Revenge belongs to the Northwestern boys soccer team.

The Tigers beat Southern Lehigh 3-0 last week at Bulldog Stadium in Slatington to secure their spot in the Colonial League finals.

Last season, it was the Spartans who beat Northwestern in the league finals to not only take the championship, but also hand the Tigers what would be their only loss of the season on their way to a state championship.

Northwestern Lehigh outshot Southern Lehigh 17-4 last week with many of the shots coming early in the game as they peppered goalie Sam Magallanes, who put on an athletic show, stopping most of the shots.

The first shot that got past Magallanes came on a direct kick from close range when Jacob van Lierop got the ball past a wall of defenders and Isaac Frey just got a foot on the ball to direct it into the net for the first goal of the game with 28:07 left in the first half.

The Tigers used a hurry-up offense late in the first half as van Lierop and Tim Zellner connected on a play to catch Southern Lehigh off guard.

“We had a restart and Timmy [Zellner] put the ball down quick and I knew we could get a quick restart,” said van Lierop. “So I made my run behind center back and when the ball came in, he couldn’t reach it and I just had to give it a little doink to get it over the goalie.”

The Spartans (11-8-0) were undaunted by Northwestern’s 2-0 edge and in the second half the two teams played a more intense and physical style of soccer than they did in the first half.

The two teams battled back and forth, and Southern Lehigh put more pressure on the Tigers defense than they were able to generate earlier, opening the door for Northwestern Lehigh goalie Brandon Krapf to show what he could do as he made key saves. The Northwestern defense allowed just 12 goals in 18 games this season, including opening the year with six straight shutouts.

“I didn’t have a lot to do back there this year,” said Krapf. “The guys on defense in front of me are so strong technically and are just really good defenders. I’m glad to have them in front of me.”

For Krapf, the win brought a little revenge for his older brother, Damian Krapf, who was in goal last season against Southern Lehigh. The elder Krapf is now at Thomas Jefferson University and called his brother to wish him and the team good luck prior to the game.

“I think he [Krapf] actually broke a sweat tonight, which was okay,” said Tiger head coach Nate Hunsicker. “We’re going to need him going forward because there are not going to be a whole lot of easy games out there from this point on. When the moment called tonight, he was ready.”

The Spartans were still pressing for goals late in the game when Matt Johnson put them out of their misery with a breakaway that got past Magallanes to make it a 3-0 game. The goal was Johnson’s 32nd of the season and the 93rd of his high school career.