CATASAUQUA - The game of soccer turned out to be a cruel one for Northwestern Lehigh on Saturday.

The team went through the regular season and the Colonial League semifinals without a loss and came into the finals at Catasauqua High School looking to make it a perfect 20 in a row.

The gold medals would make a nice reminder of that undefeated season.

Instead, the silver medals are a reminder of a heartbreaking 2-1 overtime loss to Southern Lehigh - taking away the perfect season and denying the Tigers the league championship.

“We just weren’t connecting in the midfield, in the buildup,” said Northwestern head coach Nate Hunsicker. “In spurts, we were possessing the ball and we created some opportunities, but on the whole, it just seemed a little disconnected today; a little disjointed.”

A key for the Spartans was ending another streak that Northwestern had going.

In that streak, either senior Josh Zellner or junior Matt Johnson had scored for the Tigers in 13 straight games and 18 of the 19 that the team played in 2022. The streak was nearly extended when Matt Johnson put a bicycle kick on goal with just :36 left in the first half, but Southern Lehigh goalie Ayden Scharper seized the ball out of the air to keep it out of the net.

The Tigers held on to the momentum through halftime and with 36:56 left in the second half, Jack Mauro took a pass from Zellner and deposited it into the front left corner of the goal to give Northwestern a 1-0 lead.

The goal got the Spartans attention, and they threw a switch to find some momentum and spent the next 15 minutes looking to even up the game.

A shot from Chris Venezia went over the crossbar and Jack Johnson came close with a header that was stopped by goalkeeper Damian Krapf.

With 22:42 left in regulation, Matthew O’Neill finally found a crack in the defense and fired a shot that beat Krapf to tie the game at 1-1.

The two teams shared opportunities the rest of the way, and Zellner fired a shot off the crossbar with eight minutes left in regulation that had Scharper beat had it been slightly lower.

“After we went up 1-0, we had a couple moments after that where we had opportunities,” Hunsicker said. “We had a one-on-one with the keeper and there was a play where Matt (Johnson) was just inches away from getting the bottom of a cleat on it and redirecting it in the net.

“I think if we get either one of those and the game goes to 2-0, it becomes a different game for us.”

With just under 10 minutes remaining in overtime, the tandem of Johnson and Zellner nearly hooked up on a game-winner.

Johnson headed the ball toward the front of the goal and Zellner used a bicycle kick only to have Scharper make an athletic play to deny Northwestern the championship. Southern Lehigh responded minutes later when Johnson played a near perfect ball from midfield to the right side for Landon Bealer, who made a couple strong moves and put a low cross past Krapf for the 2-1 win.

“Hopefully, we can use this as fuel for districts and keep us motivated,” said Hunsicker, who thinks the loss may not hurt their chances in districts.

“It actually makes our district path a little bit easier to the championship, but I would much rather have had a harder path and an extra goal today.”

REVENGE ... The win was some revenge for the Southern Lehigh class of 11 seniors who had lost to Northwestern in the league finals in every other season of their high school career.

DISTRICT LANDSCAPE ... Northwestern gets a bye into the quarterfinals of the District 11 tournament and will face the winner of the first-round game between seventh-seeded Pine Grove and Saucon Valley, the 10th seed. That game will be played Wednesday night at 7:30 at Tiger Stadium. The semifinals and finals will be played at neutral sites.