Northern Lehigh did its best to erase Northwestern's early one-goal lead in Thursday night's field hockey game.

The Bulldogs peppered the Tiger cage with shots in the second half and even got one through to tie the game.But Northwestern's freshman goal keeper Taylor Page made sure that was the only one to get through as the team's settled for a 1-1 tie."They have a much stronger team [than last season]," said Northern Lehigh head coach Jess Frew. "They had a great passing game. Their head coach is a goalie coach and it's clear the goalies are being coached very well."After facing just one shot in the first 30 minutes, Page saw seven more in the second half and one more in the 15-minute overtime. She turned away all of them except Taylor Herman's equalizer with 16:01 left in the game.After a series of corners, the Bulldog senior got a shot past Page off an assist from Hayley Pavolko."They weren't totally ready to play," Frew said of her team. "After they got down they started to play. They showed a lot more hustle, a lot better passing game. They had a better flow. That's what we were trying to do, get the game under control."While the Bulldogs controlled the second half, the first half was even.Northwestern got an early goal just five minutes and 48 seconds into the game when Courtney Page scored the Tigers' first goal against Northern Lehigh since Sept. 9 2011, when they lost a 2-1 game to the Bulldogs."We're a pretty young team who just seems to have a mental lull in part of the game that we're trying to recognize and fix," said Northwestern head coach Lissa Opolsky. "This game's the first one we were able to stay strong and maintain what we were doing even though it was scary at some times."In the 7-on-7 overtime period, both teams had some chances. The Bulldogs (1-2-1 overall, 1-1- CL) put two balls in the back of the cage, but both were shot from outside the circle.Page and the defense of Avery George, Haley Dietrich and Danielle Schmidt helped defend a few Northern Lehigh corners late in the second half and in overtime.The Tigers (2-3-1 overall, 2-1-1 CL) had one corner opportunity in the second half, but Herman grabbed the insert pass and took it the other way.Bulldog goal keeper Veronica Green stopped four shots in the game.For Northwestern, a team that has struggled the past few seasons, the tie was a confidence builder."For us I think it could be a turning point for our season," said Opolsky. "It showed us what we could really accomplish. They play with a lot of these girls in the offseason. They know them and they know us and I think it was a game they wanted."Northern Lehigh is a team that's been around the top of the league the past several seasons but replaced a large group of senior graduates. The tie wasn't the desired result, but it showed Frew her team is capable of battling back."They're coming along nicely," said Frew. "They're working well together."I have a large group of ninth graders that are coming into their own. They're really starting to learn the game and learn what it's about to play a varsity game and the pace. I have three freshman playing pretty consistently."SHUT OUT STREAK ENDS ... Northern Lehigh had posted six straight Colonial League shut out wins over Northwestern. The Bulldogs outscored the Tigers 28-0 in those games over the past three seasons. The Tigers' have not beaten the Bulldogs since a 2-1 win on October 6, 2010. The teams played to a 1-1 tie in 2011.MAKING IT COUNT ... The Tigers had just one shot in the first half and it found the back of the cage.GETTING CLOSE ... After going 3-13 in the Colonial League last season, Northwestern is already one win away from reaching that total this season. The Bulldogs were 13-3 last season.