HUMMELSTOWN - Northwestern's girls soccer team reached new heights Saturday with its 4-1 win over Greencastle-Antrim in the PIAA Class AA quarterfinals.

The Tigers are headed to the state semifinals for the first time in program history. On Tuesday they'll face District 1 champ Villa Joseph Marie, which knocked Northwestern out of last year's state tournament.After winning back to back league and district titles, Northwestern is just two wins from a state championship."This team is without doubt very soccer talented," said Tiger head coach Kelly Bleam. "It's all them. They are outstanding. They are an outstanding team. They have team discipline and self discipline. They bring their minds with them every singe day they come to practice and every single day they step on the game field."The Tigers had a few opportunities before opening the scoring on Sarah Segan's goal with 17:26 left in the first half.The Blue Devils tied the game and took momentum back when their leading scorer, Ally Rudy found teammate Hannah Crist open in front of the net. Crist booted one past Tiger keeper Laura Hill to tie the game with 9:35 left in the half.The Tigers got momentum back just over a minute before halftime when Sarah Segan centered a ball from the left corner. Lydia Danner touched the ball to Angela Motolese, who beat Greencastle goalie Jenay Faulkner to give the Tigers the lead for good."That was huge," said Bleam. "We missed some opportunities in the fisrt half that we don't usually miss and I think that goal before half just really shifted momentum and we were able to carry on after the half with that same momentum. That was a huge goal."McKenzi Divers got the Tigers a two-goal lead when she scored off a corner play, assisted by Motolese, with 28:41 left in the game."They're a very good ball club," said Blue Devil head coach Greg Cole. "I expect them to make a good run at the PIAA. We made a ball game of it for a while, but when they put that third goal in, that gave them the momentum. And I don't think they needed a lot of momentum. It's nice for my girls to play against quality players like that."Sabrina Mertz, who assisted on Segan's first goal, once again found her teammate for the final goal of Saturday's win to give Northwestern a 4-1 lead.Cole, who likes to research opponents and watch any video he can find, was impressed by the Tigers' depth."It just wasn't [Mertz and Segan]," he said. "Up to this point in districts and PIAA, we've had to keep our eye on two kids, max. When you're dealing with five or six kids you have to keep you're eye on, it's a challenge."The Tigers defense has been challenged several times during the postseason. Greencastle had several skilled offensive players but had only a few god scoring chances as it was out-shot 16-8 in the game."We knew we had to watch our for [Rudy]," said Northwestern center back Lexi Gawelko. "But our game plan was we had to put a little emphasis on her but they had so many other threats, too. We were able to keep them in check. Our defense has really been coming together in the postseason."The Tiger defense did not allow a Blue Devil penalty corner throughout the game."I know we have some girls that get a lot of ink," said Bleam. "Honestly, this team's success is truly in the team. I know those are the words that coaches use, but it's not farce. It's the truth. All of this team contributes to our success. Hats off to Lexi Gawelko, our center back. What a game she had. Just terrific. And Laura Hill. I think that's the best game I've ever seen her play and this is the right time to do it."Hill made seven saves in Saturday's game.The Tigers move on to Tuesday's semifinal with revenge on their mind. They won't think about what's ahead if they win. That's the approach Bleam and her teams always take. And it's worked very well so far."Every game our goal is win that game and then we just focus on the next game," said Gawelko. "It's one game at a time for us and if it just keeps adding up, that's awesome."