Prior to its District 11 Class AA showdown with Catasauqua, Northern Lehigh broke its pre-game huddle with the word "together."

The eight letter word stuck true to one of its many definitions as the No. 3 seeded Bulldogs went on to score a 7-0 victory over the No. 6 seeded Roughies Saturday afternoon in Slatington.Although it was a joint effort by the entire pack of Bulldogs to help secure a spot in Tuesday's semifinal against Colonial League nemesis Southern Lehigh, it was the way the seniors worked together to see their season live on another day.Six out of the seven Bulldog upperclassmen either scored a goal or recorded an assist in the all-important opening round victory."I do have a nice group of seniors," Northern Lehigh head coach Jess Frew stressed. "And their leadership and the way they play together and get along on and off the field really transends onto the field. I think a lot of our success has come from the fact that they are friends."So I always kind of stress we work together, we enjoy each other's company and we will be successful."From the beginning of the game until the final horn, it was evident that the Bulldogs worked "with each other".It was the pure determination of those seniors that held large in the scorebook, especially since four different ones scored goals (Erika McKay, Taryn Kemmerer, Taylor Herman and Julie Knerr) and three went on to record assists (Jessie Olewine, Alyssa Fritzinger, Dakota Schweitzer).While Olewine and Fritzinger both ended up setting up two different goals in the game, Knerr was able to match junior Cheyenne Mazzocca's effort with two goals. Junior Taylor Herman also added a single score.Knerr was happy to score twice, but the Bulldog forward was proud to admit it's the close relationship that holds more meaning to the Bulldogs' togetherness on the competitive field."We're honestly just such a close group," Knerr said. "We're like sisters and that shows out on the field because we can work together. We have like this connection that just helps us to pass, helps us score."We help each other and we play as a team and that's what you need to win."And it was that style of play that helped the Bulldogs get the victory, which now helps them take that next step in getting where they want to be. Knerr, and her classmates, want to make up for lost grounds from last year's district playoffs."Losing that night was absolutely awful," said Knerr, of last year's 1-0 loss to Southern Lehigh in the championship game. "We knew we could have won that game. So that's giving us a lot of motivation to play that much harder in districts because this is our last shot."Now, the third victory over Catty this season sets the stage for a fourth meeting between Northern Lehigh and Southern Lehigh at Emmaus. Game time is set for 5:30."Each time we played them unfortunately we have lost, but it was only a goal differential," Frew said. "So, we need to get in the mindset that anything is possible, believe in each other, support each other and all we have to do is have one more goal. And, basically, reinforce finishing and working together."This is the ninth consecutive year that we have be in districts. It has been become tradition and I just want to stress that we want to continue to be successful and make it a tradition that Northern Lehigh is respresented in Districts and represented well."