With a 1-0 lead at halftime against Saucon Valley in Thursday's District 11 Class AA boys soccer championship game, Northwestern head coach Nate Hunsicker knew it wouldn't be enough.

Hunsicker cautioned his Tiger squad that holding back defensively wouldn't cut it to secure Northwestern's first district championship in a decade.

He was certainly right.

For the first 40 minutes of play, Northwestern kept Saucon Valley forward Zach Reichard in check. The senior even was called for a yellow card with 7:57 to play in the first half. But perhaps that yellow card sparked the Colonial League first-team all-star in the second half.

Reichard scored all three of the Panthers' goal in the second half, including a penalty kick with 27:20 to play that gave Saucon Valley a 2-1 lead. Reichard finished up his hat trick with seven minutes remaining in the No. 2 seeded Panthers' 3-1 victory over No. 5 Northwestern in the District 11 Class AA title game at Northern Lehigh High School.

"I told them you cannot come out and play defensively and go into a shell," Hunsicker said. "They unfortunately came out like that way more than I would've wanted them to.

"I told the boys that we have to keep the pedal to the metal. We have to keep pushing, and one goal is not going to be enough. As well as we played defense in the first half, they have two really good horses up top there, and it was a matter of time until one of them was going to find the net. We couldn't afford to back off."

Following that early 1-0 lead for the Tigers, it didn't take long for Saucon Valley to get its offense rolling once the second half got underway.

Just 1:16 into the second half, Joe Schuyler set up Reichard with a nice through ball deep in Tiger territory. After collecting the pass, Reichard fired into the back of the net to tie the game at 1-1.

"I'm not a big proponent on man-marking," Hunsicker said. "We do other things that I feel if we do the job efficiently and properly, it's not necessary. We definitely neutralized them in the first half. In the second half, they got together on that first one with the combo."

The game remained tied for the next 11-plus minutes, before Reichard made a move between a number of Tiger defenders inside their 18-yard box. But while making that move, Northwestern was called for a questionable foul on Reichard, setting up a penalty kick opportunity with 27:20 to play.

Northwestern goalkeeper Kyle Bellhorn guessed right, but Reichard's shot ended up in the left side of the goal to make it a 2-1 Panther advantage.

"It was a little bit of an egregious call in my opinion, and that really turned the tables," Hunsicker said. "While it made a difference, was it the only factor? Absolutely not."

Reichard added his third goal with seven minutes to play as Northwestern was in search of the equalizer.

The Tigers jumped ahead 1-0 in the first half when J.D. Haaf set up Kenneth Gawelko deep in Saucon Valley territory. After possessing Haaf's pass, Gawelko flicked his shot passed Panther goalie Matt Smith.

"This was our game to win," Hunsicker said. "Getting that first goal, all we had to do was play smart soccer for 40 minutes. Not to say that we didn't do that, but definitely that first goal is a big momentum swing. Unfortunately we couldn't capitalize on it."

Despite coming up short in the championship game, the Tigers put together an impressive season with a roster that includes just three seniors. After missing out on the Colonial League playoffs, the Tigers won two districts games to advance to the finals.

"It was a great run," Hunsicker said. "I told them, 'you guys have nothing to be ashamed of. We're the five seed no one expected you to be here.'"