It’s hard to believe, but as of this week, just two weeks remain in the Colonial League regular season golf schedule. And as Northwestern hits the home stretch of league play, head coach Tim Miller can’t be upset with the results he’s seen so far.

Tuesday’s 432-553 victory over Notre Dame (Green Pond) positioned Northwestern at 5-2 in league play with roughly half the league slate behind them. The Tigers’ only losses came against Moravian Academy and Southern Lehigh.

“We had four players in the 80s, and we had the other three players in the low 90s,” Miller said. “As high school golf goes in the Lehigh Valley, I’m very proud of the job the kids have done. They have responded real well.”

In stacking up against the league’s top competition, Northwestern certainly held its own. The Tigers 462-413 loss to Moravian Academy to end August was their first loss of the season. Not even a week later, the Tigers came up just 12 strokes shy against South Division leader Southern Lehigh.

Moravian Academy (7-0) and Southern Lehigh (5-1) are pretty solid locks to earn a spot in the four-team league championship near the end of the month.

“[Southern Lehigh] is a perennial team in the league for years and years,” Miller said. “We lost to them by 12 strokes. Unfortunately, a couple of our players could have played a little bit better, and had a little bit of a struggle at times. They were all very disappointed. But I just tried to reinforce to them that’s the game of golf.”

And for Miller, the biggest focal point moving into the final two weeks of the regular season is having his players focus on each stroke. He’s seen plenty of progress in that area as the matches go on.

The Tigers collective score of 432 against the Crusaders on Tuesday was right on par with their average for the season. And the names of the top scorers remain consistent as well. Tyler Wiik led the way with an 81, while Brian Garbacik (84) and Julius Mittl (85) both shot below 90 on the day.

“They are starting to realize that every shot that you play counts,” Miller said. “You never know what the other person in the other groups are doing. They are really focusing well.

“It’s inevitable, every player is going to make mistakes throughout the course of the round. The people that come out on top are the people that make the fewest amount of mistakes. We were right in the match until the end [against Southern Lehigh].”

The Tigers’ match against Saucon Valley last week was arguably their most impressive of the season-a 12-stroke win over the Panthers. All eight players scored in the 80s for their second-lowest outing of the season, a 422 team total.

“With our match against Saucon Valley last Tuesday, for the first time we had all eight of our participants score in the 80s, which is something I’ve never been a part of before,” Miller said. “I really have seen some improvement throughout the team.”

Northwestern showed it could hang with the top dogs in the league, but only time will tell if it will be enough to propel them into the Colonial League tournament. The Tigers have five matches left, including two against Bangor (5-2), Sept. 19 and 21, to end the season.

The league’s two division winners and two wild card teams will make up the league playoff field. Through Tuesday’s matches, Bangor, Northwestern and Saucon Valley (5-2) are tied for the two wild cards spots.

Miller will give his four freshmen golfers (Joe Fry, Gabby Smalley, Sean McCann and Jake Dellicker) the opportunity to play this week, including yesterday’s match at Pen Argyl and Thursday’s tilt with Tamaqua.