Success can’t always by measures by wins and losses.

Sometimes it comes in the form of a tie.

Northwestern’s 1-1 tie against Northern Lehigh last week was a victory of the Tiger field hockey program.

“I think it could be a turning point for our season since they know what they can do and what kind of heart they could put into playing every game,” said Northwestern head coach Lissa Opolsky. “It could lead us to good things and good success in the end.

“I’m proud of them for what they did and how they came through some not so good points. Every game you’re going to have points where you make mistakes. We were able to recover from our mistakes tonight.”

When Northwestern’s Courtney Page scored a goal for a 1-0 lead just under six minutes into the game, it marked the first Tiger goal against Norhtern Lehigh since 2011.

““They have a much stronger team [than last season],” said Northern Lehigh head coach Jess Frew. “They had a great passing game. Their head coach is a goalie coach and it’s clear the goalies are being coached very well.”

That goal keeping got tested in the second half and overtime of last Thursday’s night game at Bulldog Stadium.

Facing the one-goal deficit, the Bulldogs peppered freshman goal keeper Taylor Page with shots. They got one past her with 16:01 left in the game, but she saved eight of the Bulldogs nine shots in the game, most of which came in the second half and overtime.

The 7-on-7 overtime tested both teams. They each had opportunities, but neither could capitalize during the 15-minute period.

Northwestern followed the tie with wins over Wilson and Saucon Valley to improve to 4-1-1 in Colonial League play and 4-3-1 overall. With more than half the league schedule in front of them, the Tigers have already surpassed last year’s 3-13 league campaign.

“We’re one year older and we only lost two seniors last year,” said Opolsky. “It gave us a lot of experience to put on the field. Even though we have a freshman goal keeper, she’s not playing like a freshman. We have a lot of people stepping up and I think the more conifdent they are, the more that we have success.”

Northwestern is in the thick of the league playoff race and on pace to earn a district playoff spot this season. The Tigers just need to keep playing the way they did last Thursday in Slatington.

“We’re a pretty young team who just seems to have a mental lull in part of the game that we’re trying to recognize and fix,” said Opolsky. “This game’s the first one we were able to stay strong and maintain what we were doing even though it was scary at some times.”