The Northwestern girls soccer program has something that the Northern Lehigh program cherishes.

Over the last 10 years, as the Bulldogs have grown into a true competitor in the Colonial League, there have only been two teams who staked claim to the league championship trophy besides the Tigers.

Wednesday’s semifinal contest in Lehighton presented a challenge for the Bulldogs. The Tigers were looking to keep their perfect season intact on their way to Saturday’s CL championship game.

The No. 1 seeded Tigers beat the up-and-coming Bulldogs 6-0. And it was one fact over the other that Northwestern head coach Jordan Smith was glad to see for his Tigers that day with a 6-0 win over Northern Lehigh.

“I’m more excited about making it back to the CL championship than having a perfect season,” Smith said. “I tell the girls all the time you don’t win championships in the regular season, so tough losses where you learn something about your squad are OK.

“Now we’re in the postseason and it’s go time, win or you’re out of the tournament and next week it’s win or go home. I couldn’t be happier though to continue to play the level of soccer that has become a standard we set for ourselves and get the opportunity to compete for another championship for NW.”

Six different players scored for the Tigers Wednesday.

“They have people coming from everywhere,” Northern Lehigh coach Jason Reinhard said. “I said to the girls tonight that one of the problems is that every girl they have is as good as our best.”

Paige Bissell and Lexi Kercher both helped give Northwestern a 2-0 lead at half.

In the second half Mykaela Yanders, Brook Balliet, Sophia Schaffer and Marley Delillo all provided scores to seal the deal for the victors.

“Credit to Northern Lehigh,” said Smith. “They played a really good defensive scheme, and the goalie played great, as they made it really difficult to penetrate their back line, and we weren’t doing some of the things we needed to to create good opportunities.

“In the second half, we changed the point of attack quicker, and began playing the one and two touch combinations that make us a dangerous team. It was a clinical performance in the second half from us in the attacking third.”

While things went the way of the Tigers, Smith shared some kudos for Northern Lehigh, which has come a long way since a 1-11 record five years ago. The Bulldogs have qualified for the CL playoffs four out of the last five years, missing out only last season by a tiebreaker with Moravian Academy.

“You’ve got to give credit to NL on playing a really hard game, and giving us everything we could handle tonight,” Smith said. “They have a phenomenal player in Katelyn Barthold up front who has scored over 100 career goals.

“But our defense did a great job isolating her, and not let any transitions create any goal-scoring opportunities, and helping create a clean sheet for Olivia Reinhart in goal.”

THE OTHERS … Both Palmerton and Southern Lehigh have shared the honors with Northwestern as Colonial League champions in the last decade. The Bombers won it in 2022, while the Spartans raised the trophy from 2015 to 2018.

MISSING A KEY LINK … The Bulldogs were without a key link in their defensive unit as goalkeeper Dekota Barthold was sidelined due to illness.

TO THE DATE … It was six years to the date that the Tigers lost in the 2018 league semifinals, which marked the last time they had to watch other CL teams play for the gold, as that year Southern Lehigh won 1-0 over Palisades.

A LONG WAY … “It just has meant the world to me,” said Reinhard, talking about where things have gone from when he first took over the program 14 years ago. “When you start having success, it breeds success. We’re getting great athletes now, and we’re getting the kind of kids who play travel soccer all year long. To see the program come from where it was, I take a tremendous amount of pride in it. It was not good when I took it over. We have elevated ourselves to a level that nobody ever thought we could attain.”