Coming off the two best seasons in the history of the program, the Northwestern boys soccer team opened 2017 with a 9-0 win over Wilkes-Barre Meyers Friday morning.

The Tigers went ahead 4-0 in the first half on a pair of early goals by Kenny Gawelko, one from Caleb Danner and another from Noah Meyers.

Meyers was just getting warmed up when he made it 4-0 with 5:17 left in the first half. The senior scored the first three goals of the second half to put his team in front 7-0 with 30:18 left in the game. Goals from Connor Winter and Luke Bryan capped the scoring.

“We controlled the first 10-15 minutes, which was very nice to see,” said Gawelko. “Finishing was a little slow to come, but when we got there it really started going in a lot. We want to beat these teams early so we’re ready for the good teams to come.”

While the scoring outburst was a positive sign, the shut out might be even more significant. The Tigers graduated a four-year starting goal keeper and a center back who will play NCAA Division I soccer in college. The team needed to replace several key parts in the backfield, which will be anchored by Danner, a junior returning starter.

“Our defense coming into the year was probably our biggest question mark because we have a lot of new faces back there, a lot of inexperience,” said Northwestern head coach Nate Hunsicker. “For some of them it was their first varsity start and they did a fantastic job.”

Taylor Wannamaker got his first varsity start in goal, posting a shut out.

“I’m extremely proud of how they stepped up,” Gawelko said of the Tiger defense. “We lost three of our four starting defenders and our starting goalie, but through preseason and summer they stepped up and it was a lot better than expected. To see them post a shut out the first game of the year is all we could have wanted.”

The Tigers have to replace a lot of talent from a graduating class that was a major part in the team reaching last year’s state final and the 2015 state semifinals. Not only does a lot of talent have to be replaced, but some leadership roles also have to be filled that were vacated by graduated seniors

“They were like older brothers to us,” said Gawelko. “We’re just trying to model our leadership after them because they did it absolutely perfectly last year.”

The team is also working on getting to know one another better on the field. Last year’s unit featured several players that were varsity starters for multiple season and this year’s team has more than a few that have increased roles on the field.

“That’s a lot of chemistry we lost,” said Gawelko. “This preseason there was a lot of working on holding the ball, knowing where people are going to be on the field and getting the ball there so they can have time to make their next pass.”

The Tigers open Colonial League play Thursday, Sept. 7 when they host Palmerton at 4 p.m.