Northwestern opened the state playoffs with a 1-0 (5-3 penalty kicks) win over Archbishop Ryan Tuesday.

The first half Archbishop Ryan used controlled, while Northwestern (17-2-1) was playing the long ball and letting its forwards work their magic.

The advantages in the first half were all on Archbishop Ryan’s side, with the Rag Dolls getting two first half corner kicks. On the second kick, junior Kaitlin Brace had an opportunity for a shot, but it was denied by a Northwestern Lehigh defender. Archbishop Ryan also had a direct kick from the left side of the net and 20-yards out, but the kick sailed over the crossbar.

At halftime, Bleam went to work to explain a new game plan to her team, based on what she was seeing on the field and not on an errant scouting report.

“We prepared very differently than what we needed to,” admitted Bleam. “At halftime, we made some adjustments. Give the girls kudos for picking up the quick changes and out they went and they executed a brilliant second half.”

The Tigers played a much crisper game in the second half and found some scoring opportunities, but were unable to cash in on any of them. Sophia Motolese, who specializes in placing corner kicks in the perfect spot, had three corner kick opportunities in the second 40 minutes, all of which were either just off the mark for a teammate to play in or were saved by goalkeeper Joyce Emma.

In overtime, Northwestern goalie Naomi Glassberg put on one of her displays. While she was strong during regulation, she got even tougher in overtime. Her best performance came when Kylie Davis delivered a well-placed corner.

“I got a touch on it and it actually landed on the girl’s foot, so I just put my body behind it,” said Glassberg of the save.

Kylie Zentz received much of the defensive attention and ultimately the brunt of the physical play of Archbishop Ryan. At times, the play turned nearly violent, but officials declined to award any yellow cards. Zentz was hit from behind by one of the Rag Dolls’ players and landed on the track surrounding the field. A short time later, Zentz looked for a little revenge and put a shot off Emma that bounded away and went just to the outside of the post.

“I felt that the hit was sort of uncalled for and there wasn’t even a foul called there,” said Zentz. “I think they were getting a little too physical and we weren’t pushing back.”

When the second overtime came to an end, the game headed for penalty kicks and Bleam sent Bailey Scheffler, Kayla Bardonner, Lexi Bleam, Zentz and Motolese to take shots. Scheffler hit her shot, while Chelsea Ritter missed the first shot for the Rag Dolls, giving the Lady Tigers a 1-0 edge. Bardonner, Bleam and Zentz all made their shots with their Archbishop Ryan counterparts following suit, leaving the penalty phase at 4-3 in favor of Northwestern Lehigh heading into the final round. Motolese approached the ball quickly and froze Emma, who started to move right as the ball sailed to her left and to the back of the net for the win.

“We practice them [PKs] pretty often and the way we start is anybody who wants to take a PK takes it,” said Bleam. “We have four seniors who are all solid and they all wanted to take kicks tonight and then Sophia is probably our best scorer and she was confident, so we had her kicking fifth.”