Northwestern's trio of Sabrina Mertz, Angela Motolese and Sarah Segan have gained much of the recognition for the Lady Tigers' success, not only this season, but over the course of their careers.

And rightfully so.

After all, Segan eclipsed the 100-goal mark for her career just as a junior; she became the program's all-time leading goal scorer earlier this season. Mertz and Motolese are amongst the team's leading goal scorers as well that have guided the Lady Tigers to consecutive district finals appearances, including a title in 2013.

But while those three grab many of the headlines, there are a number of faces behind the scenes that are just as vital to this team's success. Ask head coach Kelly Bleam, and she'll be the first to tell you it takes a complete team effort to reach the elite status that Northwestern has.

"A team that consists of 11 people can't depend on three people to make and break every game," Bleam said. "And we don't. We realize that it's a team effort and a concerted effort by everybody."

Take last week's District 11 Class AA quarterfinals against Palisades for example. In what was perhaps a more close battle than many expected, Northwestern was in a 1-1 tie past the midway point of the second half after falling behind 1-0 in the 14th minute.

It was a real possibility that the Lady Tigers' could experience their earliest exit from the district tournament since 2008, when they also lost in the quarterfinals.

The Lady Tigers needed a spark. Under most circumstances, it would come from one of those three senior leaders-Mertz, Motolese or Segan. Last Friday, there was a different set of heroes rising to the occasion.

With less than 19 minutes remaining on the clock, deadlocked in a tie game and a district semifinals spot on the line, junior Megan Landrigan directed a Tiger ball in front of Palisades' goal. Junior McKenzi Divers was there to gather Landrigan's pass, and although she juggled it for a moment, Divers' strike into the left side of the goal lifted the Lady Tigers to a 2-1 victory.

"It got caught beneath my foot, but I just dove for it," said Divers, a second-year starter. "It was a really lucky shot. Luckily Megan was there to cross it in."

"It's great to see McKenzi come out with a goal," Bleam said. "And it's also good to see that goal assisted by Megan Landrigan, who isn't one of our typical scorers either. Both are juniors, and it was certainly real great to see them come out with the winning goal."

Landrigan and Divers are two of the Lady Tigers that will see an even more increased role next season with the departure of Mertz, Motolese and Segan.

"I know we have a lot of eighth graders coming up, so that's a big deal to fill in the middle," Divers said. "It's going to be sad having them gone.

"It's nice to have them in the middle, but it's also nice to have the Y players and the defensive players to switch them. With the Y midfielders, it's easy to get a cross in."

The victory over Palisades sent the Lady Tigers onto the semifinals round where they beat Southern Lehigh, 3-2 on Tuesday evening. They move on to Thursday's title game to take on the winner of the Tuesday's game between No. 2 seed Central Catholic and No. 3 Saucon Valley.

"When a team is as organized and defended as well as Palisades did, and made it tough for those three," Bleam said, "everybody else needs to pick it up. And they did."

Junior Lydia Danner and senior Rachel Fisher have been steady contributors for the Lady Tigers' supporting cast as well.

"Lydia Danner played a great deal of the game today [last Friday against Palisades]," Bleam said. "Rachel Fisher was out with an injury-a typical starter who is a senior and scores quite a few goals for us. So Lydia and McKenzi certainly needed to step it up today."