The challenge facing the Northwestern Lehigh field hockey team in Saturday’s Colonial League finals against Southern Lehigh was to get goals against a Spartans team that allowed just 10 goals all season.

The Southern Lehigh defense stood up to the challenge and downed Northwestern Lehigh 3-0 to make the Lady Spartans the first team to repeat as champions since Moravian Academy ruled the league and won titles in three consecutive seasons from 2014 to 2016. Northwestern Lehigh had its turn in 2020 when the Tigers downed Southern Lehigh 2-1.

The story early on was about the disparity in corners as the Spartans had six in the first quarter and seven more in the second. Meanwhile, Northwestern (15-5-1) managed just two corners in the entire first half.

The Lady Tigers fought off the challenges in the first quarter and most of the second, but with 2:33 left before the half, Cassidy Clausnitzer put a shot on goal that Piper Gluck tipped into the cage for a 1-0 lead. Southern Lehigh would find two more close calls in the half when Lana Hughes put a shot off the post and seconds later fired a penalty stroke wide of the cage.

“We had some plans on different ways to defend things so that we could keep them on their toes,” said coach Lissa Opolsky. “We didn’t defend the same way the entire time and that was super helpful. Once they broke through, we still felt like we had some opportunities, we just had to get a little hungrier.”

While Southern Lehigh (15-3-1) ruled the corners in the first two quarters, the Spartans were denied another corner over the final 30 minutes of play. Northwestern became the aggressor and drew 12 corners over the final two quarters of the game.

“We started to get more opportunities, but unfortunately, we were not able to capitalize on anything,” said Opolsky of her team’s play in the third and fourth quarters. “They had some good speed coming out on the fly and the trails coming out, so we were trying to use multiple passes to try to beat some of their top defense. We had some opportunities, but just couldn’t clean up in front, plus, they have a very good goalkeeper.”

Gluck picked up her second goal of the game in the third quarter off an assist from Reese MacIntosh and then with just 10.6 seconds left to play, netted her third.

The loss made the Lady Tigers the number-three seed in the 1A classification for districts, giving them a quarterfinal game against six-seed Palisades. The two teams met in the same game last year at Palisades and it was the end of the road for Northwestern Lehigh when they fell to the Lady Pirates 1-0.

Opolsky believes her team can bounce back from the loss and get back to their winning ways in districts.

“This was one loss against a very good team and the girls will get themselves ready to play and refocus on winning in districts,” said Opolsky. “Overall, we have played very well and I’m happy with the effort that the girls are giving.”

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Olivia Costa’s goal with just under two minutes remaining was enough to propel Northwestern to a 3-2 win over Wilson and a trip to the league championship game.

It was also a big win for the Tigers, who had dropped a contest to Wilson in the regular season back on Sept. 10.

Last Thursday night’s semifinal game was tied 1-1 at the half, despite the Tigers controlling play and holding an 8-1 advantage in penalty corner chances.

“We watched the film this week from our matchup with them earlier in the season, and we made some adjustments that worked out in our favor today,” said Opolsky. “Our girls on the fly were able to make some adjustments during the game as well, and I think it stifled their offense just enough to make the difference.”

After fighting off numerous Wilson offensive barrages in the third period, Northwestern went on top early in the fourth on a Cara Thomas strike to make it 2-1. The score was setup by a Tiger break out run down the right side. A shot deflected off the Wilson goalie, but Carsyn Van Norman gabbed the rebound and found Thomas, who fired a missile into the back of the goal.

Wilson answered on a Sophia Bandi goal at the 7:50 mark. It was one of multiple Wilson scoring opportunities in front of the goal in the second half - but their chances were thwarted time-and-time again by a stingy Northwestern defense.

“I’m so proud of our defensive effort tonight,” said Opolsky. “We were able to clear out a lot of their scoring opportunities, and that was huge. The girls hockey I.Q. has also grown so much, and there were some things we were able to do offensively that was setup from clearing the ball out.”

Both teams continued to apply offensive pressure in the fourth quarter, which resulted in back-to-back penalty corner opportunities with around two minutes to go in the game. On the Tigers’ second chance, the ball was knocked into the middle and was tipped by Hannah Gober to Costa, who sent it into the goal for the game-winner at the 1:48 mark.

“The play happened so fast and honestly, I think it was a little lucky, because of how fast everything happened, but it was a really good team effort to put the pressure on them in that situation,” said Costa. “We’re just a focused team right now. We watched a lot of film to prepare for this game, and we’re going to do the same for the next one. Just come in prepared and focused, and play hard.”