The Northwestern Lehigh girls soccer team has been getting better and better over the past few seasons, culminating with this year’s state championship.

The state title also brought some postseason recognition for the team’s head coach as Jordan Smith was recently named Coach of the Year by the Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association.

“I never even thought about stuff like this during the season,” said Smith, “because I was so focused on the team and how we were doing and what I needed to do to help us reach our goals and get to the best level that we could get to. After the season I was just thinking about accolades for my players because they had put in so much work to achieve the success that they did.”

Over the past couple of seasons, players and fans alike could feel that the Northwestern Lehigh High School girls soccer team was ready to win it all. The team kept getting big wins and picking up some league and district hardware. In 2023 it made a trip to Hazleton to play in the PIAA semifinals, but came home with no more games to play.

In 2024 though, the Tigers returned home from Eagle View Middle School to a celebration as state champions.

Smith took over the program after the 2020 season and has continued to build on the success the program had before his arrival. The team continued to take steps forward each season and reached PIAA semifinal game in 2023 and came into 2024 looking to get that last link on the chain by winning a PIAA championship.

In his four seasons as the head coach, Smith has already won 89 games with just nine losses and two ties. The championship, along with the undefeated season, made him a logical choice for the Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association coach of the year for the girls’ 2A classification.

Unfortunately, the hard work did not pay off in any of the players receiving state-wide honors. Even though the team went undefeated and won the state championship, there was not one Northwestern player on the All-State team.

Smith was bothered by that fact because he has a special connection with the seniors on the team.

“They were the first freshman class that I had when I took over as coach,” said Smith. “So that’s always special to have that first class go through their four years and finish it with a championship. We always focus on being team first, so I think the fact that we won a league championship, district championship, and a state championship means more to the girls. It is going to be weird though to go to the awards ceremony and not have any of my players with me.

“The guy from the coach’s association asked how many all-state players we had, and I said none. He said, ‘how does a team go 28-0 and win a state championship and not have any all-state players?’”

Throughout the season there were signs that this team was not going to be satisfied with anything less than a state championship.

Early in the year it defeated Central Columbia, the team that eliminated them in the 2023 semifinals. The Tigers had beaten Central in the 2023 regular season though, so while it was a good sign, Smith and the team knew they had to do more.

The team kept winning and in the district championship met Allentown Central Catholic, the champions of the EPC. Not even the powerhouse Vikettes could stand in the way of the Tigers, who won the game and moved full steam ahead toward a state title.

“We had a great summer league season,” said Smith. “But you really only have part of your team because of vacations and things like that. In early August when we got together and put our pieces in place and figured out who is playing where, I thought that a state title was a legit possibility even before we had played a game. Then we went through the season the way we did, and I think beating Central Catholic in the championship really showed us just how good we are and that we had a very realistic chance of bringing home the state championship.”

Smith will say goodbye to that first class of student-athletes that he took to a state championship and will welcome in another group of young players and will also welcome back players who he has impacted throughout his time as the team’s head coach as the Lady Tigers come into 2025 as defending state champions.