ALLENTOWN — It might have been Halloween, but the Northwestern boys soccer team wasn’t getting frightened after 67 minutes of the District 11 Class 3A semifinal.

The Tigers stayed patient and finally broke through with a pair of goals in the final 13 minutes of the game to beat Southern Lehigh 2-0 Tuesday and advance to their third straight district title game.

“First half we were getting the opportunities, but we weren’t putting them away,” said Tiger senior Noah Meyers. “We had one off the crossbar. Second half we played a bit better and we put two away.

“Patience is key. You can’t rush things because you can get countered. You just have to be patient and possess the ball and wait for your opportunity.”

Meyers had more than one first-half shot stopped by Spartan goal keeper Justin Clarke. He also set up teammates with opportunities that never found their way to the back of the net.

The undefeated Tigers (21-0) finally made the most of an opportunity late in the second half when Andrew Goodolf sliced through three defenders and nearly had a one-on-one with Clarke before a defender knocked the ball out of bounds and Northwestern was awarded a corner kick.

Goodolf inserted the corner kick to Kenny Gawelko, who was met by most of the Spartan defense. The ball bounced to Caleb Danner, who slid it to an open Meyers for the go-ahead goal with 12:30 left in the game.

“It bounced to Caleb Danner,” said Meyers. “He might have back-heeled it to me and I put it in the back corner.”

The goal came on Northwestern’s 10th shot of the game.

“We had so many scrums in the box off set pieces and corner kicks,” said Northwestern head coach Nate Hunsicker. “We knew it was a matter of time until one would fall in our favor and end up in the back of the net.”

Clarke made nine saves as Northwestern outshot Southern Lehigh 11-0 in the game.

“Their keeper played phenomenal,” said Goodolf. “He saved a couple shots that definitely should have gone in. We kept creating opportunities, it was just when one was going to fall.”

Goodolf added the Tigers’ second goal with 1:15 left in the game. The senior was a menace to the Southern Lehigh defense over the final 20 minutes of the second half.

“Andrew was so persistent tonight,” said Hunsicker. “There was no way he was letting us lose if he could help it. He left everything out on the field. He worked very hard to set up the corner and then very hard to set up the goal.”

The Tigers are looking to not only get through the district title game against Central Catholic, but also to make a run into the state playoffs after reaching last year’s state final and the semifinal a year before. They will face the Vikings Thursday, looking for their third straight district championship at a site and time yet to be announced as of Wednesday morning.

“This team, we’ve been working so hard,” said Goodolf. “We’ve been putting all we have into this. We just want another chance.”

YOU AGAIN? ... Northwestern and Central Catholic will meet for the third straight time in the District 11 playoffs. The Tigers beat the Vikings 1-0 last year in the Class 3A final and took them out 4-1 in the Class 2A semifinal in 2015.

STREAKERS ... The Tigers have now won six straight district playoff games. Their last loss was the 2014 Class 2A title game, when they were the No. 7 seed and fell to No. 2 Saucon Valley 3-1.