Perhaps goal scoring is contagious.

If so, the Lady Tigers (22-0) were infected Wednesday night as they scored goals in bunches.

First came three goals within two minutes of each other, then two goals in a minute and a half, and a third outbreak that saw two goals scored in 20 seconds.

It all added up to a 10-0 win over Pine Grove (10-8) in the quarterfinal round of the District 11 soccer playoffs.

The first goal came just 2:26 into the game when Paige Bissell delivered a picture-perfect feed to Sophia Schaffer as the sophomore came down the right side of the field. Schaffer put her shot past goalie Alyssa Moyer for the early lead.

Just 1:26 later, Northwestern played the ball in off of a corner and Bissell again provided a strong feed, this time to Brook Balliet as Northwestern took a 2-0 advantage. Less than a minute after that, Bissell went from giving the feed to taking the feed as Dylan Ritter got the ball directly in front of the net and Bissell played a high bounce to pop the ball over Moyer who dove to attempt a save.

“We knew Pine Grove has some really good players, so we came out with a lot of energy and intensity,” said Balliet, a senior. “I think it’s important to get early goals like that to get us into our flow and allow us to relax a little and not have to push later in the game.”

With a 3-0 lead just under five minutes into the game, Northwestern wasn’t ready to relax just yet. Balliet put a shot on goal that rebounded off of Moyer and came out to Schaffer, who calmly put a shot back on goal and out of the reach of Moyer.

Only 42 seconds went off the clock when Bissell picked up her third assist, and Balliet recorded her second goal of the night when Balliet took a pass just in front of the goalie and made a quick move to get her shot past her for a 5-0 advantage before the first half had reached its midway point.

The Pine Grove defense had trouble matching the speed and keeping containment on passes, and it led to another goal when Amelia Glassberg put a pass to the middle of the field where Schaffer was left wide open and the shot went just past the outstretched hand of Moyer, who had to dive to attempt the save.

The next outbreak of goals came with 5:50 left in the first half when Glassberg again used her passing skills to get the ball to Bissell, who placed a shot perfectly under the crossbar and just above Moyer’s fingertips. At the 5:30 mark, Schaffer added her fourth goal of the night to send the game to halftime with Northwestern up 8-0.

“Our team has a lot of energy, and we definitely build off of each other and I think that makes us a great team. We have great chemistry and are always pulling for each other,” said Schaffer, who as a sophomore is in her second postseason as a starter for the Lady Tigers. “Having last year’s experience behind me and knowing what to expect has really helped me this season. Now, I can just rely on my skills and not be nervous at all.”

Just to round out the scoring, Kherington Yezik was assisted on a goal by Emily Kistler just past the midway point of the second half and Syenna Flores nailed a penalty kick with 6:02 left in regulation to make it 10-0.

“I was impressed with our unselfish play tonight, I thought that was amazing. Just their ability to move the ball side-to-side and work on and do some of the things that we talked about doing against Pine Grove was great. They did it flawlessly and it showed on the field,” said coach Jordan Smith.

PLEASED TO MEET YOU… Northwestern now faces North Schuylkill (16-5) in the semifinals of class 2A. The two teams have not met this season, but that doesn’t appear to be much of a concern to the players.

“We know we are going to be seeing better teams each game and teams that we aren’t familiar with, but we also know that we can rely on our abilities and just go out and play hard,” said Balliet of the upcoming challenge.

The Spartans were runners up in the Schuylkill League. The semifinal game will be played Tuesday at a place and time to be announced.