The Northwestern Lehigh boys lacrosse team continued its progression from being a startup program to becoming one of the more competitive teams in the area in 2023.

The Tigers faced Allentown Central Catholic in the 2022 district finals but were not able to get past the Vikings. This spring, the team again found themselves matched up with Central Catholic in the district finals, but they flipped the script and downed Central 8-6 for their first district championship in just their fourth season of play.

“Did I expect us to do this in four short seasons? I don’t know if I can say that I did,” said Northwestern head coach Marcus Janda. “I can say that I knew we were doing things the right way and I knew we had built a foundation toward this.”

Several alumni who had been on the inaugural team were also on hand at Lehigh University to celebrate the win.

“I told those guys that they would be gone when we won our first district title, but I would be sure to remind the team of the contributions that they made to the program,” said Janda after the milestone win.

The win not only put Northwestern into states but gave the Tigers a first-round home game. The opponent was Devon Prep from District 12, and the Tigers were ready for a battle. Senior Cade Christopher had three goals and an assist to boost the Northwestern offense for a 12-10 win, eliminating the Tide. Not only did Christopher have three goals, but all three came with the game tied, and the assist went to his football teammate Blaine Snyder to break another tie.

While the Tigers were riding their own tide of confidence and advanced to the quarterfinals of states, WC Rustin had some confidence of its own after downing Scranton Prep 17-2 in the opening round. The magic ran out for Northwestern Lehigh, and they fell to Rustin 19-7, ending their postseason run.

Northwestern finished the season with an overall record of 15-7.

Janda still has a strong group of returning starters for next season, leaving high hopes that they can continue their onward and upward march. Starting goalie Bailen Smargiassi returns, as do starters Devon Hildebrand, Jared Meck, Kaden Rausch, Snyder, Stone Sosnovik and Josh Wambold.

Sosnovik and his brother Austin Sosnovik were a difficult tandem for defenses to control in the 2023 season. Midfielders Christopher and Cody Hallock will also be gone. The defense will take a hit with Jalen Lowthert, Ty Meck, and Cam Shields also gone because of graduation.