Teams cannot assume that they will get many goals against the Northwestern Lehigh field hockey team.

The Tigers have allowed just one goal through six games and have strung together four shutouts in a row.

The defense has been so daunting that most teams even have very few shot opportunities and when they do get a shot, Northwestern goalies are able to keep the ball out of the cage.

On Saturday, Northwestern hosted Northern Lehigh (0-5-0 Colonial, 0-7-0 overall) and outshot the Bulldogs 22-0 to walk away with a 12-0 win. Coach Lissa Opolsky gave starting goalie Olivia Reinhart time off to allow Ryan Smolinsky some time in goal.

Carsyn Van Norman and Olivia Costa both finished with three goals in the game and assisted each other on goals.

Costa had the hot start for the Tigers when she scored both of her goals in the first five minutes of the game, the first coming off of a corner and the second off of a feed from Van Norman.

Between Costa’s two goals, Hannah Gober put a shot into the upper part of the cage and with 10:05 left in the first quarter, Northwestern had a 3-0 lead.

A little under five minutes later, Northwestern was awarded another corner and Cara Thomas fed Ella Dangello, who was able to put a shot on goal that banged off the bottom of the cage for a 4-0 advantage.

The first quarter ended with a goal from Karaline Schmoyer in the final minute of play to stretch Northwestern’s lead to 5-0.

“We have played well so far, and the girls are coming together,” said Opolsky, whose team is now 5-0 both in the Colonial League and overall, this season. “There are always things you can do better, but we keep working hard and the girls are taking what we do in practice onto the field with them.”

Northern Lehigh’s offense wasn’t even able to work deep into Northwestern territory until later in the second quarter but even then, Smolinsky was not put under any pressure.

The same could not be said for the Bulldogs goalie Madilynn Husack as Northwestern’s offensive continued to pound away at the cage in the second quarter.

Thomas picked up her second assist of the game by feeding Taylor Langley for a 6-0 lead and Van Norman notched her first goal of the game less than two minutes after Langley’s goal.

Perhaps the best goal of the game came with time running down going into halftime when Olivia Snyder put a shot on goal toward the left corner of the net.

The shot appeared to be headed for the post until Makayla Bressi poked her stick into the path of the ball to guide it into the corner of the cage for the eighth goal of the game for Northwestern.

Van Norman added goals in the third and fourth quarters and Costa gave herself a hat trick in the third when she scored just 90 seconds into the quarter.

Costa fed Van Norman for her third goal of the game early in the final quarter and less than a minute later, Costa went from an assist maker to goal scorer to cap the scoring at 12-0.

Over the course of the last week, Northwestern added shutout wins over Pen Argyl (1-4-0, 2-4-1) and Palisades (0-3-1, 1-4-1) with the Green Knights falling 2-0 and the Lady Pirates falling 6-0.

Northwestern has not had the toughest competition through its first five games, having played teams with a combined mark of 11-27-2. The Tigers have Friday’s game circled on their calendar as they face rival Southern Lehigh (4-0-0, 4-1-0) for the first time this season. The only loss for the Lady Spartans came in their season opener against Parkland and lost 1-0. Friday’s game is at Northwestern Lehigh.

“Friday is going to challenge us,” said Opolsky. “Southern Lehigh is always a good team, and we have had some really good games in the past and it should be the same this time around.”