Senior center back Jonathan Blaine grew up playing soccer. On several occasions with his club team he needed to step up and produce on penalty kicks.

Blaine scored two goals, including one on a penalty kick Tuesday as top-seeded Northwestern beat No. 4 Palisades 2-1 in overtime in the Colonial League semifinals at Northern Lehigh High School.

“Because I play center back, I don’t really score that often,” Blaine said. “It is kind of new territory for me, but it feels great to be able to help the team out in any way I can.

“The whole team played so well tonight in terms of doing the little things. Even though we had some periods where we might have lacked intensity, we just played really tough.”

After a scoreless first half that saw both sides come up empty on several advances into the red zone, the winners struck first when one of the Tigers was tripped up inside the box, yielding the penalty kick for Blaine.

“Growing up, I took a lot of penalty kicks for my club team, so I kind of do that still,” he said. “But with the last few that I’ve taken, I’ve been able to put them away. So, it’s confidence and I love doing them. I love that stage.”

“Palisades played a great game,” said Northwestern head coach Nate Hunsicker. “They have a few really skilled players and they play a strong physical game and are aggressive throughout. Hats off to them because they made us play their style of game.”

Ten minutes after the Tigers took their 1-0 lead, Palisades senior Bobby McClintock belted a high shot from about the 55 that Colonial League All-Star First Team goalkeeper Kyle Bellhorn had difficulty with. The ball escalated just out of Bellhorn’s reach and hit twine to knot the score at 1-1 with 19:41 remaining in regulation.

“Palisades is always fantastic,” Bellhorn said. “It’s never a blowout when we play them and they’re so physical and always a threat whether they’re sixty yards out or six yards out.”

In the remaining minutes in regulation, both sides challenged and took several shots that just missed their mark.

In overtime, the Tigers drew a corner kick and sophomore Caleb Danner soared the kick perfectly past Palisades’ keeper Dylan Buccigrossi, where Blaine headed it into the net for the game-winner.

“It was a crazy night,” Hunsicker said. “Obviously, to end up in this situation, is much better than the alternative. I think credit has to go to Palisades for always playing us tough and managing to take us out of our brand of soccer.”

“I thought both teams played a good, clean game and both sides played well,” Palisades head coach Dennis Gluck said. “We got things rolling in the first half, and we had some opportunities that I think if we capitalized on, we could compete with a great team like Northwestern. I was hoping that the longer the game went, the better our chances might have been. But they managed to capitalize before we could.”

With the win, the Tigers (18-0-1), advance to take on Salisbury in Thursday’s title game back at Northern Lehigh. The Falcons were a 3-0 winner over Saucon Valley in Tuesday’s other semifinal.

The Tigers and Falcons have been on a collision course all season. The two teams met in last year’s District 11 Class 2A title game and Colonial League semifinals, both of which were won by Northwestern. The two teams tied 1-1 in their only meeting of the 2016 season back on Sept. 22 at Northwestern Middle School’s grass field.

The Falcons will have revenge on their mind Thursday.

“I want to celebrate this one tonight,” said Blaine. “Tomorrow, have a tough practice and then get at it on Thursday.”

For the game, both sides finished with a dead even eight shots on goal, as Bellhorn finished with seven saves, and Buccigrossi stopped six. Palisades now drops to 13-6 on the year and will await the start of district play.

“Honestly, if we can keep our composure and play the game that we know we’re capable of playing, we should be alright,” Bellhorn said. “We can’t over-think things. We need to just keep it simple and we should be able to compete with anybody.”