The Northwestern Lehigh boys soccer team wasn’t always as successful as it has been for the past few seasons.

Head coach Nate Hunsicker was a player on the team in the early 2000s when the program was still up and coming.

In 2011, Hunsicker took over the program and in his 14 seasons has helped to develop the Tigers into one of the most successful teams in the area. Hunsicker and the Tigers won their second state championship in three seasons and did it in style with a perfect 28-0 record. Following the season Hunsicker was named Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association Coach of the Year for the second time in six years after taking the honor in 2018.

“It’s an individual award, but it’s actually for a team accomplishment,” said Hunsicker. “You don’t win a whole lot of games if you don’t have good kids. For me, it’s seeing all of the hard work come to fruition and getting recognized for it. I would be lying if I said that it didn’t mean anything to me.”

In 14 seasons, Hunsicker has put together a 275-44-10 record as the team’s coach, an astounding .851 winning percentage for the former player.

When the Tigers won the state championship in 2022 there was just the smallest of stains on the title which came from losing to Southern Lehigh 2-1 in the Colonial League championship.

Coming into the 2024 season, the goal was not just to win the state title but to capture gold in the league and district ahead of the PIAA championship. This year’s team was more devastating than the team that won in ’22, which had to work its way through penalty kicks in the semifinals to advance to the championship.

“It was really exciting to watch these guys during the season,” said Hunsicker. “Throughout the entire season this team never trailed for a second in any of their games. And then to have the girls team on the same path, and I think they only trailed in one game, made it really special for the school and the community. I think football only trailed twice during the season and they wound up with a state championship, too. It really was just a very special season.”

Next season that goal will become even bigger as teams look to be the first team to defeat the Tigers in over a year. Not only have the Tigers won two of the past three state championships, but they have won six straight and nine of the last 10 District 11 championships in their classification. In league play, Northwestern has now taken the last two championships in the Colonial League and three of the last four.

“Our kids work really hard and when we won (states) a couple of years ago, we knew it wouldn’t be easy to repeat,” said Hunsicker. “I think our kids have learned just how difficult it is to repeat and they have learned what it takes to win and just how much tougher it gets when the playoffs start.

“I don’t think that our players will come in satisfied with what we did this season. That’s what I love about our players. They always want to do better.”

It won’t be too long before the whole process starts over. A lot of good soccer players will graduate in the spring and the Tigers will have a whole new class of young players looking to add to the success of the program.

The senior class will have the opportunity to make it three state titles in four seasons and Hunsicker is ready to get right back onto the path to making that dream come true.

“You get used to the coming and going of players,” noted Hunsicker. “This isn’t like the pros where we give out 12-year contracts. We know we have them for four years and that’s it.”