It's been a few years since Northwestern's boys soccer team headed into the district tournament with the confidence and desire it has this year.

The Tigers (15-3-1) won the Colonial League's North Division, but fell in double overtime in a heartbreaking league semifinal against Southern Lehigh.

A week later the team was back on the pitch as the No. 2 seed in the quarterfinal round of the District 11 Class AA playoffs, where Kyle Willis and Boston Furjanic led the Tigers to a 4-2 win over No. 7 seed Blue Mountain last Thursday at Northwestern.

"They were amped for [the district playoff game]," said Northwestern head coach Nate Hunsicker. "Other than our Southern Lehigh night game, this is definitely the most focused they were all year"

With the win, the Tigers advance to Thursday's semifinal where they will meet No. 6 seed Allentown Central Catholic, which beat Salisbury, 2-1 in the quarterfinals. Blue Mountain (11-8) ends its season with the loss.

Twice the Tigers built a two-goal lead last Thursday. Both times Blue Mountain responded with goals to keep the game close.

Finally, with just 3:15 left Willis, who had two goals earlier in the game, played a cross to teammate Boston Furjanic. The senior hammered it home for a 4-2 lead that would stand as the final score.

"Every time they answered us we answered them right back," said Hunsicker. "It was one of those games that we had to get the lead, we had to stay ahead and maintain that. We did a good job of that."

Both teams went scoreless for the first 37 minutes of the game. But Willis got the Tigers on the board with 2:36 left in the first half when Furjanic played a through ball from midfield. Willis, who had beaten his man, took the pass and rifled a shot from about 20 yards out.

Eagles goal keeper Jake Gillespie got a hand on the ball, but couldn't stop it from slipping into the net.

"That was a great through ball," said Willis. "It was huge [to take the lead first]. I was lucky it was me. It could have been anybody with how many chances we had.

"We wanted to do it earlier in the game, but that was important that we went into the half up one goal. We were a little bit calmer going into the second half. Maybe too relaxed."

The Tigers outshot Blue Mountain 9-0 in the first half and had a 7-2 advantage in corners.

Northwestern earned three corners in the first 15 minutes of the second half and made the third one pay off. Brandon Ettl sent the ball from the corner into the pack in front of the goal. It deflected off a Blue Mountain player for an own goal, giving the Tigers a 2-0 lead with 23:59 left in the game.

Blue Mountain's Tristan Coello scored less than two minutes later to close the margin back to one goal.

The Tigers made it 3-1 when Willis was fouled in the box and converted the penalty kick with 19:27 left in the game.

"Kyle played exceptional," said Hunsicker. "He's a junior, but he's one of our go-to guys, a vocal leader."

Blue Mountain still wouldn't go away. Brayant Peuberth nailed a shot from 30 yards out that got past Tiger keeper Kyle Snyder to make it 3-2 with 17:11 remaining in the game.

The Tigers, which finished with 16 shots on goal, kept the pressure on. They came up empty on four corner kicks with under nine minutes left, but in the 76th minute, Willis found Furjanic for the goal that sealed the win.

"I made the run to the corner," said Willis. "Brandon Ettl played a great ball to the corner. Before I got the ball I saw Boston coming in and I just played it right in front of him."

"He played a great ball across the middle," said Furjanic. "I saw the ball skip in my direction. I took a shot and I scored.

"I'm glad that every time they scored we came back with another goal, kept them on their heels the entire game."

Furjanic, a senior, has been a key player on the team the past four years.

"He's got a nose for the goal," said Hunusicker. "His positioning is superb. He puts himself in position to get those dirty goals. He put the finishing touches on this thing."

If the Tigers can get past Central Catholic Thursday, they will clinch a spot in the state playoffs and earn a date with either No. 1 Saucon Valley or No. 4 Moravian Academy in Saturday's title game.

"I'm really confident," said Willis, "especially seeing how we played [Thursday]. One big thing is we have to finish our chances and we can't let teams get back in the game like that."