At this point of the regular season, field hockey programs are either vying for playoff spots, fine tuning their strategies, or building for the future.

With Northwestern and Northern Lehigh taking the field for the second time this year, the two programs may be at differing ends of the spectrum. However, their fire to play each other still burns bright as ever.

On Wednesday, the Tigers managed a season sweep of the Bulldogs with a 4-0 decision.

“It’s definitely nice to come out with a win, especially this late in the season,” Northwestern head coach Lissa Opolsky said. “Every win counts, with your end of the season goals and (postseason) seedings and such, so it was definitely good to get the victory.”

With their eighth win of the season, the Tigers are poised to make a run at the Colonial League and District 11 playoffs.

At 8-3-1, Opolsky’s concerns shift to her squad’s abilities, and fine-tuning with six regular-season games remaining.

“The girls were able to connect a few passes together and use our right side of the field well,” Opolsky said.

Northwestern built a 3-0 lead at the intermission as Tess Ledeboer, Reagan Hernandez and Lauren Schellhamer all recorded first-half scores.

“It was a really good win today, especially because we just played against them last week,” Schelhamer said. “So it was good to be able to keep that momentum moving forward into the rest of the season.”

While remaining in contention for both league and district playoff spots, Northwestern is just happy to be able to practice.

“We actually had a few weeks this season with a few games, so we were lucky to even have a practice yesterday,” Opolosky said. “That’s always a plus this late in the season.”

With the wins rolling in, the Tigers remain on task to continue to improve their game, in their hopes of accomplishing their season goals.

“We would like to be able to win out the regular season,” Opolsky said. “So we want to be able to play good hockey when we step out on to the field. We have a strategy, so we’re not just out there, running around, hitting the ball.”

In the second half, Brynn Balliet tallied a fourth goal for the Tigers.

“There’s a lot of stuff that we can always work on, and nothing is usually perfect,” Opolsky said. “But these girls give a full effort every time they step out there. We want to be able to see more movement on the field, having better vision on the field, and be better able to utilize certain passes in certain times. So we’re lucky to be able to continue to work on these things.”

Despite the score, the Tigers didn’t have an easy time of things, as Northern Lehigh (3-9) scrapped and clawed the entire outing.

The ‘Dawgs, who were outshot 17-3 in the game, showed improvement from earlier in the year and fought until the very last second, where they had a corner, before the buzzer sounded.

“We lost four seniors from last season, and that included our leading goal scorer, so it’s difficult to fill that position,” head coach Kim Seiler said. “When you look at our record, it’s hard for these girls to score many goals, with some of these younger girls playing up front.

“We are just constantly working on improving our passing, our communication, and being more aggressive to the ball. So that’s our goal for the rest of the season — to just keep improving and finish this season strong.”

With Catasauqua, Salisbury and Palmerton remaining on their schedule, Seiler hopes to get a few wins.

SOME ASSISTANCE, PLEASE

... For the Tigers, Ledeboer had a strong all-around game, as she not only scored her one goal, but assisted on two others. Schellhamer also added an assist to her outing.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

... Maxine Hoffman finished with three saves for the Tigers in goal, while her counterpart, Kendall Heiney, had seven saves for the Bulldogs.