The Northwestern Lehigh girls lacrosse team is going through a stretch that will define just what kind of team the Tigers truly are. Coming into the week, the Lady Tigers suffered losses in five of their last seven games, dropping them to third in the 2A district rankings behind Southern Lehigh and Moravian Academy.

The losses have all come to teams with good records, including undefeated Pleasant Valley (13-0) and 2A leader Southern Lehigh (8-3).

“We have been excited to play all these teams,” said Northwestern head coach Bridget Cerciello. “We want to be playing these tough games because we know they will make us better. We came into this stretch of games being excited about facing these teams and looking to play some great opponents.”

In a 16-5 loss to Pleasant Valley, Northwestern Lehigh goals came from Olivia Costa, Lexi Vennera, Cara Thomas, and Claire Costa, who picked up two goals in the game. Next up on the schedule was Southern Lehigh. The Spartans are a good team and they play on a grass field, something that Northwestern is not used to.

“We practice on turf every day, so the speed of the ball is quicker, and it is a little easier to pick up on the turf and you feel like you are moving a little faster as well,” said Cerciello. “When we play on grass, it takes a while for us to get moving, but we need to be able to play on whatever.”

Northwestern Lehigh fell to the Spartans 19-6, getting goals from Claire Costa, Vennera, Cara Thomas, Allyson Long, and two goals from Olivia Spatz.

An issue that has plagued Northwestern has been coming out slowly in games and allowing opponents to get an early lead. Against Southern Lehigh, the Tigers were down 4-0 before they got their first goal of the game with 17:44 left in the first half. Pleasant Valley had a 7-0 lead before Thomas scored the first Northwestern goal with 14:39 left in the first half.

“That’s something we have tried to emphasize, that we need to start from the first whistle and not let up,” said Cerciello, who added that will continue to be a point of emphasis for the coaches in every game. “Sometimes we have taken a little time to get into the game and that seems to be an issue for us.”

The good news is that the Lady Tigers downed Allentown Central Catholic 14-10 to start this week on the right foot. The bad news is that the schedule is short on easy games throughout the rest of the season. In the coming week, Northwestern plays Emmaus (11-3) before matching up against Northampton (1-13).

With seven games remaining on the regular season schedule, Northwestern (6-5) is currently in position to qualify for districts for the first time in the program’s history.

The Tigers still have games against 2A foes Moravian Academy (5-4), Saucon Valley (4-6-1), and Southern Lehigh left on the schedule. In fact, they have two games remaining against Moravian Academy, which is currently just ahead of them in the 2A rankings. In addition to Emmaus and Northampton, the Lady Tigers also have East Penn Conference rival Parkland (6-6) left to play. That leaves the combined record of the remaining teams on the schedule at 32-36-1.