When opportunity knocks, you can choose to not answer the door.

When Lehighton High School called her to interview for the Lehighton field hockey head coach position, Stacey Duerst opened that door without thinking."I was a bit surprised that I got the job and that no one else had applied," said Duerst, who has never coached field hockey at any level. "Then I went home and in the middle of the night I woke up and said to myself, 'What have I done?'"Duerst, who was voted MVP of her Emmaus High School hockey team nearly 20 years ago, recalls how she found out about the opening."I went out to dinner with some of the parents of the players and they spoke about the position, but I didn't think much of it," Duerst said. "Soon after, Kyle Spotts, the school's AD called me for an interview." She adds with a laugh, "So here I am."The first challenge for Duerst is that she takes over a historically successful program. The Lady Tribe are just five years removed from a 26-0 state championship season under coach Shawn Hindy who compiled a career record of 88-8-1 before turning the reins over to Lamar Long, who was able to lead Lehighton into the district playoffs during each of his three years at the helm.She also comes into the program with the knowledge that Lehighton has produced a huge number of Division I field hockey players through the years. Duerst has no such accomplished stars for this season. The task is to bring along a team that overall has very little playing experience with only two seniors and 15 underclassmen.A former chemical researcher who lives in Lehighton with her husband Joe and their daughter Marlee, Duerst has taken a crash course to learn the strategies of the game. She coached several Lehighton players in a summer league at Whitehall High School, picked the brains of fellow coaches and even referees, and also has brought along her own philosophy from her playing days at Emmaus."Stamina and stickwork, " she emphasizes. "The girls have been on an intensive running program to build their energy. At practices, I stress pass, pass, pass. We need to be able to find the open player. Use the whole field and not hold the ball too long. We have to get the other teams to chase us."The second challenge for Duerst is that her team will compete as an independent. For most of its sports, the Indians are in the Schuylkill League, but the league has no field hockey."This presents some interesting circumstances for us. League teams usually play each other twice a season so the second time around you can have a better strategy because you are aware of the other team's tendencies," said Duerst. "As an independent, we will play 18 different teams this season. Some like Northern Lehigh, the East Stroudsburg teams, Parkland, and Whitehall are really good teams and without having experienced their strengths and weaknesses, we can only make adjustments at halftime."Quirks in the scheduling of the Lady Tribe's games are also directly related to the fact they do not play in a league."League teams often play on set days of the week like Tuesdays, and Thursdays," said Duerst. "We have to schedule around their pattern days. We will often be playing back to back games on Fridays and Saturdays, again, never against the same team twice. And sometimes we won't play for an entire week, but then, later in the season, we will play on five straight days."Undaunted by the difficult challenges ahead, Duerst brings her confidence and set goals to the program."Regardless of our youth and inexperience, I have set high expectations for our team," said Duerst. "We will be disciplined and play completely as a team. I told the girls let's win 14 games this season. We know it's an uphill battle and that number may have to be readjusted, but I am not only a goal oriented person, I am also very competitive and that's what we want to create with our young team at Lehighton."No experience.No league.No easy schedule.Trophies won by past Lehighton teams and players are gleaming in the school's showcase. The "uphill battle" that Duerst speaks of may be more like climbing Mount Everest without wearing any shoes.So be it. Stacey Duerst has accepted all the conditions and challenges. Perhaps someday, well into the future, she will close that door of opportunity, leaving behind her another successful chapter that will be written into the storied history of Lehighton field hockey..