After watching Northwestern Lehigh and Lehighton battle through a scoreless first half, it looked like the first team to score a goal would probably hang on to be the winner.

It was the Tigers who finally broke the ice a little shy of eight minutes after intermission with a Jonathan Haaf goal and it opened the flood gates for the fifth-seeded Tigers. They pounded home four more to shut out the top-seeded Indians 5-0 in the District 11 Class AA semifinal on Tuesday at Northern Lehigh's Bulldog Stadium.

Northwestern earned a berth into the championship against Saucon Valley on Thursday.

In the first half, Lehighton had far more chances than Northwestern Lehigh despite being outshot 4-2 in the first 40 minutes.

"First half, both ways, I think it was a little bit of a feeling out period," Northwestern Lehigh coach Nate Hunsicker said. "I told my boys at halftime just continue to be patient. It's going to come. The first one came. I said once we get the first one in, the gates are going to open up a little bit, they're going to have to come out of their form a little bit and we exposed them then.

"I didn't anticipate the flood gates opening up that much, getting five. I might have thought two or three, but I have to tip my hat to my kids. They worked their butts off."

The best chance the Indians had in the first 40 minutes was with around eight minutes left until intermission that Zach Christoff headed just over the crossbar off a corner from Dan Baka.

Lehighton almost got that first goal at the start of the second half when Cole Christman to the left of the 6-yard box. Christman kicked a shot over Northwestern goalie Tyler Bellhorn, but it never made it into the goal.

"They have some very skilled kids," Hunsicker added. "We scouted them twice, but we had them play right into our hands. Our game plan worked and we were able to limit their opportunities and that's what we planned to do.

"The Herb goal was definitely a swing in momentum. That was a swing in our favor and actually killed their moxie a little bit. That was a Sportscenter Top 10 moment. That was a goal of a lifetime. He'll never forget that strike."

That's when Haaf read a pass back to Tyler Dietz, the Lehighton goalkeeper beat him to the ball and booted it in for the 1-0 lead.

Northwestern never looked back after that and just took control the rest of the way.

With 27:22 remaining, the Tigers' Brandon Herb used a perfect bicycle kick on a Haaf assist to make it 2-0.

Haaf set up the third goal with a free kick that Keegan Coffield booted into the net three minutes later, pushing the Northwestern lead to 3-0.

Daniel Hallingstad scored off a Bryce Hurdle crossing pass with 13 minutes left and then a minute later, Hurdle scored a goal of his own a minute later on a turnover and breakaway to set the final score.

Lehighton head coach Dave Yob thought if the Indians could convert first, it might have been them that went on the run like the Tigers did.

"I think if we would've scored on any of those opportunities we had on the weak side," Yob said. "Even in the first half on the one or two good chances we had, if we'd have scored on any one of those, it would've changed the entire momentum of the game.

"It is what it is. Not to take anything away from Blue Mountain, but they're probably the best team we face all year. I knew coming in that we're mirror images. We pretty much like to do the same thing.

"Playing on the turf hurt us a little bit. Friday we practiced here and Monday we were on the turf at Iron Lakes. Those were the only two times we were on it all year."

The Tigers ended up with a 13-4 edge in shots on goal and 4-2 in corner kicks. Bullhorn had three saves for Northwestern, while Dietz had eight for the Tribe.

The loss ended Lehighton's 11-game winning streak, which included the Schuylkill League title in the team's first year in the league.