School: North Penn
Lacrosse
Favorite athlete: Chase Utley
Favorite team: Phillies
Favorite memory competing in sports: “Being part of the team that went undefeated during my senior year.”
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: “When I took a shot in soccer and it bounced off the goal post and hit me in the face!”
Music on iPod: “Mostly rock but a little bit of everything”
Future plans: Attend Lock Haven University and study to become a teacher
Words to live by: “Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”
One goal before turning 30: “Travel to Italy”
One thing people don’t know about me: “I love vacations to anywhere that is tropical.”
Jami Wilus calls Lyndsay Hepler ‘a piece of the puzzle we’ve been lacking.’
That ‘piece,’ in this case, is a goalkeeper who is fearless, strong and reliable.
Although she has been the goalie of a North Penn squad that rolled through the regular season without a loss and is seeded second in the district, Hepler is hardly a household word, but don’t be fooled. Her coaches and teammates understand her value.
“She’s our defensive most valuable player,” Wilus said. “This is a piece of the puzzle that we’ve been lacking, and she’s taken us to that next level by being a solid goalkeeper back there.
“She doesn’t have to be great every game. She needs to be solid and consistent, and she’s been that.”
In truth, Hepler has been great in many games, including a 16-save effort in the Maidens’ non-league win over Conestoga. It’s the kind of play Wilus admits she might not have expected when her senior net minder came into the program.
“I can honestly say I never thought she would develop into a goalie like this – I hoped she would and I knew she had it in her,” the Maidens’ coach said. “From where she came to where she is now is a tremendous improvement, but she worked hard to get there.
“She put in her time to become a goalie, and I think that’s a lost art sometimes. People see a goalie, and they don’t see how athletic you need to be. She’s really kind of taken that position and made it her own.”
Hepler has assumed a leadership role on the defensive end of the field.
“She sees everything that’s going on,” Wilus said. “Not only is she a great leader on the defensive end, but she’s able to help our attack. She’s really developed into a really good team leader and a great high school goalie.”
Wilus – herself a tough competitor - lists Hepler among the toughest she has coached.
“To be a goalie, not only do you need to be mentally tough but physically tough,” the Maidens’ coach said. “The kind of shots our attack takes, she’s got to be mentally tough because they’re good shooters.
“Lyndsay will step out to the shooter in one v. one situations. She is not afraid to get hit with the ball, so she will put her body in front of it if she doesn’t save it with her stick, and that is rare. A lot of times you see goalies save it with their stick, but they don’t want to get hit. Lyndsay’s going to save it whatever way possible.”
In conversations about Hepler, the word determination comes up regularly. And not only when the subject is lacrosse.
“I talk to teachers, and they comment about how great a student she is in the classroom, always participating, always has her work done,” Wilus said. “She’s really involved in school, and she just seems determined.
“Whatever she sets her mind to do – she’s going to finish it. She’s finishing up her high school career on a tremendous note.”
Manning the net for a Maiden squad that is seeded second in the district was undoubtedly the last thing on Hepler’s mind when she went out for the sport in eighth grade.
“I got into lacrosse because they needed a goalie,” she said. “I decided that would be a good thing for me to do.”
A soccer player since she was in third grade, Hepler initially played in goal for half the game and on the field for the other half. By the time she was in ninth grade, she was a fulltime goalie.
“When they put me in the cage and they were throwing balls at me, I was like, ‘This probably isn’t the best thing in the world,’” she said. “Then I got used to it.
“Lacrosse kind of felt like my niche. I just felt like I was proving myself when I was blocking all those balls. It was something I was good at rather than soccer where I was just one of the faces in the crowd. If I would have gotten involved with it when I was younger, I probably wouldn’t have even picked up soccer.”
When Hepler joined the high school program as a sophomore, she immediately noticed a decidedly different atmosphere from the relaxed environment of ninth grade lacrosse.
“Wilus is definitely more intense and just loves the sport,” Hepler said. “Honestly, I think Wilus has made me love the sport so much more.”
Hepler threw herself into lacrosse, and midway through her junior year, she was seeing considerable time in goal for the varsity. She continued to work hard in the offseason, receiving one-on-one coaching from Wilus’ father Joe, who came on board as a goalie coach.
“Pops is great,” Hepler said. “It’s awesome having a coach who just focuses on the goalie, and it’s great having that coach who can tell you, ‘Hey, do this next time.’
“He tells me before every game, ‘It’s your time to shine. You have to put on a show for us.’ Things like that, and they get me so pumped up to do my best.”
It was Joe Wilus who convinced Hepler that 90 percent of playing goalie is mental.
“The biggest difference between the beginning of the season and now is she doesn’t get down on herself, and she always knows the next save is the biggest save,” he said. “She used to really focus on the goal she just missed rather than ‘It’s over. I have to make the next one.’”
“I think her confidence as a whole and the team trusting her is really what has made her who she is right now,” Jami Wilus said.
Hepler agreed.
“Once I stop beating myself, that’s when I can start doing my best,” she said. “There are obviously some physical aspects of playing goalie, but if you beat yourself (mentally), you’re just going to get beat all day long.
“There’s a scoreboard for a reason – people are going to score, so you have to get over that and not let it bother you if a goal goes in.”
If the Maidens are looking for someone to deliver in the clutch, they need look no further than Hepler.
“Overall, she always comes up with the save that you need at the end of the game,” Wilus said. “At the end of the game, she seems to be at her best.”
Hepler points to North Penn’s dramatic 14-13 overtime win over perennial power Boyertown earlier this season as a personal highlight.
“We lost to them both times we played them last year,” she said. “That showed how strong our team is when we play together and that we can face any challenge we have thrown at us.”
Hepler credits Wilus for helping her develop a passion for the game.
“She makes you love the sport so much because you see yourself getting better on your own,” she said. “She’s guiding you rather than pushing you. She wants you to guide yourself.
“She helps you go on a path that will help you succeed. She wants to see us be the best. She’s not a coach who is going to give up on us. She’s going to do everything she can do to get us to play our best and ultimately come out like champions.”
This fall, Hepler will be attending Lock Haven University where she will major in secondary education/social studies. During her high school years, she has been a sophomore mentor and has been involved in student government, and she would like to keep her options open for next year although she has not ruled out the possibility of playing club lacrosse.
“I just want to see what Lock Have has to offer me,” she said. “If I can fit lacrosse into my schedule, that would be wonderful.”
For now, there’s the little matter of the Maidens’ second season to attend to for Hepler and her teammates, and no matter what happens, it’s been quite a year.
“It’s actually awesome,” Hepler said. “There’s no feeling like it in the world. It just feels so good because we’ve put so much time into it.
“I would never have imagined we’d go undefeated (in the regular season) – not because we’re not good but to go undefeated not lose one game is incredible, and we’re not finished yet.”
