The top two teams in Colonial League soccer met in for a second time in a week when Northwestern took on Southern Lehigh last Friday in a District 11 Class 3A semifinal only six days after beating the Spartans 3-0 for a league title.

Although the score was closer, the victor remained the same as the Tigers came out on top with a 1-0 win over the Spartans.

“We knew going into the Colonial League championship we would be the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds in the district tournament,” Northwestern head coach Kelly Bleam said. “It’s super hard to beat a good team twice in the same week. So, I was really pleased that my team was able to execute well enough today to get the win.”

Thanks to a collective team effort on the Tigers’ behalf, and some stellar play from sophomore goalie Naomi Glassberg, the hosts were able to slow down the Spartans’ attack and held them scoreless for the second time in a week.

“The whole team defends the field from the front to the back,” said Bleam, whose team has now posted four straight playoff shut outs after allowing just seven goals in a 15-game regular season. Southern Lehigh was the only team to score more than one goal against the Tigers when they tied 2-2 on Sept. 19.

The opportunities were definitely there for the Tigers to match their scoring output from Saturday’s Colonial League title game when they scored three goals as they were able to put 12 shots on net.

But since that didn’t happen, the outstanding defensive play was even more vital.

The game’s only goal came from senior Kaylie Zentz off an assist from Kayla Bardonner.

“Kylie is our goal scorer, and that is her job,” Bleam said. “Her job is to finish everything that is created for her by her teammates - and she does a good job of that. She’s part of an offense that is scoring goals lately and is working very well together to create goals.”

Bleam’s team seems to be peaking at the right time, as it often does. The Tigers are defending district champs and have all the potential to repeat the feat this season.

“I feel like the team is playing great at as a whole,” Bleam said. “We worked hard on collective team defense this year and focusing on the fact that everybody is responsible for goals - giving them up and scoring them.”

Glassberg finished with 12 saves after taking on a Spartans’ attack that fired several shots her way. “

Southern Lehigh put a lot of stuff on goal, especially late in the game,” Bleam said. “So, a lot of balls came towards her way. Naomi didn’t fumble a single ball. She picked every one of them up and caught every one and made some great saves. She played a great game.”