Over its first five games of the season, Northern Lehigh interim field hockey coach Kassandra Beller has seen progress from her players.

On Saturday, her Bulldogs ran into one of the better programs in the area in Northwestern and fell to the Tigers 12-0.

For Northwestern coach Lissa Opolsky, it was the type of performance that she has come to expect from her team.

“We have played well so far, and the girls are coming together,” said Opolsky, whose team is now 5-0 both in the Colonial League and overall this season. “There are always things you can do better, but we keep working hard and the girls are taking what we do in practice onto the field with them.”

Carsyn Van Norman and Olivia Costa both finished with three goals and assisted each other on goals. Costa had the hot start for the Tigers when she scored both of her goals in the first five minutes of action, the first coming off a corner play for Northwestern, and the second off a feed from Van Norman.

Between her two goals, Hannah Gober put a shot into the upper part of the cage, and with 10:05 left in the first quarter, Northwestern had a 3-0 lead.

A little under five minutes later, Northwestern was awarded another quarter and Cara Thomas fed Ella Dangello, who was able to put a shot on goal that banged off the bottom of the cage for a 4-0 advantage. The first quarter ended with a goal from Karaline Schmoyer in the final minute of play to stretch Northwestern’s lead to 5-0.

Northern Lehigh’s (0-5 Colonial, 0-7 overall) offense was unable to work deep into Northwestern territory until later in the second quarter, but was unable to put much pressure on goalie Ryan Smolinsky.

The same could not be said for the Tigers, who continued their offensive onslaught in the second quarter when Thomas picked up her second assist in the contest by feeding Taylor Langley for a 6-0 lead. Just as Costa had the hot stick early on, Van Norman took over in the second half and less than two minutes after Langley’s goal, Van Norman notched her first goal of the game to make it 7-0.

Perhaps the best goal in this one came with time running down going into halftime as Olivia Snyder put a shot on goal toward the left corner of the net. The shot appeared to be headed for the post until Makayla Bressi poked her stick into the path of the ball to guide it into the corner of the cage for the eighth goal of the game for Northwestern.

Van Norman added goals in the third and fourth quarters, and Costa gave herself a hat trick in the third when she scored just 90 seconds into the quarter. Costa fed Van Norman for her third goal of the contest early in the final quarter and less than a minute later, Costa went from an assist-maker to goal scorer to cap the scoring at 12-0.

A LOOMING SHOWDOWN… Admittedly, Northwestern has not had the toughest competition through its first five games, having played teams with a combined mark of 8-21-1. Its next two opponents, Palisades and Saucon Valley, are a combined 3-6-1. Northwestern surely has Friday’s game circled on its calendar as it faces rival Southern Lehigh (3-1-0) for the first time this season. The only loss for the Spartans came in their season opener against EPC powerhouse Parkland 1-0. Friday’s game is at Northwestern.

“Friday is going to challenge us,” said Opolsky. “Southern Lehigh is always a good team, and we have had some really good games in the past and it should be the same this time around.”

Northern Lehigh 0 0 0 0 – 0

Northwestern 5 3 2 2 -12

Goals: Northwestern – Van Norman 3, Costa 3, Bressi 2, Langley 1, Gober 1, D’Angelo 1, Thomas 1.

Corners: Northwestern 8

Records: Northern Lehigh (0-7); Northwestern (5-0).