All families go through times of trial and of celebration.
And, when it comes to sport families, oftentimes the multiplier of individual families turns into one big family that can find everything they need in each other.
The West Perry field hockey family knew that last season. But their connectivity wasn’t enough to propel them to the 2023 District 3 Class 1A championship. Of all teams, their Perry County rival, Susquenita, took them down in the quarterfinals in a fiery back and forth that left the West Perry turf metaphorically burning.
Flash forward one year later. And, the Mustangs had shaken it off, pursued their dream season, and ultimately claimed the 2024 District 3 Class 1A title. Boiling Springs fell 6 to 2 to West Perry Saturday at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Park in Mechanicsburg. The game was played at the John H. Frederick Field.
“Our West Perry team won the District Championship for the first-time ever, which is really exciting for us,” Iowa commit Jordan Byers said after the game. “I think it’s just great that not only are we representing our school, [but] we’re also representing our county. And, it’s just great, ‘cause we have a lot of good hockey in our county. And, although we have great rivalries, we all respect the field hockey that takes place in our county. It’s just great to see how far we’ve come from our freshman year to now. It’s just excellent.”
Jordan, a senior, scored three goals and had three assists on the day. And, that’s nothing new for the Perry County rising rock star. Jordan is gifted in technique, agility, and vision. While she doesn’t always agree with an umpire, she’s learned how to drop her disagreements quickly and resume playing the flashy game she knows how to execute.
Among her accomplishments as a student-athlete, she has been a standout all four years of her high school career. She is a leading scorer, has been selected as a member of the Junior USA Field Hockey Women’s National Indoor Team twice, and was listed as one of MAX Field Hockey’s Top 50 nationally to watch in 2023.
Her mom, Wendy, is the coach.
“We have a special group of girls,” Wendy Byers said. “The girls stay humble. The girls, they just have great attitudes. They’re very coachable and we try to instill – their families are instilling that in them – and we just take that and go with it…And, they know the difference between what’s right and wrong. There’s no words to say. They’re just a great group of kids to work with.”
The brand at West Perry is “family.” And, the coaches this season expected the girls to be “humble, but confident.”
Passion was central to the Mustangs’ district title win. Wendy Byers said the postseason is all about “chemistry” and mental toughness.
“You’ve gotta play because you love the game,” she said. “It’s a team sport. It’s not about you. If it’s always about you, go do something individual. That’s why the backs of our shirts say ‘family.’ Hockey has a rich tradition at West Perry. It kind of fell to the wayside a little bit, but it’s really coming back strong. We have awesome parents that played that are, like, running the youth program. I just see us keep, keeping it on that map now. I don’t see us falling off again.”
West Perry has been ranked nationally several times throughout the past two Fall field hockey seasons by MAX Field Hockey, a stats-based website. The most recent ranking published on Oct. 29 has West Perry at No. 18 in the country.
“I think it’s great that such a small little county, well maybe not that small, can produce such talented field hockey players and teams,” Penn State commit Autumn Albright said. “Just the growth that has happened over the past four years that we have seen is incredible.”
The Game
Jordan scored first for West Perry a few minutes into the first quarter. The Mustangs play a fast pickup game, where they collect the ball on their stick on the move. Once they see what they can do with it, they create space around them and keep pushing through toward goal.
They had to battle a tight Boiling Springs defense that has solid sweeps out of the backfield, which make the ball travel up to 30-40 yards out of danger.
It took the Bubblers three quarters to figure out how to defend their cage. They didn’t allow any goals to West Perry in the fourth quarter.
Of the eight goals scored, six to West Perry, and two to Boiling Springs, four of them were high-level shots, where the ball was in mid-air and smashed into the cage like a baseball hit.
If there’s anything the 2024 District 3 Class 1A game exhibited, it’s that the girls are playing fearlessly and copying higher-level athletes.
“We’re all about speed and ball position,” Jordan said. “We want to get the ball up the field and we want to keep it up there. It’s a go, go, go mentality. We want to score and get it back up there. We want to score, and we want to do it again. We’ve had troubles, where we sit back after we score and we just play not to lose, but today we really tried to focus on let’s keep going, let’s not stop, let’s keep going.”
