LEBANON - Last week, Northwestern's boys soccer team won its first state playoff game in program history. The Tigers took it a step further on Saturday.

The District 11 champs scored two goals in the final eight minutes to beat Gettysburg, 2-0, earning their second state playoff win and a berth into Tuesday's PIAA Class AA semifinal."I said at halftime that the two things that are going to win this game are heart and execution," said Northwestern head coach Nate Hunsicker. "We had two quality goal-scoring opportunities at the end and we executed on them and that was the difference in the game."Northwestern's first-half scoring opportunities were few. The second half didn't look much different until JD Haaf got his first shot on goal late in the game.The Tigers' leading scorer took a pass from teammate Andrew Goodolf in the middle of the field about 40 yards from the goal.Haaf had a small cluster of defenders around him, but Goodolf's pass got by two of them and Haaf beat the third one before Gettysburg goalie Yanni Tassou came out to challenge."The goalie was coming out," said Haaf. "The defender was on my back. I had to make something happen."Haaf took the ball to about 25 yards out and chipped the ball high over Tassou. It dropped just under the crossbar to give Northwestern a 1-0 lead with 7:40 left in the second half.Just 2:20 later Keegan Coffield made it 2-0 when he got his foot on a crossing pass and deflected it into the goal."I just lined up on back post waiting for the cross to get in," said Coffield, a center back. "I stuck a leg out hopefully to get something on it and it just went in the net."While Coffield's goal put the game out of reach, it was only a small part of what he and the rest of the Tiger defense accomplished on Saturday at Cedar Crest High School.The Tiger defense fended off the consistent pressure from Gettysburg. The Warriors only recorded three shots on goal, but many more chances were thwarted before the ball ever got to Northwestern keeper Kyle Bellhorn, who now has two state playoff shutouts.Gettysburg had six corners in the game, but the Tiger backfield, which includes Coffield, Jonathan Blaine, Dominic Mertz and Tommy Creighton, made sure there was no damage."Our defense is awesome," said Hunsicker. "I can't give them enough accolades, not just today but all season long and especially today. They weathered the storm for 80 minutes. We put ourselves under a lot of pressure and they answered the call every single time. Kyle played well in the back but the four or five guys in front of him played equally as well if not better."The Warriors (22-1) seemed to keep the ball in their half of the field most of the first 60 minutes of the game. But when they got deep into their offensive third of the field, the Tiger defense tightened.While Bellhorn doesn't see many shots, he appears ready for one at any time."He didn't make many saves, but when he did he made them count," said Haaf. "Our defenders really did a great job keeping them out. It was just an overall great team effort."GOODOLF MAKES GOOD ... After serving a five-minute penalty resulting from a yellow card, Goodolf returned to the game and within eight minutes served the game-winning assist. "He's been our spark plug all year," said Hunsicker. "He has a very fiery personality. He hated to have to come out and sit for those five minutes. He wanted to make amends for those transgressions and he definitely did that by finding JD.""D-FENCE, D-FENCE"… Bellhorn and the Northwestern defense have posted shutouts in five of their seven postseason games, including both league playoff games, both state games and the district title game.STATE SEMIFINAL … Northwestern moves on to face District 4 champ Lewisburg Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Lower Dauphin High School in Hummelstown.