Northwestern's quest for a state title in girls soccer came to an end Saturday when they dropped a 2-0 decision to Villa Joseph Marie at Exeter Township High School. The Jems played a tough defense and gave the Tigers very little room to operate on offense. Northwestern was able to manage just five shots on goal in the game.

"Their defense was unbelievable today and we had a tough time getting any open looks," said Northwestern head coach Kelly Bleam. "That early goal kind of had us scrambling a little and we didn't play the type of defense that we needed to play against them to win today."

Villa Joseph Marie came out firing and got their first goal just 1:16 into the game when Taylor Stevens headed a corner kick into the goal past a leaping Laura Hill. The play was a result of a defensive lapse on the part of Northwestern that left Stevens unmarked in front of the net to head the kick by Allie Trzaska.

Northwestern was able to shake off the early goal and played strong defense of its own. The Tigers kept Villa off the scoreboard until there was just 8:17 remaining in the game. Northwestern's Sabrina Mertz was given a yellow card and sent to the bench and the Jems took advantage on the restart and Casey Kilchrist was able to blast a shot past Hill to give Villa some breathing room with a 2-0 lead.

Villa Joseph Marie advances to the Class AA semifinals against Trinity, which downed Scranton Prep 2-0 on Saturday.

Finishing the year 21-2-1, Northwestern obviously had a strong season and was hoping to extend the season longer with a deeper run into the state playoffs.

"It's always tough to lose when you get this far, but when you look at the season as a whole, it was definitely a success," said Bleam. "We played hard right to the end, so we have nothing to be ashamed of in that respect."

Northwestern graduates six seniors, including Grace Baker, Trista Cunningham, Jennifer Hallingstad, Caitlin Harris, Abigail Schneck and Melissa Smith. Five of those players are starters for the Tigers, but Bleam believes that her younger players can step up and help to fill some of the roles that her seniors played this season.

"We can still celebrate the fact that we picked up both the Colonial League title and the district championship and feel good about those accomplishments," said Bleam. "Obviously, we would have liked one more title and it's unfortunate for the seniors, but we should be able to come back strong again next season."