Like Yogi Berra once said, “it’s déjà vu all over again.”

That describes the trips that Northwestern Lehigh has made through the Colonial League playoffs in the past four semifinal rounds.

For the fourth straight season, Northwestern has faced Moravian Academy in the semis and in each of the last three meetings, the Tigers have been victorious after posting a 2-1 win Thursday night at Alumni Field at Catasauqua High School.

As usual, the contest was one of the more physical games of the season, as over 20 fouls were called, with Moravian Academy also drawing three yellow cards, two to players and one to coach George Andriko.

The difference in this one was Northwestern goalie Damian Krapf, who made eight saves with very few of them being of the routine variety. Most required a big vertical leap, a dive or slide to stop a Moravian Academy shot on goal.

“Honestly, it’s all kind of a blur because there was so much happening,” said the senior goalie after the win. “I remember some of them, but I can’t really remember what happened and in what order.”

His first save of the night came with 30:30 left in the first half when Saleem Diakite launched a shot on goal for the Lions that was turned away by Krapf. Two minutes later, Northwestern used its newfound momentum from Krapf’s big play to go up 1-0 when Matt Johnson ran down a pass, broke away from the Moravian defense and put a shot past goalie Gabe Borsuk for a 1-0 edge.

The two teams always play close, low-scoring games, and the odds of Johnson’s goal standing up were not good. Moravian Academy showed that it wasn’t daunted by the Tigers goal, and put together a beautiful goal of its own on a corner kick. Rafael Sanjuan delivered the corner kick and Trey Sheeler, who will play at Lehigh University next fall, rose above a Northwestern defender and headed the ball toward the goal. Just as Krapf moved to make a play, George Husack stepped in to deflect the ball with his foot and tie the game 1-1.

Northwestern nearly picked up a quick goal in the second half when Johnson fired a shot that was blocked by Borsuk, but rebounded to Josh Zellner, who tucked the ball neatly into the corner of the net. The goal was waved off by officials who ruled that Johnson was offside on his shot, and that Zellner’s shot was a continuation of the play.

As the physical play intensified, Krapf kept Moravian from going ahead when he made a save literally at the feet of Sanjuan, who was at the left corner of the goal. As the half neared the midway point, Jacob Van Lierop, arguably the scrappiest player on the field, found an opening and got a shot to the back of the net, giving Northwestern Lehigh a 2-1 edge.

“I can play as well in the physical games,” said the 5-4, 120-pound sophomore. “But I prefer the more technical games where there is a lot of passing and moving the ball, but it was physical tonight, and it took our whole team to battle them and get the win.”

The lead would have been erased about five minutes later if not for another big save by Krapf, who made a dive to his right to stop a shot from Husack as he looked for his second goal of the night off a pass from Sanjuan.

It will be déjà vu again in the finals when Northwestern defends last year’s Colonial League title against Southern Lehigh on Saturday back at Alumni Field. The two teams will be meeting for the third straight year in the finals, and also met in the semifinals back in 2018.

CATTY BECOMES TIGERTOWN ... The Colonial League championships in field hockey, girls’ soccer and boys’ soccer will all be played at Alumni field in Catty on Saturday, starting at 11 a.m. with field hockey. All three games will feature Northwestern Lehigh teams this season, as all three advanced with wins in Thursday night’s semifinal round.

THE PERFECT 20 ... Northwestern Lehigh looks for its 20th-straight win of the season, and a clean 20-0 record through the league finals on Saturday. As things stand right now, the Tigers would need eight more wins – one against Southern Lehigh, three in districts and four in states to become state champions.