Troy Everett’s career total of 80 goals from 1988-1991 at Northwestern Lehigh High School stood for 32 years before Matt Johnson broke the mark by scoring 96 goals in his career.

Johnson was the record holder for just one year when Jake Van Lierop scored 105 goals.

For the third time in four seasons there is a new record holder.

Cole Mertz, who played with both Johnson and Van Lierop, heads into this week’s games at 106 career goals and counting. The record-setting goal for Mertz was his team’s lone goal with 8:33 left in the game to tie Central Columbia 1-1 on Saturday at Tiger Stadium. The goal put the senior ahead of his former teammate and friend Van Lierop in the latest chapter of their friendly rivalry.

“I talked to him (Friday) and that whole championship group stays pretty close and we hang out when we can,” said Mertz. “It’s a little competitive battle between us, but it’s all friendly.”

On Saturday, Northwestern was coming off of a 1-1 tie against Northern Lehigh and set to play its penultimate game of the regular season against an undefeated Central Columbia team. Mertz scored the team’s lone goal against the Bulldogs and the team lost senior Ben Hawk to an ankle injury in that game.

The first half against Central Columbia saw the defenses flex its muscles as it battled at both ends of the pitch.

The Blue Jays may have had a slight advantage in attacking, but it wasn’t anything that senior goalie Dean Carl couldn’t turn away. When the first 40 minutes were over, neither team had scored a goal and went into halftime looking to come up with a new plan that would take the zero off of the scoreboard for their team.

It took just six minutes of the second half for Central to break the ice and pick up the first goal of the game. Jameson Lapos approached the goal from Carl’s right and fired across the goal to put his shot into the upper right corner of the goal.

Both teams continued to battle through the final minutes, but neither could find a go-ahead goal. Central Columbia was awarded four corners in the second half but was unable to take advantage of them.

Carl finished the game with five saves.

“I just tried to keep my composure back there and help the rest of the team to keep their composure and not lose focus,” said Carl. “The last thing you want to do in a game like this is lose that focus and let in a stinker and take our team down. We held composure today and did a great job mentally and physically, which says a lot because we have such a young team.”

The game serves as an opportunity for Northwestern to gauge where its team is at as it prepares for the postseason, giving it a preview of the types of teams it could face, especially in the PIAA tournament.

“These types of games give us some reality about what we can face in states if we get there,” said Carl. “It’s a good learning opportunity for us as a team and especially for the young guys because things always get more intense the deeper you play.”

Northwestern also defeated Wilson last week in a 3-2 game with Mertz getting two goals in that game and Bryce Leslie adding a third goal for the Tigers.

The regular season wraps up with a game at Catasauqua this week.

The Colonial League playoffs begin on Monday. The Tigers have clinched the top seed in the league tournament and it appears they will also be the top seed for the District 11 2A tournament that begins Oct. 26.