Tigers shake off sluggish start

Northwestern Lehigh pulls way to win title

Northwestern Lehigh came out a little sluggish to open Saturday’s Colonial League girls soccer title game against Moravian Academy and struggled to get good looks. But the Tigers adjusted and eventually pulled away for a 5-0 win – and the league championship – at Catasauqua.

The victory helped to erase the memory of last year’s Colonial League final, in which Northwestern fell to Palmerton.

The Tigers were unable to get many good opportunities early in the game due to their sluggish play and the Lions being able to close down passing lanes and limit how deep Northwestern was able to get into the Moravian zone.

Eventually. Northwestern moved down the right side and was awarded a free kick from 20 yards out from the far side of the far side of the field. The kick came to the middle of the goal where Syenna Flores bumped it over to freshman Sophia Schaffer, who put a shot past goalie Moravian Academy’s Addison Etter to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead with 2:40 left in the half.

“I think there were a lot of things that came into play that first half and you also have to give Moravian credit because they played a hard, physical game and brought the speed they possess,” Tigers coach Jordan Smith said. “The speed especially was giving us fits.”

Northwestern was able to spread the field and picked up the pace of play in the second half and opened some lanes for passing to get deeper penetration. The change led to freshman Kherington Yezik getting an open look that Etter was able to tip over the crossbar, but 20 seconds later, senior Cammie Fitch sent a rocket to the back of the net to put the Tigers up 2-0.

Paige Bissell, a senior, was next up to move the scoreboard when she put a shot on goal from 20 yards out that Etter again tipped, but this time it went under the crossbar to make it 3-0.

“I noticed that their outside backs weren’t as strong as their center back, so I took an outside back on and then cut into the middle and found an open spot. I aimed for the far post and it went in,” Bissell said of her goal.

Later in the half, Fitch used the same move that Bissell had used as she controlled the ball on the right side and was able to shift toward the middle of the field where she circled behind a defender for a better angle. From there, Fitch lifted a shot from 25 yards out, placing it just under the crossbar and inside the far side post to give her team a four-goal lead with 23:17 left in the game. Fitch capped the scoring with her third goal of the game when she found herself wide open in front of the goal and buried a shot past Etter.

“This feels great,” Bissell said of winning the championship. “I know we were all very disappointed about the outcome last season and to come back and win 5-0 is a great feeling and gives us some added excitement going into districts.”

Northwestern moves into district play and will be the top seed in 2A, pending the outcome of the EPC girls final, between Allentown Central Catholic and Parkland. Should Central Catholic win, the Vikettes could move percentage points ahead of Northwestern in the district power rankings.

“We’re hopeful about the rest of the postseason and just have to take it one game at a time and hope for the best,” Fitch said.

The Tigers lost Katie Brensinger to an ankle injury during the game, but she is hopeful of being able to return next week for districts.