It was a battle of defenses Saturday in the Colonial League Championship for girls soccer at Alumni Field in Catasauqua.

Palmerton (18-2-0) allowed just 16 goals all season and Northwestern Lehigh (14-5-1) gave up just 10 goals during the regular season, so both teams came out thinking that goals could be hard to come by.

Ironically, the Lady Bombers got an early goal and were able to build on that for a 3-1 win and their first Colonial League Championship.

Palmerton came in as the top seed and breezed past Saucon Valley in the semis, while Northwestern Lehigh – the three-seed – knocked out Northern Lehigh and Southern Lehigh by combined scores of 8-0 in the first two rounds.

Looking to come out making a statement, Palmerton put immediate pressure on goalkeeper Naomi Glassberg and just under three minutes into the game, Ella Baumgardt put a shot on goal off a free kick from Sam Perloni, leaving Glassberg with little time to react. The ball short hopped Glassberg and sneaked past her for the game’s first goal.

“Early goals are always a little tough to overcome, especially against teams with a strong defense like we were up against today,” said coach Jordan Smith. “Whoever got that first goal was going to have an advantage in this one.”

Much of the remaining first half was dominated by the Lady Tigers who saw one shot go just wide of the post and another bounce off the crossbar on a corner kick before Katie Brensinger beat goalie Emma Snyder for a goal that was taken off the board by an onside call.

Palmerton battled to regain control and with 13:24 left in the first half, Nataly Walters broke free and headed toward the goal, firing a shot from 30 yards out that sailed to Glassberg’s left and into the goal for a 2-0 lead.

With a minute left to play in the half, Glassberg was involved in a collision in front of the net and went down hard. The referees stopped play and Smith along with trainer Kennedy Roberts started on to the field, but Glassberg waved them off. Because time had been called and the trainer had come onto the field, Glassberg had to exit. While Glassberg ran directly to midfield to substitute back in at the next stoppage of play, freshman goalkeeper Olivia Reinhart ran onto the field without any time to warm up and with the Blue Bombers having a free kick inside the penalty area.

Sam Perloni took the freebie and lofted it toward Reinhard, who got her hands on the ball but was unable to control it as it went in for a commanding 3-0 lead going into halftime.

“Liv was trying to blame herself for that goal, but that was not her fault,” Smith said. “She was in a tough situation and didn’t have any time to warm up and they were in a good spot to put a shot on goal. You can’t blame her for that one, it was just a bad break for us.”

Northwestern Lehigh again dominated play to start the second half, but Palmerton focused on defense and was able to stave off an early shot by Brensinger that Snyder blocked. The Lady Tigers were awarded a free kick, which Syenna Flores sailed toward the goal where Paige Bissell headed the ball past Snyder to make it a 3-1 game with 28:51 to play. From there, the Bombers were especially tough on defense and limited the scoring opportunities for Northwestern Lehigh.

“We just have to turn our attention to districts now and regroup and move on,” said Smith. “We have more soccer to play.”

Both teams go into districts with Northwestern Lehigh hosting Blue Mountain and Palmerton hosting Bethlehem Catholic the quarterfinal round of the District 11 tournament. If the two teams continue to advance, they would meet for the district championship.

SEMIFINALS

Northwestern-

Southern Lehigh

Northwestern punched its ticket to the championship with a 3-0 win over Southern Lehigh.

Paige Bissell has been setting the tone for Northwestern during the Colonial League playoffs.

The sophomore didn’t wait long to give the Tigers a boost on Thursday.

After opening the scoring in a rout against Northern Lehigh during Monday’s quarterfinal win, Bissell scored twice against the second-seeded Spartans (12-4-2, 10-1-1).

Bissell found the back of the net a little over 10 minutes into Thursday’s game, taking a pass from fellow sophomore Brook Balliet to make it 1-0 with 29:49 to play in the first half.

“The first one, we had a counter attack, and Brook (Balliet) took it down the right side and cut across the middle,” said Bissell. “I came up, and she passed it to me and I was open, so I just struck it and it went in.

“It kind of got the pressure off of us, and gave us some confidence to keep attacking.”

Northwestern made it 2-0 with 4:49 to play before halftime when freshman Juliet Benvin helped to push a ball into the Southern Lehigh net.

“I told the girls at halftime of the Northern Lehigh game, that in the playoffs, you have to score goals in different ways,” said Smith. “Free kicks, corner kicks, a scrappy goal in front of the net, and that’s exactly what Juliet did. She went down, she got a toe on it, and it ended up being an own goal, but it goes to her because of that scrappiness she had right in the box, and that’s what you need.”

The two-goal lead seemed insurmountable as Northwestern’s defense dominated the second half, allowing just three shots from distance, all of which were off target, while the offense continued to generate pressure.

Bissell scored her second goal of the game on a pass from senior Samantha Bardonner to make it 3-0 with 11:00 to play.