Logan Mesics was somewhat of a man on a mission Thursday night at Northern Lehigh’s Bulldog Stadium.

The junior forward scored two goals as Northwestern won its 24th straight game and sixth straight district championship with a 4-0 win over Notre Dame-Green Pond in the 2A championship game.

“Anytime you can contribute to the scoresheet in a big game like this, it’s always a great feeling,” said Mesics. “Caelan (Stangil) gave us that early lead and that’s always big, and I think it kind of put it in their heads what kind of night it was going to be.

“We just used that momentum from that goal the rest of the way.”

Stangil’s opening goal came just 3:12 into the game when a shot ricocheted off Notre Dame goalie Mark Perone and bounded right to him. Without breaking stride, Stangil blew it past Perone for a quick 1-0 advantage.

From that point on, the game turned more physical and there would be a total of four yellow cards handed out — two of which were given to Notre Dame players, with a third being given to coach Trevor Koski. Jacob van Lierop was given a yellow card for Northwestern.

With 8:25 left in the first half, senior Cayden Lloyd fed a lead pass to Mesics, who was able to play the ball into a goal to give the Tigers a little breathing room and send them to halftime with a 2-0 advantage.

Northwestern opened the second half just as it did the game when they got a quick strike.

This time, the goal came just 4:57 into the half and again, Mesics was in the middle of the play. Jack Mauro got the ball over to Mesics, who again was able to beat Perone as Northwestern expanded its lead to 3-0.

The toughest goal of the night went to Cole Mertz, who had been played hard all night by the Crusaders defense.

Van Lierop fed the ball from the end line to Mertz, who was positioned at the right corner of the goal mouth with Perone directly in front of him. Somehow, Mertz was able to squeeze the ball between Perone and the post for what would be the final goal of the night with 17:27 left to play.

From there, the play became even more physical with both sides looking for an advantage.

Meanwhile, the Northwestern defense refused to bend, and the Crusaders were unable to find openings for high percentage shots on goal.

“Their main goal was just to play the ball over the top. They didn’t have a lot of possession and passing in the middle, so it was a little more challenging to read all the balls coming in,” said senior goalie Brandon Krapf, who recorded his 15th shutout of the season.

“That was their main approach on offense, and we did a pretty good job of working on that and keeping the ball out of the net.”

Northwestern outshot the Crusaders 17-7 on the night.

“Brandon (Krapf) made some huge saves for us in the second half when Notre Dame was knocking on the door and looking to make some noise,” said Tiger head coach Nate Hunsicker. “He kind of defied gravity there for a moment on one where he was sprawled across the net.

“We were hoping to be up by a couple more at halftime, so you have to credit them because they played a solid game defensively. Anytime we can score four goals in a playoff game, especially with our defense, I like our chances.”

Facing a physical opponent is not unfamiliar to Northwestern, who played a wild and physical game against Moravian Academy two nights earlier in the semifinals and also in the league championship. Staying calm is one of the things that Hunsicker has stressed to his players.

“It’s one of the biggest things,” said Hunsicker about emphasizing composure. “The kids know that my staff and I are just not going to tolerate it and put up with losing your composure because you are letting the team down and letting your school down; it’s one of our founding principles.”

TRIPLE THREAT … The win gives Northwestern a home game in the opening round of states, and it will be the third act of a Tuesday triple-header at Tiger Stadium. Field hockey opens states at 3 p.m., followed by girls soccer at 5, and then the boys soccer game against Millville, the runner-up in District 4, at 7 p.m.