Northwestern goalie Brandon Krapf got a phone call Wednesday afternoon wishing him good luck against Southern Lehigh.

The call was a nice gesture, but carried with it an added meaning since it came from older brother Damian Krapf - who was the goalie when Southern Lehigh handed the Tigers their only loss of the season a year ago - putting just a small dent in the shiny armor of what turned out to be a state championship season for Northwestern.

The younger Krapf chose not to disclose the conversation, but it seems safe to say that his older brother was hoping his younger brother would take out a little family revenge. As it turned out, Krapf was busier in goal than in most games this season, especially late when Southern Lehigh looked to make up a deficit against the Tigers.

In the end, however, revenge did belong to Krapf as he kept Southern Lehigh off the board in a 3-0 Tiger win in the semifinals of the Colonial League playoffs at Northern Lehigh High School.

“I think he actually broke a sweat tonight, which was okay,” said Northwestern coach Nate Hunsicker. “We’re going to need him going forward because there are not going to be a whole lot of easy games out there from this point on. When the moment called tonight, he was ready.”

Northwestern (19-0-0) had a distinct advantage in shots at 17-4. Many of the Tigers shots came early in the game as they peppered goalie Sam Magallanes, who put on an athletic show and was able to stop most of the shots.

The first shot that got past Magallanes came on a direct kick from close range when Jacob van Lierop got the ball past a wall of defenders and Isaac Frey just got a foot on the ball to direct it into the net for the first goal of the game with 28:07 left in the first half.

Just before the end of the half, Northwestern gave itself a little breathing room when van Lierop and Tim Zellner connected on a hurry-up play to catch Southern Lehigh off guard and make it 2-0.

“We had a restart and Timmy [Zellner] put the ball down quick and I knew we could get a quick restart, so I made my run behind center back and when the ball came in, he couldn’t reach it and I just had to give it a little doink to get it over the goalie,” said van Lierop.

While a late goal like that can demoralize a team, the Spartans (11-8-0) came out firing in the second half, which turned into a more intense and physical contest than was the first half. The two teams battled back and forth and Southern Lehigh put more pressure on the Tigers’ defense than it was able to generate earlier, opening the door for Krapf to show what he could do as he made key saves. The Northwestern defense allowed just 12 goals in 18 games this season, including opening the year with six straight shutouts.

“I didn’t have a lot to do back there this year,” said Krapf. “The guys on defense in front of me are so strong technically, and are just really good defenders. I’m glad to have them in front of me.”

The Spartans were still pressing for goals late in the game when Matt Johnson added an insurance tally. The goal was Johnson’s 32nd of the season, and the 93rd of his career.

UP NEXT ... The win puts Northwestern in the Colonial League finals against Notre Dame on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Catasauqua.