The Mustangs scored four goals on seven of the corners they earned. An example of their teamwork was seen when Jordan drilled the ball toward cage and Albright was positioned at post, where she tipped it in for the second goal of the game.
“A big thing for us is going out hard and stepping to the ball,” Albright said. “That’s something Coach Wendy teaches us. That’s what makes us such a strong team.”
Halloween costume at Districts
During a friendly scrimmage against Lower Dauphin prior to the start of District games, Albright’s jaw was broken.
She said she and her mom wrapped her head for the game. She said she felt like a partially wrapped ‘mummy.’
“I’m feeling pretty good,” Albright said. “It hurts every now and again, but we messed around with things. Like, I wore a mask the past couple of games. It really fogs up and it’s hard to see. So, we tried this wrapping technique using padding because I feel like what I really need is support. It feels like my jaw is jingling when I run, which I don’t like, because I feel like…that’s not good. So, just trying to support it. And, my mom was, like, wrapping me up and stuff but, I’ve had a lot of Halloween costumes created because of field hockey.”
Looking at the numbers
Jordan scored the first field goal unassisted in the first. Albright scored in the first on a corner, assisted by Jordan. Jordan scored, again, unassisted on a corner to end the first quarter.
Boiling Springs fired back in the second quarter, with a baseball style smash into the cage created by Avery Doyle (goal) and Kate Hovis (assist).
West Perry immediately sensed Boiling Springs’ momentum and answered back. Maddie Bell scored and was assisted by Jordan on a corner. The Mustangs backed up that goal with another one from Shay Dyer and an assist by Albright on a corner.
The Bubblers let West Perry know they weren’t giving up. They scored again late in the third with 1:41 remaining. It was the duo of Kate Yenser (goal) and Lexi Boyle (assist), who scored on a corner.
West Perry squeezed in its final goal in the third with seconds remaining: Jordan scored, Emma Stump assisted.
The Mustangs had 12 shots on goal; Boiling Spring 4. Marty Morrison had two saves in cage; Ellie Shoemaker had six. Both teams earned seven penalty corners.
“They’re such a great team all around, from front line to the back,” Boiling Springs head coach Bayley Leonard said. “And, we knew that, but we’ve been playing some really good hockey lately. We were excited for the matchup. I don’t think we put together our best 60 minutes today. Tough day for it to happen. Proud of the girls for their effort. And, we know that we’re not done yet. Good run through Districts, getting ready for states.
“We scheduled a lot of out of Division games, Penn Manor, Palmyra, Northern. We wanted some good competition throughout the season to get us ready for these moments…not worrying about who we’re playing, even though those were losses on the scorebook, they were a lot of lessons, growth on passing and movement, a lot for us. Proud of what they’ve done.”
Leonard has been head coach for two years. And, Boiling Springs still has fond memories of the team’s historic run in 2022 going undefeated and claiming both the District 3 Class 1A trophy, as well as the 2022 PIAA Class 1A title.
“A lot of these girls were on the team two years ago,” Leonard said. “And for others, this was a first for this moment. It’s a testament of their hard work during the season and off season. It’s a proud coach moment: from starters to all the role players.”
After the game Wendy Byers said she wanted the girls to go home and enjoy the moment. She didn’t want them obsessed over states. She said they earned it and that she was tremendously proud of them.
“I think (this game) just shows that heart plays a really big role in field hockey,” Jordan said. “You can have all the skill, and luckily, we do have skill on our team, but a lot of our girls just play with heart. And, as they’ve progressed, they’ve gotten more skilled. And, it all just stems from heart.”
The last time the Mustangs played in the championship game was in 1981, when they were in Class 2A. They fell short and earned a silver medal. In 2024, West Perry went for its only gold in the high school program’s history.
“We all have the same goal in mind, and we all wanted to get the job done,” Albright said.
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Photo: 2024 District 3 Class 1A championship game, Bob Benscoter