EMMAUS - Poise under pressure.

That was the message that Northwestern coach Nate Hunsicker delivered to his players at halftime of Thursday night’s District 11 Class 2A championship game.

That message was well received by the Tigers as they stayed calm, cool, and collected - a demeanor that helped them defeat Allentown Central Catholic, 2-1, and capture district gold.

Neither team was able to score in the first half of the game, and it led to a rising level of frustration for both teams. In his halftime message, Hunsicker warned his team to simply focus on the task at hand and not play with reckless abandon. Early on, the calming message was tested, and Matt Johnson gave into emotion and competitiveness, resulting in a yellow card with 34:05 left to play.

“I told them that first and foremost, we have to keep our composure in the second half, whether it’s with each other, the other team, the officials, whatever. That was going to be paramount for success,” said Hunsicker. “For the most part, they did with just some little blips here and there. They’re 15, 16, 17-year-old kids, and they are going to have lapses – I think I had a lapse or two on the sideline myself – but they did it and that is what saw us through.”

Shortly after Johnson’s yellow card, the Vikings caught a break when Jack Mauro was called for a handball in the penalty box to give Central a penalty kick. Daniel Petruno took the kick and placed the shot just out of reach of goalkeeper Damian Krapf for the first goal of the game.

Ironically, the 1-0 lead failed to help Central Catholic compose itself as it started to play out of control.

With 28:42 left in regulation, Maksym Komperda, the EPC’s Most Valuable Player, picked up the first of what would be four yellow cards given to Vikings players. Max Peterson later took the second card and :32 later, Fitch blasted a free kick into the upper right corner of the net to tie the game 1-1.

“I didn’t say anything to Cayden, but last night I had a dream that he scored an equalizer. When he hit that I thought ‘oh, my gosh, this is wild!’ He made an awesome shot,” said Hunsicker.

“It was weird because usually, I play a shot like that in for someone else to play, thinking maybe Josh (Zellner) or Matt (Johnson) can get a header,” said Fitch. “Jake (Van Lierop) and Jack (Mauro) were there with me saying ‘shoot it, shoot it,’ so I figured I would take the shot, and it was the right move.”

With added momentum, senior Dart Delillo played a perfect cross and Josh Zellner turned it into the go-ahead goal.

“We didn’t quit when we went down 1-0. In fact, it lit a fire under us, and we came out firing and when we got the momentum going, it just took the fire right out of them,” said Zellner, a senior.

“We have relied on those guys (seniors) all season. They were taking control of the team before the game, and really gave us great leadership on the field and helped to keep everybody focused and calm,” said Hunsicker. “It was great to see Dart and Josh hook up on that goal.”

With :20 left to play, Central Catholic’s Pearce Wagner put a shot on goal that was stopped by Krapf, and time ran out before the Vikings (14-8-0) could find another opportunity.

BACK TO STATES ... This is the fourth season in a row that Northwestern (22-1-0) has gone to states, giving them some experience for their players to rely on. The Tigers will host the runner-up of the District 12 (WHAT) on Tuesday at Tiger Stadium.