Finally, the Northwestern Lehigh boys soccer team is healthy.

After playing much of the season with pieces of the lineup missing here and there, the Tigers finally got their full roster on the field. The healthy version of the team is much different from the one that worked its way through the regular season and that showed Tuesday night when Northwestern dominated in an 8-1 win over Wilson in the opening round of the Colonial League playoffs.

Colin Coffield, Phil Taylor and Seth Brady each scored two goals for the Tigers, while Jeff Garcia and Donovan Martinez chipped in with one goal apiece in the win.

After a near-miss by Cayden Fitch, who played a rebound from a direct kick but put it just over the crossbar, Northwestern was able to zero in on its target to score five goals in a span of just under 12 minutes.

“We haven’t been 100-percent healthy for the lion’s share of the season, so finally we’re healthy and have everybody back in place where we want them and we’re finally clicking and making the connections we need to make to win,” said Northwestern head coach Nate Hunsicker.

Ironically, the five-goal spree saw all goals come at approximately three-minute intervals.

It started with Colin Coffield picking up his first goal with 22:44 left in the opening half and then with 19:36 left, Coffield played a carom off the crossbar to net his second goal of the night.

The initial shot came from Phil Taylor, who fired a low-percentage shot but made it pay off when he shot from the far-right side of the goal, but placed the ball into the far, top corner of the net to make it 3-0 in favor of Northwestern.

Next, it was Brady’s turn to get back-to-back goals. Like Coffield, Brady’s first came when the ball ricocheted off the goalie and found Brady in the right spot to sneak it into the front corner of the goal.

The senior found the net with 10:47 left in the first half to cap the scoring spree for the Tigers.

“The first five or six minutes we were really struggling,” said Coffield. “My teammates put me in a good spot and all I had to do was put the ball away and that changed the momentum of the game. It’s always important to get that first goal when you can.”

Garcia got in on the scoring in the second half when he put up a shot that went across the front of the net and bounced off the inside of the far post, bouncing to the back of the net to give the Tigers a 6-0 lead.

“I thought tonight that the teamwork that we had and the buildups that we had were really good and we played with a lot of hustle and heart,” said Hunsicker. “We were just making sure that we were putting them on frame. Colin’s two goals kind of got things going and that seemed to loosen everybody up.”

The Warriors got their only goal of the game right after Garcia’s goal when Wilson Bibano was able to sneak a shot into the net.

Northwestern was awarded a late penalty kick and Donovan Martinez scored on the shot to cap the scoring with 5:29 left to play and the Tigers up 8-1.

The win sets up a rematch between the Tigers – the tournament’s third-seeded team – and Moravian Academy, the second seed.

Northwestern traveled to Moravian Academy nine days ago and dropped a 4-3 decision to the Lions. Northwestern players are looking for a little revenge and aren’t concerned about having to play at Moravian.

“We should have won the game that we played there during the regular season,” said Brady. “They’re definitely beatable if we play a good game and we all believe we can beat them no matter where we play.”

On the other side of the bracket, fifth-seeded Bangor beat fourth-seeded Notre Dame (Green Pond) 1-0. That puts the Slaters into the semifinals against top-seed Southern Lehigh.

If Northwestern advances to the finals, the game would be played at Palisades. If Northwestern isn’t involved in the finals, the Colonial League will shift the game to Tiger Stadium.