The Lower Dauphin field hockey team is set to compete in the District 3 Class 3A 2027 tournament, which begins Wednesday, Oct. 28.
Mixing blue and white doesn’t make purple, but for Chase Strohm, it does.
The Lower Dauphin senior and her mom, Kiley Strohm, repped Northwestern purple at school last Thursday — Chase in class and Kiley while teaching — in hallways accustomed to seeing a sea of blue and white.
Chase was eager to watch her future collegiate team face Maryland. Ranked Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, Northwestern and the undefeated Terrapins were meeting in Evanston, Illinois.
Before the game, Chase made a prediction.
She told Female Athlete News, “I’m a little biased, but Northwestern is going to come out on top. It’s going to be a hard-fought game. Two great programs battling. Northwestern’s skills are crazy. It’s going to be a competitive game. I’m very excited to watch.”
In the Strohms’ living room, Chase, Kiley, and her dad, Brad, were dialed in. Maryland’s Ella Beach deflected on a penalty corner for the first score, and moments later, Olivia Bent-Cole found the equalizer.
The living room jolted from concentrated silence to celebration — the kind of energy Chase has sparked in four years as an LD Falcon.
“We are definitely very loud,” Kiley told Female Athlete News. “Liv Bent-Cole scored the first goal for Northwestern. We were screaming and high-fiving each other. My phone rings, and my son’s on the call. He says, ‘That was awesome.’ We were getting text messages from my mom and dad. We’re cheering, clapping, critiquing at times, saying they could have gone out wide instead of trying to split. The dog jumped out of a deep sleep. It was great.”
Hunter made it back to his dorm room at Mississippi State, where he plays baseball, to catch the game in time and join in the family’s celebration of Northwestern’s 4-2 upset win, Kiley said.
Soon, Chase will trade her seat in front of the television for a place with the Wildcats as an incoming freshman. The program felt like home the first time she stepped on campus, Chase said.
First, though, there’s unfinished business in the District 3 Class 3A postseason.
“There’s a little bit of pressure; we all want it so bad,” Chase said. “Every single girl we’ve talked to about it wants to win districts and states. There’s more pressure than usual. But we thrive under pressure. We stay calm and composed; we’re not crazy worried. We know everybody is going to step up.”
Out of the four years in Chase’s high school career, Lower Dauphin won District 3 Class AAA gold in 2024.
And, as far as states go, in the past two years, competitive tussles with Central Bucks West in the PIAA first round or quarterfinals, and Emmaus in a semifinal, kept the Falcons from the gold medal game at Cumberland Valley’s Chapman Field.
The last time Lower Dauphin won gold at states was in 2022. So, Northwestern vs. Maryland came at the perfect time to provide inspiration, Chase said.
“Our coaches talk to us, tell us to watch college games, watch your position and see what you can implement in your game,” Chase said. “It’s so important to watch those games, maybe just having an idea in your back pocket in case you need it. High school players should watch the college level and national level. Especially for the girls who want to play collegiate or on the national level. Watch what they focus on so that you can implement it in your game and potentially make it to that next level.”
Chase speaks from experience. She recently learned she was selected to the women’s USA Field Hockey Senior National Indoor Team and the U-21 training squad.
“It was a goal of hers to make the U-18 squad,” Kiley said. “When that list came out, and she made it to her goal of U-21, that smile on her face was priceless.”
Chase’s sacrifice is paying off, and her influence is infectious. Kiley said a youth player’s mom asked for an old pinnie because her daughter is dressing up as Chase for Halloween.
“It’s tough to always make the choice to maybe not have a sleepover, or to not go away on a vacation without taking your hockey stick or not hitting the beach to get in a workout,” Kiley said. “To see all the hard work and to see the reaction of, ‘I did it,’ all of the sacrifices she has made are paying off. She knows that she’s getting one step closer to her big dreams.”
That confidence did not arrive all at once. Strohm remembers being a timid freshman, looking up to accomplished seniors.
Her mother, her coach since she first picked up a stick, knew the ability was there. USA Field Hockey’s Nexus program helped Chase believe she could hold her own with top players.
One player whom Chase deeply admires: USA Field Hockey Olympian Maddie Zimmer, who recently graduated as a Northwestern Wildcat.
Now, Strohm sees a stronger, more confident player in herself. She holds Lower Dauphin’s school record for goals scored: 11 goals and five assists as a freshman, 27 goals and 19 assists as a sophomore, and 38 goals and 14 assists as a junior. Entering her senior season’s final stretch, she has 31 goals and nine assists.
Given the talent that has passed through the program, that record means something to her.
So does sharing the climb with Lily Rost, who also reached 200 career points. The two hit the 150-point milestone in the same game and have pushed each other through practices and seasons.
“We challenge each other on and off the field,” Chase said. “It’s pretty cool to be able to lean on a teammate. We know we have each other’s backs. We have accomplished so much together and at the same time as individuals.”
Kiley noticed their connection in junior high: the speed, the ball movement and the ability of either to finish or supply the assist. Their work rate at practice helps raise the level around them.
Strohm keeps raising her own level, too. She watches college and international hockey, especially play from the Netherlands, for stick skills, corner ideas and off-ball movement to bring into her game. Sometimes that means staying 10 minutes after practice to try something she has seen.
This postseason, that work carries a shared purpose. Her mother has a photograph of all 12 seniors holding posters at a state championship send-off for an older Lower Dauphin team.
Now they are the seniors, going after the district and state championships they have talked about since seventh grade.
Lower Dauphin enters districts at 12-2. Losses to Mechanicsburg and Palmyra gave the Falcons specific lessons to carry into their pursuit, Chase said.
Lower Dauphin had 11 corners against Palmyra without converting them, making execution a priority in practice. The Mechanicsburg game helped the team recognize what needed attention.
But whatever happens in the postseason, Chase said she will be present and excited for what lies ahead.
The indoor team is traveling to the Netherlands in December and Austria in January, where she will compete in the Rohrmax Cup.
While college isn’t next in line after the postseason, Kiley believes Chase will be coached, pushed and challenged at Northwestern, with opportunities to represent her country and compete for Big Ten and national championships.
About her high school career, Chase said, “It’s been amazing. I think I’ve just developed and changed as a player since my freshman year. I’m so much stronger, more confident, and it’s been amazing to play alongside the girls I’ve been next to since youth hockey.”
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