Consistency is a word that can be used to define the play of the Northwestern boys and girls soccer programs in recent years.

Dynasty is a word you can use to describe the result of that consistency.Whether you are talking about the impressive winning percentage both teams have compiled, or how they have annually contended for Colonial League and District 11 championships, or the amount of student-athletes who have moved on to play collegiately from both programs, Northwestern soccer has definitely made a name for itself."I have been the girls head coach here 19 years, and it seems that every year is the same," said Kelly Bleam. "Success breeds success. The underclassmen, and even the players in the youth programs, see the amount of success the juniors and seniors before them have had and they learn from them and want to be just as good."The Lady Tigers have been a shoe-in of late for the Colonial League championship game - having qualified each of the last four years and having won it twice. Each year they have had different players step up and shine in the black, gold, and white jerseys. That consistency speaks volumes about Bleam's program."A lot of the girls play together in the offseason," Bleam said. "They like to stay together and keep playing to get better and are used to playing with each other."I think the girls in the community in general look forward to being a part of our team. They know that when they come to the high school, they will have to be ready and prepared to work hard."Once again in 2016, Northwestern is at or near the top of the league standings and district rankings. The Tigers, 14-2-1 overall and 8-1-1 in the Colonial League, are second to Pine Grove in the D-11 Class AA rankings, and sit a game behind first place Saucon Valley in the league.The Northwestern (10-0-1) boys program has also seen success throughout the years. They have won the Colonial League title two out of the last three years, and currently are leading the league this season."I'm ecstatic with the success our program has had the past few years," said boys coach Nate Hunsicker. "We've had the two league titles, a district championship and runner-up finish, as well as several players moving on and playing collegiately. It's very exciting to say the least."We are hungry for more though and hope to continue to build on our recent success."For how much success the boys program has had in recent years, however, that's not what Hunsicker finds most rewarding"I'm proud of the accomplishments our kids make in the classroom and the community more than anything else," he said. "They are a great group of young men, and I'm very fortunate to have and had such well-rounded student-athletes on my teams the past few seasons."The success both Northwestern teams have had on and off the field shows no signs of slowing down. Both programs feature a nice combination of outstanding seniors and talented underclassmen on their rosters, which bodes well for this postseason, and for future seasons as well.*******SAVE THE BEST FOR LAST... After starting the season without a head coach, having their first three matches cancelled due to a lack of players, and losing their first 12 matches to start the year, the Tamaqua girls tennis team ended its season on a high note last Wednesday with a 3-2 victory over William Allen, their first of the year. Brooke Williams and Carmen Gonzales picked up singles victories for the Lady Raiders, while the doubles team of Adiah Balliet and Samantha Farley also emerged victorious. Brooke Williams was responsible for three of Tamaqua's five singles victories on the season. Prior to last week's win, Tamaqua (1-12) failed to score more than one point in any match this season and was shutout in eight of its 12 matches.*******LEAVING STREAKS... As mentioned in last week's notebook, the Pleasant Valley volleyball team tacked on three more victories to their Times News-leading nine- game winning streak. In all nine of those victories, the Lady Bears swept their opponents, 3-0. After starting the year 1-4, Pleasant Valley now sits with a 10-4 record, thus clinching a berth in the District 11 playoffs. Currently, the next longest winning streaks in the Times News area belong to the Lehighton volleyball team and the Northwestern boys soccer team, both of whom are riding five-game winning streaks.*******TRICKS ARE FOR KIDS... There were six more "hat tricks" recorded by Times News area athletes this past week. In boys soccer, Jim Thorpe's Jorge Macareno tallied three goals last Thursday in a 5-4 setback to Lehighton, while in girls scocer, Northwestern's Jessica Williams and Jim Thorpe's Jackie Condly both recorded four goals in wins last Thursday against Northern Lehigh and North Schuylkill, respectively. It was Condly's second hat trick of the season. In addition, Tamaqua's Kayla Sherry scored three goals in Monday's 5-2 girls soccer victory over Northern Lehigh. There were also two hat tricks in field hockey this past week. Last Wednesday, Palmerton's Trisha Billig had four goals in a 4-2 victory over Catasauqua, while Pleasant Valley's Patricia Dominick netted three goals in a 9-0 victory over Pocono Mountain West. Northwestern boys soccer player Ken Gawelko leads the Times News area with three hat tricks on the season.*******A MILESTONE WIN... On Monday evening, the Tamaqua girls soccer team won its 200th game in the 18-year history of the program with a 5-2 victory over Northern Lehigh. The milestone win improves Tamaqua to 8-6-2 this season and gives the program a 200-137-10 career record. Current head coach Clem McCarroll, now in his 13th year with the team, has an overall record of 160-89-7. Former head coach Bob Campomizzi accumulated an overall record of 40-48-3 during the program's first five years of existence.*******PLAYOFF FEVER... This past week saw five more Times News teams qualify for the District 11 playoffs. Last Tuesday, the Jim Thorpe boys soccer team (10-6) clinched a berth in the Class AA bracket with a 5-1 victory over Tamaqua, while the Pleasant Valley boys soccer team (10-6) earned its spot in the Class AAAA field with a 4-1 victory over Pocono Mountain West on Friday. In field hockey, Northern Lehigh (9-6-1) secured it's District 11 Class A bid last Wednesday with a 1-0 victory over Salisbury, while the Pleasant Valley volleyball team (10-4) recorded its eighth victory last Tuesday in a 3-0 sweep of East Stroudsburg North to advance the Bears into the Class AAAA bracket. On Monday night, the Tamaqua girls soccer team (8-6-2, Class AA) became the latest team to advance into the postseason with a 5-2 victory over Northern Lehigh.*******ON THE BUBBLE... As of Monday, 12 Times News area teams have now qualified for the District 11 playoffs, with six others currently "on the bubble" in the final week of the regular season. The Weatherly boys soccer team (7-6-1) needs two wins in its final four games (Lourdes Regional, Hazleton, Northumberland Christian and North Schuylkill) to advance to the postseason. In volleyball, Tamaqua (5-7) can get into districts with wins in three of its final four matches (Blue Mountain, Jim Thorpe, Pottsville and Mahanoy Area), while Jim Thorpe (9-7) needs to win just one of its remaining four matches to qualify (Panther Valley, Northwestern, Tamaqua and Weatherly). In field hockey, three teams are vying for district berths: Lehighton (7-8) and Northwestern (6-7-2) need two wins in their final three games to qualify, while Palmerton (8-6-1) needs to win one of its remaining three games (Northern Lehigh, Northwestern and Lehighton) to get in. Lehighton has games left with Pocono Mountain East, Northern Lehigh and Palmerton, while Northwestern plays Catasauqua, Palisades and Palmerton. Ironically, Palmerton plays both Northwestern and Lehighton in its final two regular season games, which could present major playoff implications for all three teams involved.*******Every Wednesday during the fall sports season, the Times News sports department will publish its weekly fall sports notebook reflecting back on the week that was, and highlighting both individual and team accomplishments, as well as interesting information that may have occurred in games, matches or meets. The notebook will cover cross country, field hockey, golf, soccer, tennis and volleyball, and will consist of storylines from the previous seven days. Today's notebook will be the final edition for the fall sports season and will reflect back on all the happenings from last Tuesday up through this past Monday. Please note that only results and information received by the Times News during the week will be used in this column.