Heading into his ninth season at the helm of the Northwestern Lehigh golf team, Tim Miller is excited about this year’s group.

The 2019 Tigers might not have individual league or district title contenders at the top of the line up, but the team will have a solid top five and some depth behind that group.

“I think this year there are more skilled players from top to bottom,” said Miller. “This is my ninth season and I think this is the best team we’ve ever had. It’s a good group.”

The Tigers return five seniors in Luke Hallman, Joe Frey, Jake Dellicker, Aiden Remaley and Gabby Smalley. Those five made up the team’s five scores in a win over Salisbury last week and four of them were part of the scoring in a season-opening match against Moravian Academy.

“Our five seniors are going to be major contributors,” said Miller. “I was pleasantly surprised with some of the returning people from last year who must have done some work over the summer.”

The rest of this year’s roster includes juniors Sam Fritzinger, Tyler Stasko, Ryan Kensinger, Noah Smorgiassi, Dan Jackson, Ben Griffith and Kate Betz and sophomores Ethan Bailey, Landon Rex, Nicholas Scott and Eli Dellicker.

“I think we have about five or six other members of the team, other than the seniors, that are going to be major contributors this year,” Miller said.

When Miller makes his 8-player line up for a match, he likes to start with his top five players, who could be the same for nearly every match, then the final three spots often change from match to match to get younger players experience and to see how other golfers perform under the pressure of a varsity match.

“Our main focus is to win,” he said. “I think we’re going to sneak up on some people this year. I know Luke Hallman, Jake Dellicker and Joe Frey all have the ability to shoot in the low 80s and sometimes in the high 70s.

“If you get two more kids who can shoot in the low 90s or sneak into the 80s, you’re going to win a ton of matches.”

The team’s goal is to finish in first or second place in the Colonial League North Division, which would earn the Tigers a spot in the four-team Colonial League playoffs, which are played simultaneously with the league’s individual championship in October at Bethlehem Municipal.

Another goal is to get a few players qualified for districts.

“I think we have an opportunity to get a couple kids into the district tournament this year,” Miller said. “Any of those top five have the ability to get to the district tournament.”

In the first week of competition, Northwestern fell to Moravian Academy 403-442 but rebounded with a 400-440 win over Salisbury.

Against Moravian, Hallman shot 78, followed by Jake Dellicker (86), Frey (86), Stasko (93) and Smalley (99).

Against Salisbury, earned medalist honors with a 74, while teammates Jake Dellicker (80), Smalley (82), Frey (82) and Remaley (83) all stayed in the low 80s.