-4 games per week, and by the second week of October, only those teams who have qualified for league or district playoffs are still playing. Meanwhile, at the college level, regular season play continues throughout the entirety of October, with league play not beginning until early November, and the National Championship usually falling the weekend before Thanksgiving.  

But at the high school level, for the EPC and Colonial Leagues, conference playoffs are slotted for the second full week of October. In the Colonial League, Palmerton (ranked 6), Bangor (3), Pen Argyl (7), Southern Lehigh (2), Wilson (5), Northwestern (4), Palisades (8), and Salisbury (1) advanced to the league playoff, while the EPC playoff included Emmaus (1), Stroudsburg (8), Northampton (4), Nazareth (5), Parkland (3), Liberty (6), Easton (2), and Freedom (7). 

So, how did we get here? 

In the Colonial League, Salisbury continued the program’s upward trajectory, finishing with an overall record of 15-1 and securing the top spot in the playoffs. That’s an improvement from last season where they compiled a record of 13-3 and the year prior where they ended up 5-8-1 and failed to even reach the league playoffs. Salisbury was followed just behind by Southern Lehigh, who wrapped the regular season with a record of 14-1-1. The Spartans fell to the Falcons early in the season 3-0, but turned around and won the rematch in their last regular season game by a score of 2-1. The Spartans played Wilson to a 0-0 tie, while winning all their remaining league games (but falling to Nazareth 2-1 in non-conference play).  

In the EPC, Emmaus once again dominated the regular season (in what is head coach Sue Butz-Stavin’s 50th–yes, 50th–season at the helm), finishing 13-0 in league play. In non-conference play, Emmaus was able to knock off Oak Knoll, a power house team from New Jersey by a score of 3-2, but fell to Downingtown West 2-1 in OT in a matchup where the Hornets were missing a few key players due to injuries. 

Easton (12-1), Parkland (11-2), and Northampton (10-3) put together impressive seasons and kept things interesting. Parkland gave the Hornets their biggest scare–finding the back of the net despite falling in a 2-1 loss. Northampton was the only other EPC team to score on Emmaus back on August 28th in a 7-1 loss. Meanwhile, the Easton Red Rover defense recorded 13 shutouts in 15 regular season games, surrendering just six goals all season (four of which came in non-conference games).  

District XI playoffs will begin during the third full week of October, where Emmaus (3A), Southern Lehigh (2A), and Northwestern (1A) will seek to repeat as champions.  

Joining Emmaus in the 3A District Playoff will be the same cast of characters that competed in the EPC playoff, with Whitehall, East Stroudsburg South, and Pocono Mountain West failing to advance to either playoff.  

In the 2A bracket, Salisbury, Southern Lehigh, and Bangor will compete for the title. 

Northwestern Lehigh, Wilson, Pen Argyl and Palmerton will vie for the 1A District XI title.  

From there, the champion from the 1A playoff and the 2A playoff will advance to the 1A and 2A PIAA state playoff, respectively, while the top two teams in 3A will advance to the 3A PIAA state playoff beginning on November 4th.  

While the post season schedule and set up is more or less standard at this point, the next few weeks are sure to harbor at least a few surprises. Will it be the year that Salisbury is able to bring home a gold medal? Will Northwestern retain the top spot in District 1A? And will Coach Sue Butz-Stavin and her Hornet squad be able to cap off her 50th season with their 16th PIAA State Championship?

Only time will tell! Dust off your winter hats, gloves, coats, and blankets, fans. Playoff field hockey is here.  

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

Programming Notes:

This week on Astound TV Network we have three games as part of our regular season finale. 

On Friday, Astound TV customers will be treated to a double header: our live game will be a key rivalry rematch-up between Nazareth and Easton, followed by the Colonial League championship between Northwestern and Southern Lehigh. 

On Saturday afternoon, we have live coverage of The Battle of Bethlehem, Liberty vs. Freedom at 1:00 p.m. 

As usual, our live games will be available for free on our YouTube channel… youtube.com/@AstoundTVnetwork

Now, here’s a look at the top plays from recent games broadcast on Astound TV Network… 

Jake Pukszyn’s Record-Tying TD 

Cole Ordway Scores Again! 

Astound TV Network Sports: Easton vs. Liberty (10/25) 

Astound TV Network Sports: Nazareth vs Bethlehem Catholic (10/25) 

Astound TV Network Sports: Saucon Valley vs. Pen Argyl (10/25) 

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

It’s time for this week’s rankings of the top teams in the District XI region. Once again, not much movement in the top four spots but some minor movements up and down among our other teams… 

Our pollsters this fall will be giving 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 points for the second-best team, 8 for third and so forth.  The voting committee itself consists of media members, football coaches and athletic directors in this region (we randomly select different coaches and “ADs” each year to get different points of view). 

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 different 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, our voters 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 positioning’s. 

As far as which media members have a say?  Don’t be surprised if they identify themselves on our Thursday SportsTalk show, which, this fall, will be streamed live on YouTube.com/@AstoundTVnetwork on Thursdays at 7pm, in addition to being broadcast each week on Astound TV Network. 

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

1. Parkland (9.67) 
2. Easton (9.33) 
3. Northwestern (7.33) 
4. Southern Lehigh (7.17) 
5. Nazareth (5.67) 
6. Liberty (5.17) 
7. Freedom (4.17) 
8. Whitehall (2.33) 
9. Notre Dame-Green Pond (1.67) 
10. Northampton (1.17) 

Other team(s) receiving more than one mention: Schuylkill Haven 

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 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 or any other agency, organization, employer or company.