Clutch.

It’s a term that’s thrown around a lot in sports. But while the term is commonly used, truly clutch plays are very uncommon.

Northwestern’s Olivia Costa, however, can lay claim to such a designation after her critical clutch play late in the Tigers’ Colonial League semifinal matchup against Wilson.

Costa’s goal with just under two minutes remaining on Thursday night was enough to propel Northwestern to a 3-2 win over the Warriors, and a trip to the league championship game.

It was also a clutch win for the Tigers, who had dropped a contest to Wilson in the regular season back on Sept. 10.

Thursday night’s game was tied 1-1 at the half, despite the Tigers controlling play and holding an 8-1 advantage in penalty corner chances.

“We watched the film this week from our matchup with them earlier in the season, and we made some adjustments that worked out in our favor today,” said Northwestern head coach Lissa Opolsky. “Our girls on the fly were able to make some adjustments during the game as well, and I think it stifled their offense just enough to make the difference.”

After fighting off numerous Wilson offensive barrages in the third period, Northwestern went on top early in the fourth on a Cara Thomas strike to make it 2-1. The score was setup by a Tigers break out run down the right side. A shot deflected off the Wilson goalie, but Carsyn Van Norman gabbed the rebound and found Thomas, who fired a missile into the back of the goal.

Wilson would answer, however, on a Sophia Bandi goal at the 7:50 mark. It was one of multiple Wilson scoring opportunities in front of the goal in the second half - but their chances were thwarted time-and-time again by a stingy Northwestern defense.

“I’m so proud of our defensive effort tonight. We were able to clear out a lot of their scoring opportunities, and that was huge,” said Opolsky. “The girls hockey I.Q. has also grown so much, and there were some things we were able to do offensively that was setup from clearing the ball out.”

Both teams continued to apply offensive pressure in the fourth quarter, which resulted in back-to-back penalty corner opportunities with around two minutes to go in the game. On the Tigers’ second chance, the ball was knocked into the middle and was tipped by Hannah Gober to Costa, who sent it into the goal for the game-winner at the 1:48 mark.

“The play happened so fast and honestly, I think it was a little lucky, because of how fast everything happened, but it was a really good team effort to put the pressure on them in that situation,” said Costa. “We’re just a focused team right now. We watched a lot of film to prepare for this game, and we’re going to do the same for the next one. Just come in prepared and focused, and play hard.”

NEXT UP … Northwestern will meet Southern Lehigh at Alumni Field in Catasauqua on Saturday at 11 a.m. for the Colonial League championship.

STAT LINE … Brinley Rex scored the first goal of the night for Northwestern unassisted at the 8:37 mark of the second period. Zoey Ehlman scored the first goal of the game for Wilson.