From the first time she saw her play, Northern Lehigh head field hockey coach Jessica Frew knew Erika McKay had the talent and ability to be a big-time field hockey player.

McKay, who just finished her senior year as a member of the Bulldogs team, had quite the season as a midfielder, earning her honors as the 2014 Times News Girls Field Hockey Player of the Year.Already accepted at Towson University in Maryland to continue her education and field hockey career, McKay finished the season with 15 goals and 19 assists.As a four-year varsity letter winner, Erika scored 30 goals and added 34 assists overall."Erika is a very talented player and she has an excellent work ethic," Frew said. "I saw early on in seventh and eighth grade that with the hard work she puts in, and the dedication and love of the sport, that she would be a college player some day."Towson is a great program for her. I know they are in the building stages. I know the coach is really excited about having her. I do feel strongly that she has the opportunity to start in her freshman or sophomore year of college given her excellent knowledge of the game and her great distribution and passing skills. She is just so intelligent she learns so quickly, so the coach is really looking forward to having her play."Frew feels that Erika made everyone else look better."She draws many defenders on her to get girls open and it enables her to distribute the ball to her teammates," Frew said. "She just really made our team that much better."McKay's best productive outing this season was against Northwestern Lehigh scoring three goals for a hat trick and adding four assists on Sept. 12. She scored two goals against Salisbury, Lehighton, Wilson and Palisades."I'm going to miss her great work ethic," Frew said. "She motivates other team members. She works hard, the younger girls see it and it's a good example of leadership and what's expected when you play in this program."She's just a wonderful kid and loves the sport, and it's nice to have a player like her that generally loves to be there."McKay said that even though winning the Colonial League Championship a year ago was a big thrill, the thing she cherishes the most playing for the Bulldogs will be her teammates."They pushed me every day we came to practice and pushed me to be the best player I could be, and I couldn't thank them more for that," she said.Despite having the big game against Northwestern Lehigh, McKay said what she'll remember most will be the playoff games, even though the Bulldogs fell short."We didn't win districts or leagues, but we played our hearts out, so that's all we could ask for," she said."I'm going to miss the players and I'm going to miss Coach Frew," McKay said. "She really taught me a lot about the sport. She passed on her love for the sport to me."McKay first picked up a field hockey stick in sixth grade, the earliest age at which she could play for a Northern Lehigh team."I joined a club team in eighth grade and that's when I really fell in love with the sport," McKay said. "I knew I wanted to play at the next level."In middle school, McKay was a forward, but when she moved up to high school and played on the varsity, she switched to midfield.As a midfielder, McKay was the perfect player Frew was looking for at that position."Before every game I go over what I think my role is, what I need to do at my position to win," McKay said. "I always look for that open forward at the post for a direct stroke, and I just always try to put it right on their stick so they can finish."McKay is looking forward to starting her Towson University career as a midfielder.As far as her education goes, McKay will major in speech pathology. At first she thought she would like elementary education, but then changed her mind and selected speech pathology, spurred by her desire to work with younger children."I knew Towson was the place for me the first time I stepped on campus," she said. "It's not that far from home and I love everything about it."McKay seems ready to jump right into the college field hockey program. Despite being faster and a lot tougher mentally, she feels she's more than ready for the challenge.One thing is for sure, Northern Lehigh's loss will be Towson University's gain.