Sophia Motolese’s 5-2 frame hides just how physical she can be on a soccer field. The same could be said for most of her teammates at Northwestern Lehigh.

Wednesday night though, the Tigers put that toughness on display against Palisades as they beat the Pirates 2-0 to advance to the Colonial League finals against Southern Lehigh.

Motolese scored the second goal of the game, which gave Northwestern (13-2-1) a chance to breathe a little.

Northwestern had an edge in controlling the play from the beginning, and got an early goal from senior Kylie Zentz, who moved through the Palisades defense and positioned a shot perfectly toward the right side of the net, giving Northwestern a 1-0 lead.

The teams continued to battle through the rest of the first half, with both having only lukewarm opportunities to change the score.

The Pirates (9-3-1) came out with a more physical style of play in the second half, and also showed off some speed. Northwestern adapted, and stood up to the tough style of play, showing no signs of being intimidated.

“We can play a physical game. We just keep our mouths shut and our heads up and we’re good.” Motolese said after the team’s celebration ended.

With 27:31 left to play in regulation, Motolese was awarded a free kick from just inside the near corner. Being near parallel to the net, it appeared that the only option Motolese had was to find a teammate in front of the goal and hope for the best, but she saw it differently.

With Palisades focusing on the players closest to the net, Motolese hooked a shot past goalkeeper Drew Camp to give the Tigers a little cushion with a 2-0 lead.

“As I was lining up the shot, I thought I could just bend it in, and it worked,” explained Motolese.

From there, Northwestern had to ride out the increasingly strong storm from the Pirates. The intensity level of the Palisades players grew along with their frustration, but the Tigers weathered the storm to grab the win.

“Palisades is a great team, and we expected a really competitive game, especially since they beat us the first time we played this season, and then we came back and beat them the second time,” said Northwestern coach Kelly Bleam. “We were fortunate enough today to come away with the win, but they’re an outstanding team and I’m really proud of my team for handling their speed and physicality and doing a really nice job tonight.”

TITLE GAME SET … Northwestern and Southern Lehigh (9-2-1) will battle for Colonial League gold medals on Saturday. The time and place of the game has yet to be determined.

REMATCH ... During the regular season, the Spartans and Tigers played to a 2-2 tie in their only meeting. The game will also be a rematch of last year’s Colonial League championship that saw Northwestern win 1-0. Southern Lehigh has played in the last six Colonial League championships, winning five of them.