In playoff soccer, there is no such thing as a tie. The games go first to two overtime periods and if they remain tied, they resort to penalty kicks to decide the winner.

Many coaches and players are against penalty kicks as a tiebreaker, so Northwestern Lehigh decided to do something about it and not let their PIAA tournament opener against Palmyra go that far. A goal by Lucas Van Lierop with time winding down in the first overtime period moved the Tigers into the quarterfinals with a 1-0 win over the Cougars.

While Northwestern Lehigh initially did not know much about Palmyra, coach Nate Hunsicker was able to find some video of the Cougars. What he found was that they are a very physical team, so his players knew what to expect when they took to the field Tuesday night at Tiger Stadium.

The Cougars (16-4-1) came out playing their usual brand of physical soccer, but Northwestern (16-4-1) was prepared and gave as well as they got.

“We got pretty much what we expected out of them,” said Hunsicker Palmyra. “We saw that they liked to play a physical game and we figured that they would come in and try to take it to us right away.”

The physical play nearly got out of hand midway through the second half when Palmyra’s Brayden Sunho pushed a Northwestern player to the ground out of bounds. Nearby players from both teams started to run toward the area, but referees got between the players to stop anything from happening and quickly gave Sunho a yellow card.

Later in the half, Colin Coffield had two near misses for the Tigers. The senior midfielder missed time during the season with an injury and played the game with a brace on his left leg. He was on the receiving end of a couple of hard plays during the game but came nowhere near slowing down.

Coffield’s first opportunity ended with the ball in the back corner of the net, but the goal was waved off by an offside call. Not long after that, Cayden Fitch played a ball to the near side of the goal and Coffield headed the pass toward the net, but it bounced off the post and rolled away.

“He empties the tank,” said Hunsicker of Coffield. “I ask the kids every game that we step on the field if I can get 80 minutes out of them – well, tonight, he gave me a little bit more – and he always responds that way.”

In the first overtime, Palmyra caught a second wind and came out launching some lasers at goalie Mason Crocco. Less than two minutes into OT, Crocco made a diving stop to block a shot and then while lying on the ground, deflected another shot out of bounds.

“That first shot was point blank and one-on-one,” Hunsicker said. “He was as good as always in goal tonight for us.”

Just as it appeared that the teams were headed for a second overtime period, Northwestern rallied to put pressure on backup goalie Cole Souder, who had come in when starter Manny Rose went out with an injury in the first half. The ball bounced around the front of the goal as several Northwestern Lehigh players converged to make a play. The ball went to Souder’s right and into the back corner of the net to spark the celebration.

“Lucas (Van Lierop) claimed it, and nobody argued, so I guess it was him,” Hunsicker said when asked about the goal and the initial confusion over who scored the game-winner.

“One of my teammates flicked it on goal and the goalie bobbled it a bit,” said Van Lierop, a senior defender. “I was able to come in and hit it and I got it just before it went into the goalie’s hands. I actually got it with my thigh because it was higher, and I couldn’t get a foot on it.”

Both teams showed just how well their defenses can prevent goals and dominated the play throughout the game. Shots on goal favored the Cougars by a slight 4-3 margin.

Palmyra’s approach was to shut down the big offensive guns like Matt Johnson, who had two goals and an assist in districts, and Josh Zellner, who had a goal and an assist in the district final when the Tigers beat Southern Lehigh 3-1. Coffield had two goals, one coming on a penalty kick, in the 2-1 win over East Stroudsburg South in the semifinals.

Before the game, players enjoyed McDonald’s Happy Meals when Hunsicker fulfilled a promise he made before the league playoffs. Hunsicker told the team he would treat them to the delicacy if they won gold medals in both the Colonial League and District 11. He made good on the promise Tuesday by ordering 30 Happy Meals at McDonald’s for the team.

The problem is that Hunsicker also told the team he would spring for adult meals for everyone if they continue on to win gold in the PIAA tournament. No word on what toy was in the Happy Meals.