West Perry High School is located southwest of the Lehigh Valley - nearly a two-hour drive from Northwestern High School Stadium.

But the bus ride home likely seemed shorter than the trip into New Tripoli for the Mustangs, who left town with a ticket to the PIAA quarterfinals after a convincing 5-0 win over the Tigers on Tuesday.

The main trouble for Northwestern came in the form of sophomore Jordan Byers, who brought with her a 40-goal season as part of a young team that finished third in District 3 play.

Byers showed her prowess early in the game when she took the insert pass from Autumn Albright and fired it past goalie Gabby Gober from 15-yards out for a quick 1-0 lead that held up through the rest of the first quarter.

“We didn’t really execute from the very beginning, and we were back on our heels,” said Tiger coach Lissa Opolsky.

Byers was nowhere near done for the night, as she fired a shot at Gober early in the second quarter that went off the goalkeeper’s stick and into the cage. From there, Byers added to her total of 17 assists on the season when she backhanded a shot from the top of the arc that was tipped in front of the goal by Lauren Foster, as the Mustangs were off and running with a 3-0 lead midway through the second quarter.

Before the half was out, Byers completed her hat trick when she blasted a shot into the goal and West Perry led 4-0 at the break.

The Mustangs (18-5-0) capped their scoring with a goal by Shay Dyer in the third quarter.

“They are a really talented team,” said Opolsky of the Mustangs. “There are obviously things that you are seeing when you are watching the game that are different in District 3 than in District 11. They are allowed to play a lot more out of the air and when you get to this point in the season, the stuff we’re not allowed to do during the regular season versus the things they are allowed to do really changes the game.”

PIAA rules stipulate that balls can be played out of the air in most circumstances, but District 11 severely restricts playing balls in the air. West Perry showed a lot of skill in using passes through the air throughout the game.

The Mustangs were aided by a defense that allowed Northwestern to move freely through the middle of the field, but shut down the Tigers offense as they approached the goal.

Meanwhile, the Northwestern defense was put to the test by strong stick play and passing from the Mustangs. Despite the five goals, senior goalkeeper Gabby Gober played well throughout the game, making a number of saves. Gober made many of the stops on kick saves, but also made some sliding stops.

“We didn’t do a great job of keeping them from taking shots and Byers is a really great player, so all the credit to them,” said Opolsky. “They have a road ahead for themselves in states because District 3 is a powerhouse for the field hockey in the small school division. Even though they were the three seed, they come from a competitive district where there are probably around 45 schools - and the district sends seven teams into states. They are going to be really competitive.”

SAYING GOODBYE … Northwestern (18-6-1) finishes the season as District 11 champions, improving on their 10-9-1 record from a season ago. The senior class of six players – Claire Costa, Dani Lister, Josie Wehr, Brinley Rex, Brooke Page and Gabby Gober – leave with three district and three league championships for their efforts. Lister (Adelphi), Rex (Kutztown) and Brooke Page (Central Michigan) will all go on to play field hockey in college. Opolsky says there are other seniors considering their college choices.