Sammy Bardonner and Brooke Balliet have a strong connection on the soccer field. For the second game in a row, the tandem of Bardonner to Balliet struck for the first goal of the game and it led to wins in both the district semifinals and finals for Northwestern Lehigh.

The opening goal would not be the final salvo for Balliet, who took a pass from Paige Bissell and converted it into a goal as the Lady Tigers dumped defending state champion Allentown Central Catholic 3-2 in last Thursday’s district title game.

“Sammy and I work really well together,” said Balliet. “She knows the runs I am going to make, and we work on those in practice. She does a really good job of getting me those balls in perfect position.”

Before the Vikettes could shake off the disappointment of the early goal, Sarah Renner delivered a free kick to the far side of the net where Katie Brensinger was looking to make something happen. Fortunately for the Lady Tigers, something good did happen even though Brensinger was unable to see exactly what happened.

“I think one of my teammates headed the ball or kicked it and I headed it, hoping one of my teammates could head it, but it ended up going upper 90 (where the post and crossbar meet) and the goalie wasn’t expecting it,” said Bardonner. “I turned and all my teammates jumped on me, so it was kind of a moment of shock.”

Before the first half was even halfway complete, Central Catholic was reeling while Northwestern Lehigh was hitting on all cylinders. As Central attempted to get back into the game, goalie Naomi Glassberg further frustrated them with save after save. On a play where Glassberg had to leave the net to attempt a play, the Vikettes thought they had an opportunity, but Cammy Fitch cleared the ball out of the box to keep Central Catholic scoreless.

Eventually, the Vikettes were able to get a first-half goal against Glassberg when Sammy Roth came down the right side and fed a perfect cross to the front of the net where Meredith Eisenman was able to head the ball past Glassberg for her 21st goal of the season.

Unshaken by the narrowed advantage, Northwestern picked up a third goal just four minutes later when Bissell fed Balliet to make it 3-1.

The second half began with more frustration for the defending state champions. Eisenman had her eyes set on number 22, but Glassberg came out of the goal and made a huge sliding stop to prevent the sophomore from delivering the shot.

“I love having Naomi back in the goal, and I have so much trust in her,” said Balliet. “She is just an amazing goalkeeper and always keeps us in the game.”

After the game, Northwestern head coach Jordan Smith gave credit to some of the unsung heroes, especially on defense, when he talked about the play of sophomore Syenna Flores.

“Last year she took the job from day one and she has held it ever since. Every game she gets better and better and you can see the confidence building in her,” said Smith.

Another sophomore, Dee McMullen found an opening with 34:21 left in regulation and made it a 3-2 game, but again, Northwestern Lehigh just calmly looked to respond. Fitch played a free kick in and put it just off the post and after clearing the ball, Central played it down field where McMullen put a shot on goal, but Glassman dove to her right to make a spectacular save. With just over a minute remaining, Central Catholic again looked to score off a corner kick, but Fitch made another big defensive play and cleared the ball back to near midfield.

The win ends the season for the Vikettes, but sends the Tigers to states, which begin next week.

“It definitely feels good to beat the defending state champion, especially since only one of us gets to go to states,” said Brensinger. “We scored right off the bat, and we do well when we are able to do that, so we just felt like we had this one.”

Northwestern seniors now have four district gold medals in their collection of bling. The Lady Tigers were 2A champions in 2019, won 3A titles in ‘20 and ‘21, and returned to 2A this season to add number-four. Northwestern hosts the winner of the game between Lake Lehman and Holy Redeemer, who will play for the District 2 championship on Saturday. The first round of states will be played on the higher seed’s home field, giving Northwestern a final home game on Tuesday.