BANGOR - The Northwestern field hockey team seems to be peaking at the perfect time.

On Thursday afternoon, the Tigers defeated Bangor, 2-0, in the Colonial League semifinals.

Northwestern has now won six straight games and 11 of its last 12. The Tigers have also shut out four of their last five opponents.

The good news for Northwestern is that it’s playing its best hockey of the season. The bad news for its opponents, according to head coach Lissa Opolsky, is there is still room for improvement.

“We are playing really well,” said Opolsky. “Our defense has been excellent the last several games and we our playing well offensively as well.

“But we have the potential to be even better. A lot of girls played well on Tuesday against Moravian (a 6-1 Tiger victory) and a lot of girls played well today. But not everyone has played well together. I know we can be better ... and with Southern Lehigh coming up in the league final and then districts next week, we are going to need to be even better.”

One player among the Tigers that played well on Thursday was Lauren Schellhamer.

Schellhamer scored both of Northwestern’s goals. She took a pass from Reagan Hernandez and fired it into the net for the game’s first score with 8:54 left in the second quarter. She then made a great individual play, weaving around several Bangor defenders, to add an insurance goal with 8:40 remaining in the game.

“Lauren has been our leading scorer this season,” Opolsky said about the Tigers’ senior midfielder. “She does a lot of work for us off the ball, so it’s nice when she gets rewarded with goals.

“It’s so important to get the first goal of the game so that was big, and then the second goal she made a really nice play. Bangor had been putting some pressure on our defense in the second half, but that second goal by Lauren stopped any momentum they were trying to build.”

Schellhamer said that even though she got the goals, the key for Northwestern during the last few weeks has been getting contributions up and down the lineup. “I’m super excited to get another win and get a chance to play for a Colonial League championship,” Schellhamer said. “Our team has been playing so well lately. Everyone is working together, everyone is contributing.

“We have eight seniors in the lineup so we are a very experienced team and I think that is showing. We are playing our best hockey of the season at the perfect time.”

TITLE GAME ... The Tigers (16-4), the No. 3 seed in the CL playoffs, will face top-seeded Southern Lehigh on Saturday at Salisbury at 2 p.m.

REVENGE ... Bangor (11-4), the No. 2 seed, edged Northwestern, 2-1, in a regular season game back on Sept. 26.

THE STATS ... Bangor held a 7-5 edge in shots and both teams had six corners. Tiger goalie Maxine Hoffman made four stops to record the shutout, including a huge kick save late in the third quarter when the Slaters were pressuring for the tying goal.

UNSUNG HEROES ... During Northwestern’s recent string of shutouts, Opolsky said Hoffman and the team’s defensive backs have taken their games to another level. The backs - Karleigh Habel, Greenleigh McGehee and Brinley Rex -­ teamed with Hoffman for three shutouts to close the regular season. After allowing just one goal in Tuesday’s quarterfinal round victory, they added another clean sheet yesterday.