WHITEHALL - At the beginning of the season, it was all about gaining varsity experience for Northwestern.

Along the way, the team took some lumps, but in the end, it showed that the ‘no pain, no gain’ adage worked to its advantage.

Last week in the Colonial League semifinals, the underdog Tigers knocked off No. 2 seed Wilson and advanced to the league finals.

Monday night in the District 11 Class 1A semifinals, they took out No. 2 seed Moravian Academy 1-0 to not only advance to the district finals, but also earn a spot in PIAA state tournament.

The win over Moravian (12-4-1) was a testament to how the team gained experience throughout the year. After a 4-1 loss to the Lions during the regular season, Northwestern (17-5-1) showed a stronger defense and more patience in this matchup.

“That game was in the early part of the season, and we have just improved in general since then,” said Northwestern’s Cara Thomas. “Our passing game and our chemistry on the field is improved tremendously, and that’s really what made the difference here tonight.”

A sophomore, Thomas had one of those nights where she seemed destined to score a goal. She was in front of the net on a couple of corners, but Moravian goalkeeper Rosie John was able to swat the shots away from in front of the cage. Later, Thomas put a shot toward John, but it carried to the side of the goal.

Thomas eventually got that goal early in the second quarter when she took a pass from Brinley Rex, advanced toward the goal, pushed the ball ahead as she sidestepped a defender, and released a shot that beat John for the first and only goal of the game.

“I just had the feeling that one of us was going to score pretty soon because we were getting chances, but it didn’t matter who. I think we all just had that feeling that it was coming,” Thomas said.

If Thomas had the offensive play of the night for the Tigers, then Rylee McGinley had the defensive stop of the game. Looking to bounce back from Thomas’ goal, the Warriors had a three-on-one advantage coming toward the cage. The ‘one’ for Northwestern was McGinley, who was able to poke the ball away from Moravian Academy’s Moriah Mitchell and play it out of harm’s way.

“I was just telling myself to be patient, and not come out on the play and allow her to get around me. I stayed back and was able to make a stop on the play,” said McGinley. “I always watch the ball, because a lot of players will fake one way with their eyes and then go the other way.”

The Northwestern defense continued to dominate play throughout the rest of the game, frustrating Moravian as it fought to work inside. Ultimately, its drives were thwarted by one of the defenders.

“Our ball movement tonight was what we know we are capable of, but we just haven’t seen it on a consistent basis, so we are happy with putting all that together,” said Northwestern coach Lissa Opolsky. “Moravian made some runs here and there, and we were able to limit our mistakes and come up with some big plays and be patient defensively.”

Opolsky mentioned Rex and Brooke Page as standouts defensively for Northwestern.

“This was absolutely one of the best games that we played this season, and was right there with the Wilson game in the semifinals for the league,” said Opolsky. “We showed that we have the ability to have a passing game and work in small spaces and play with speed, and that was key today.”

DRESSED FOR PRACTICE … Opolsky noted that after the win over Palisades in the district quarterfinal, the team had put together a strong set of practices. With that in mind, the team held a short Sunday practice dressed in their Halloween costumes to get in a little work with the added twist of having fun.

REMATCH … With Wilson downing Palmerton 2-1 in the other semifinal, the Tigers will now have their third meeting of the season with the Warriors for the district championship on Thursday at Whitehall (5:30 p.m.). Northwestern lost to Wilson 4-3 early in the season, before eliminating them from the Colonial League playoffs in a 3-2 game in the league semis. Both teams will have spots waiting for them in the PIAA tournament.