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NW routs NDGP

The Northwestern Lehigh offense was on full display Monday night as they posted an 11-1 win over Notre Dame-Green Pond in the Colonial League girls soccer quarterfinals at Northern Lehigh’s Bulldog Stadium.

The Tigers received goals from four different players, while their defense limited the Crusaders to just three shots on goal.

Northwestern (19-0) got off to a quick start against Notre Dame as Paige Bissell deposited a shot into the upper left corner of the goal past the outstretched arm of goalie Emma Sobler for a 1-0 lead. The goal temporarily tied Bissell for the team lead in goals with Sophia Schaffer, who retook the lead when she scored her 25th goal of the season just under four minutes later as she was able to beat Sobler, who came out of the goal to cut down the angle only to have Schaffer slide her shot just past her and into the goal.

Despite the two early goals, Sobler — a freshman — made one acrobatic save after another that could have ended the game very quickly. As time went on, though, the defense was able to find a couple holes and beat Sobler with shots.

Notre Dame had to fight for every opportunity and its best opportunity came when it was awarded a free kick from 30 yards out.

Another freshman, Joey Hobbie, launched the ball on goal that got over the head of goalie Olivia Reinhart but caught the bottom edge of the crossbar and kicked back onto the field of play where Northwestern was able to clear the ball and end the opportunity.

“We are all close both on and off the field and we all communicate really well together. We have a lot of confidence in each other, and we trust each other to make plays,” said junior defensive player Sofia Sikora. “Our offense is really good, so that helps us to play up more and have confidence in being able to do that.”

Before the half reached the halfway mark, Schaffer added two more goals with the first coming off a strong pass from Bissell, and the second coming after the sophomore made swift moves around a pair of defenders for a clear look at the goal. The pair of goals gave Schaffer a hat trick and pushed the Northwestern lead to 4-0 with 18:53 still left in the first half.

Bella Cemelli was able to create an opportunity for the Crusaders with a leading pass to Hobbie. With Reinhart screened from the shot, Hobbie fired a shot to Reinhart’s left for what would be the only Notre Dame goal of the night with 16:40 left in the half.

The Notre Dame defense started playing tighter defense on Northwestern’s forwards and slowed the attack until the Tigers put together what was a picture perfect goal.

The play started with Schaffer using her speed to beat a defender down the left side and then perfectly placing a pass in front of Kherington Yezik in front of the goal. Yezik quickly switched the ball to her right foot and beat Sobler for a 5-1 Northwestern lead going into halftime.

“Part of being a winning team is just to keep going and never stop no matter who we are playing, and we have done that this season,” said Yezik. “Our confidence level is high and we really want to keep rolling in leagues and districts and then get into states, so we just keep going.”

Northwestern again started quickly in the second half as Schaffer picked up her fourth goal of the game less than four minutes into the half. Yezik put together a pair of goals in just under three minutes to make it 8-1. The first of the two goals hit the bottom of the crossbar and trickled into the goal, and the second went off the tips of Sobler’s fingers.

Brook Balliet added her first goal of the game when she fired a shot on goal that seemed to have caught Sobler off guard and the ball sailed between her legs.

With time running down, Northwestern was awarded a corner and sophomore Briella Lloyd found herself with a goal opportunity on the kick and beat Sobler for her first goal of the season and a 10-1 Northwestern lead.

Another sophomore, Amelia Glassberg, put a shot on goal from long distance and placed it perfectly over Sobler’s head and into the goal to wrap up the scoring for the Tigers.

“I thought we played great. In the first half, our ability to possess and our movement off the ball was really good,” said head coach Jordan Smith. “Defensively, we won a lot of 50/50 balls and really everybody on the team played well from Liv (Reinhart) in goal to Paige (Bissell) up front. They all played really well.”

SUPER SOPHOMORES … Schaffer and Yezik have now combined to score 50 goals this season for Northwestern. “Wow, 50 is a lot,” said Yezik of the achievement. “Sophia and I have been playing together a long time and we have really good chemistry. Both last season and this season we have had a really good connection, and that comes from playing together so much.”

ON TO THE SEMIS … Top-seeded Northwestern will face Northern Lehigh, the tournament’s fifth seed, Wednesday night at Lehighton High School.

Northwestern’s Sophia Czonstka looks to move the ball away from a Notre Dame Green Pond player. NANCY SCHOLZ/SPECIAL TO THE TIMES NEWS
Northwestern’s Kherington Yezik moves the ball downfield. NANCY SCHOLZ/SPECIAL TO THE TIMES NEWS