Northwestern head coach Nate Hunsicker knew he was taking a chance when he switched the game plan to stressing offense first and foremost late in the Tigers’ PIAA first round playoff game Tuesday night.

The result was a scoreboard that verified that Archbishop Ryan had downed Northwestern, but it didn’t tell the real story of the 5-1 loss.

The Tigers looked for an early goal to gain some momentum in an attempt to hold off an Archbishop Ryan team that won the District 12 championship with an undefeated season.

Northwestern got what it needed in the first six minutes, as it took charge of the tempo of the game and Colin Coffield found the net to put the Tigers up 1-0. The goal was exactly the type of play that Hunsicker was looking for his team to make.

“It was a nice build up,” Hunsicker said of Coffield’s goal. “Matt [Johnson] saw Colin coming through and he put the pass perfectly on line.”

The Raiders answered when a shot deflected off goalie Austin Vogwill and bounced around in front of the net. An attempt to clear the ball went wrong, and the ball wound up in the net allowing Archbishop Ryan to tie the game.

The score would remain 1-1 until nearly midway through the second half.

Vogwill preserved the tie when he made a huge save by tipping a shot up and over the crossbar. The play resulted in a corner kick for the Raiders, however, and they capitalized. Teddy Westervelt put a perfect ball into play in front of the net where Sidiki Fofana finished off the opportunity to give Archbishop Ryan a 2-1 lead.

As time came off the clock, Hunsicker changed up his scheme, attempting to get more pressure on Raiders goalie Andrew Lukaschek. Archbishop Ryan would pick up three goals in just over five minutes to put the game away.

Fofama took a direct kick and found James McDonnell in the right spot to bury a goal with 9:37 left. With just under six minutes remaining in regulation, Westervelt fired a shot from the sideline in front of the Raiders bench that seemed to come out of a rocket launcher, which made it past Vogwill to make it 4-1. A minute-and-a-half later, Fofama would strike again for a final goal with 4:16 left to play.

“In my opinion, this was a one- or two-goal game,” said Hunsicker. “At the end, we started to push up and that opened the flood gates for them. But we came out firing in the first half.”

Hunsicker pointed to Archbishop Ryan’s balance and depth as being the difference.

“The biggest thing is that they can piece together a total unit,” said Hunsicker. “From one-to-11 we can’t match them, but I think that skill wise, we’re similar.”

While many Northwestern players were disappointed with the loss and early exit from the tournament, Hunsicker saw the setback in a different way, preferring instead to focus on what the team was able to overcome this season to get as far as it did.

The Tigers worked their way through the interruptions and uncertainty of the coronavirus during summer and fall practices, and then had to endure a number of key injuries early in the season.

Even with all of the issues that arose, Northwestern earned a silver medal in the Colonial League, and another gold in districts to reach states and finish with a 16-5 overall record.

“In my closing thoughts to the team, I told them not too many teams in the Lehigh Valley can say they won two medals this season,” said Hunsicker. “It hurts, but they have to keep the season in perspective.”

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In their four seasons, the senior class won two Colonial League gold medals and a silver medal. They also won three district titles and went to states three times, winning silver medals in 2017 as freshmen. “They’ve been a great group, and really brought a lot to this program,” said Hunsicker. “We’re going to miss them, and will have some tough shoes to fill.”