Northwestern head coach Kelly Bleam made a few defensive adjustments late in the first half of Tuesday’s match against Salisbury. It very well might have kept the Tigers unbeaten on the young season and got Northwestern off to a solid start in league play.

Senior forward Sara Hathaway played an important role in the win. Hathaway notched her second hat trick in as many games, scoring three goals as Northwestern (2-0 overall, 1-0 in Colonial League) downed Salisbury, 4-2.

“We switched up our defense a little bit, and I think that really helped us,” Hathaway said. “We had more experience in the back then.

“Our defenders are really good at pressure cover, and I think that really helped us a lot because [Rylee Donaldson] is really fast and good.”

Donaldson scored both goals for Salisbury (2-1, 0-1) in the first half. Her second came on a throw in from Quinn Wittman, and after taking a few bounces, Donaldson ripped a shot into the back of the net to put the Falcons in front 2-1 with 3:28 remaining in the first half.

Northwestern led early on Hathaway’s first goal, coming in the opening two minutes when she fired a shot by Falcon goalie Lily Schimenick.

But Hathaway and the Tigers would have an answer. Junior midfielder/forward Jillian Frank netted the equalizer seconds later. Exactly a minute after that, Hathaway put away her second goal of the game that put Northwestern back in front with 1:45 to play in the opening half.

“We’re never a team to give up when we are a goal or two down,” Hathaway said. “It kind of showed us that we have that strength to come back and have fight.”

“We only had one game before this, so we really didn’t have a lot of opportunity in that game to see what our weaknesses were,” Bleam said. “And Salisbury was able to show us what our weaknesses are. What that allowed us to do then is figure out how we need to fix them. We’re still trying to figure a lot of things out.”

Northwestern defeated Scranton Prep in its season opener. Hathaway scored three goals in that win as well.

Hathaway also added some insurance for the Tigers once the second half got underway, and it didn’t take the senior captain long to strike. In the opening two minutes of the half, Hathaway ripped a shot from 35 yards out that flew over the outstretched hands of Schimenick and into the net.

Salisbury’s best opportunity in the second half came with two minutes remaining when sophomore midfielder Kerry Seiler placed a shot on goal. The Falcons, however, were largely ineffective offensively in the final 40 minutes. Donaldson, in particular, was held in check after using her speed to score two goals in the first half.

“It’s an amazing way to start,” Hathaway said. “Salisbury is always a competition for us; there is never a time that they are not. We’re just hoping to come out strong and maintain that throughout the season.”

“Our league is actually really competitive,” Bleam said. “In districts we do very well as a Colonial League. I think we have a great, competitive league.”

Northwestern returns to the field on Thursday when it travels to Palmerton for its second Colonial League game. Game time is set for 4 p.m.