Northwestern and Saucon Valley are familiar with each other when it comes to postseason play as the two Colonial League foes have met for the league championship the past three seasons.

This year, however, the two ended up facing off in the semifinals with the No. 4 seeded Tigers upsetting the top-seeded Panthers, 1-0, on Tuesday at Northern Lehigh High School.Senior defender Haley Hebelka's first-half score off a rebound lifted Northwestern into yet another league final. The Tigers will face Southern Lehigh Thursday at 5 p.m. at Northern Lehigh High School Stadium."I really wanted to crash the net and follow in because that's what we've been working on in practice, and it just happened," Hebelka said. "Saucon Valley is one of the best teams right now and to beat them in the semifinals is just crazy and an amazing feeling."The only other time that the two opponents met this season was on Sept. 18, when the Panthers prevailed, 2-0.However, leading goal-scorer Lauren Binn (31 goals) and top defender Ashleigh Nagy sat out this time around with injuries, forcing Saucon Valley head coach Stevie Ochse to shuffle some players around."Unfortunately, for us, we had two injuries in the last week, so it was more trying to shift around our lineup," the veteran coach said. "We had people in positions that they weren't used to. But we knew from playing against Northwestern so many times at this time of the year, we knew what we were going to get."The winners burst out of the gate with intense focus, controlled aggression and strategic attacks to maintain the possession throughout the first half, and eventually the entire game."Prior to tonight, I don't think we had really found ourselves out there," Northwestern coach Kelly Bleam said. "We ended the regular season with quite the struggle and two losses in the league. We were able to return some of our injured players to the lineup tonight, and the girls really wanted it and really bought into the strategy that we put together. So, despite the slump we had, all evidence says 'yes,' this team has identified themselves and has decided that they want to play."TIGER TRACKS ... Hebelka's goal came in the first half and Maggie Motolese had the assist. Goalie McKenna Amey was strong in net, as she prevented the Panthers from scoring, stopping five shots. The winners held edges in shots (9-2) and corners (6-1).FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING ... Until last night's game, Saucon hadn't lost to a Colonial League team this year as their record during the regular season was 11-0-1, the tie coming at the hands of Palisades - 0-0 last Thursday.'FINAL' COUNTDOWN ... CL Championship game opponents Northwestern and Southern Lehigh have met one other time this season with the Tigers winning, 4-1. Emily Renner scored two goals in that game.