The Northwestern Lehigh and Salisbury field hockey teams squared off in August to begin the Colonial League season.

And the two teams met for a second time in this year’s final Colonial League contest.

The two games were vastly different, but the outcomes were the same.

The Tigers came away with another 3-0 win over the Falcons in last Thursday’s league championship game to earn their first CL title since 2020 and just their second since 2002.

“We’re just two completely different teams even though the score is similar,” said Northwestern Lehigh head coach Lissa Opolsky. “They gained a lot of confidence. They gained a lot of speed. They played with more intensity and individual confidence.

“For us, we’ve put ourselves in a position throughout the season where we’ve played some really tough competition. We saw those moments in those games where we learned about ourselves in a lot of different ways that we were able to rely on in a game like this.”

Through the first half it was clear Salisbury, which lost 3-0 to Northwestern on Aug. 27, was playing with newfound confidence.

The No. 3 seed Falcons (17-4) earned seven corners in the first half to just three for the Tigers.

Salisbury got off a few shots on corner plays but wasn’t able to turn them into goals as the game went to halftime scoreless.

“We knocked,” said Salisbury head coach Jane Brennan. “We just didn’t find the back of the cage.”

The Tigers made some halftime adjustments and scored just 19 seconds into the third quarter when Taylor Langley took a pass from Cara Thomas and stuffed it past Falcon keeper Caroline Gedney for a 1-0 lead.

Thomas scored her first of two second-half goals with 1:49 left in the third quarter, assisted by Hannah Gober to make it 2-0 Tigers.

Thomas finished the scoring with 6:19 left in the game.

“We came out with a lot of intensity [in the second half],” said Thomas. “That was our main focus in the huddle at half. We knew we just had to get one in. Our team is slow to start, but once we get one in we can crank them in after that. I knew once we put one in we would go off.

“We were letting them dictate what we were doing, and we weren’t controlling the game [in the first half].”

It might have taken a while for the Northwestern offense to find the back of the net, but the Tigers’ corner defense was solid the entire game, helping goal keeper Ryan Smolinsky post the shutout despite 13 Salisbury corners.

Brennan was pleased with her team’s effort and impressed by her opponent’s play.

“When we first saw them it was the first game of the season and it was a 3-0 loss,” said Brennan. “But we had so many more shots this time and the opportunities were there. We’re just overall a better, stronger team.

“I’ll give credit where credit is due, their first goal was beautiful. Their second one we’re not really sure what happened. They’re such a strong program. They’re always strong and continue to put out good athletes. And they’re so well coached.”

This year the Falcons made their first Colonial League playoff appearance since 2003. They beat Bangor in the first round and No. 2 seed Southern Lehigh in the semifinals.

Northwestern’s roster has nine seniors, including six starters.

Salisbury’s roster has just two seniors, who are both starters, along with a large group of underclassmen that give the program a bright future.

The Tigers will go on to the District 11 Class A playoffs as the top seed, while Salisbury will compete in Class 2A as the No. 2 seed. The Falcons take on No. 3 Pocono Mountain East in Thursday’s semifinal at 5:30 at Catasauqua.

The winner moves on to the championship game on Wednesday Oct. 30 against either top seed Southern Lehigh or No. 4 Bangor.