Julia Bressler joins elite field hockey century club

Sep. 22—Julia Bressler didn't have to travel any further than her family's backyard to hone her field hockey skills.

Just getting her stick on the ball was a chore when Julia was going up against her older sisters Emma and Belle. But those highly competitive and sometimes frustrating family games helped Julia Bressler grow into one of the top players in Berks County.

"We're all really competitive," said Bressler, a senior at Berks Catholic.

That fire and spirit helped Bressler join an elite group when she became just the seventh Berks County player to score 100 career goals. She notched No. 100 by scoring six goals in the Saints' win over Exeter last week.

But if not for teammate Aubreigh Uba, the milestone may have gone unnoticed.

"I didn't even realize it until I scored it and Aubreigh said 'You hit 100,' " Bressler said. "I didn't even know."

The 100th goal put Bressler is some elite company that includes current Big Ten stars Sophia Gladieux of Penn State and Peyton Halsey of Northwestern along with Women's National Team members Ashley Hoffman and Kelee Lepage, both Twin Valley graduates.

Two other Berks County seniors, Twin Valley's Natali Foster and Fleetwood's Casey Lynn Dewald, also are approaching 100 career goals. Entering play Wednesday, Foster had 94 goals and Dewald had 90.

"It's really cool," Bressler said. "They're really talented people. It's a big accomplishment."

Since birth, Bressler has been surrounded by talented field hockey players. She and her sisters are the nieces of former Wilson standouts Katie (Kauffman) Beach and Molly (Kauffman) Periandi. Beach played at the University of Maryland and was a longtime member of the U.S. National Team, playing in the Olympics in Atlanta in 1996. Periandi also played at Maryland, helping the Terps win the 1999 NCAA championship.

Julia will be heading in the opposite direction next fall when she continues her academic and field hockey careers at the University of Connecticut.

While the Kauffman sisters' glory years were before Julia Bressler's time, that legacy was instilled in her and her sisters at an early age.

"We all started at a young age," said Emma Bressler. "She was kind of born with it."

Emma has returned to Berks County after graduating from Kent State in the spring. She is an assistant coach to Vicki Schutt at Berks Catholic, watching her younger sister make history and trying to help the Saints rebuild after losing eight starters from last year's Berks runner-up team.

It marks the second time Julia Bressler has been united with an older sister at Berks Catholic. In 2018 when she was a freshman, Bressler played with Belle, who now is a junior at Maryland.

"That was fun having them both be together and I think they both really enjoyed it," Schutt said.

But Schutt admits it wasn't all fun and games during Julia's freshman season. Because Belle was such a potent scorer, Schutt said she decided to use the skills Julia Bressler developed playing club field hockey at X-Calibur to strengthen the Saints' defense.

"As a freshman she didn't understand," Schutt said. "I think it was good that Belle was there to help her through that."

Still, Julia Bressler scored 22 goals to go with 18 assists as a freshman. She also had 21 goals and 17 assists during a COVID-shortened season last fall.

But none of that derailed Bressler from joining the elite 100-goal club and adding to the legacy of the Kauffman and Bressler families.

"I think that's something that's kept her motivated," Schutt said. "It's good company to be in so she sets high expectations for herself. She sets these goals and works really hard to achieve them."

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100-goal club

Sophia Gladieux, Oley Valley 206

Alivia Klopp, Tulpehocken 130

Lisa Rowe, Daniel Boone 124

Peyton Halsey, Exeter 106

Kelee Lepage, Twin Valley 106

x-Julia Bressler, Berks Catholic 105

Ashley Hoffman, Twin Valley 104

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