CATASAUQUA - With Northwestern holding a a slim 1-0 halftime lead over Moravian Academy in the Colonial League championship game, it became “Cammie Time” for the Tigers.

Senior Camryn Fitch has been a steadying influence and team leader for Northwestern throughout her career and Saturday was no different as she picked up three goals and an assist in the second half to help lead the Tigers to a 5-0 win and their fourth league title in the last five years.

Fitch also assisted on Northwestern’s only first-half goal.

While the Tigers never truly settled into the game in the first half, they were able to take advantage of a free kick to get the lead late in the half. The kick from Syenna Flores came from just in front of the Moravian Academy bench and into the middle of the field where Katie Brensinger headed the ball to Fitch, who then got it to freshman Sophia Schaffer, who fired the ball past goalie Addison Etter for the first goal of the game.

“There were a lot of things that came into play that first half, and you also have to give Moravian credit because they played a hard, physical game and brought the speed they possess. The speed especially was giving us fits,” said Tigers coach Jordan Smith.

Smith challenged his team to be more aggressive in the second half and they did just that. The faster pace of play left the Lions unable to shut down passing lanes as they had done in the first half, giving Northwestern more open looks.

Kherington Yezik nearly put the Tigers up by two goals, but goalkeeper Addison Etter tipped the shot over the crossbar. Just 20 seconds later, Fitch rocketed a shot to the back of the net for a 2-0 edge.

Paige Bissell was next in line for a goal as Fitch sent a pass to her, and Bissell fired toward Etter - who again got her fingertips on the ball, but was unable to tip it over the goal. Instead, the ball went to the back of the net for a quick 3-0 lead with 26:19 left in the game.

“I noticed that their outside backs weren’t as strong as their center back, so I took an outside back on and then cut into the middle and found an open spot. I aimed for the far post, and it went in,” said Bissell of her goal.

Bissell was not the only one to notice that the outside backs lacked the strength of the inside defenders.

Fitch later used the same technique and came down the right side before making a cut inside where she circled behind a defender for a better angle and fired to the top corner of the net from 25 yards out for her second goal of the game.

If you’re going to get two goals in a championship game, you might as well get three, so Fitch added another with just over 13 minutes left to play to make it 5-0.

The win was on the same field that Northwestern played on last season when they lost to Palmerton in the finals to snap their string of consecutive league championships.

“This feels great,” said Bissell. “I know we were all very disappointed about the outcome last season, and to come back and win 5-0 is a great feeling and gives us some added excitement going into districts.”

“We’re hopeful about the rest of the postseason and just have to take it one game at a time and hope for the best,” added Fitch.

KEEP IT GOING ... Northwestern (20-1) now moves into district play and will be the top seed in 2A. By virtue of being the top seed, Northwestern receives a bye in the quarterfinal round and will be off until Oct. 31 when it plays the winner of the Bethlehem Catholic (11-7) and Saucon Valley (11-4) quarterfinal game. Moravian Academy (11-7) will play in the Class 1A tournament. The rest will give senior Katie Brensinger time to rest her injured ankle that forced her out of the game against the Lions.