Shortly after it celebrated its 2019 District 11 championship, the Northwestern girls soccer team already had a goal for 2020 - repeat as district champions.

The Tigers thought about and prepared for that goal throughout the offseason, and stayed focused when the coronavirus hit late in the winter sports season.

They had a long way to go before their season started, and surely the pandemic would be over by the fall. But suddenly, spring sports were canceled, and the summer brought a start-and-stop atmosphere to high school sports. Then, the fall season was officially delayed.

Through the twists and turns, the Tigers remained focused on that one goal of repeating as district champions.

For senior Kylie Zentz, the goal was especially sharp because she wanted to go out as a district champion.

Zentz had district gold from both her freshman and junior seasons, and wanted one as a senior to help erase the sting of 2018 when Northwestern came into districts as the top seed and were eliminated in the first round by Notre Dame-Green Pond.

The 2020 season brought the additional challenges of having to play in the era of COVID-19, along with the uncertainty of just how the season would play out and whether it would be completed.

“It felt different at first because we didn’t know what was going to happen,” said Zentz. “Once we started playing, we just focused on what was happening on the field, but we all realized that things could change at any time.

“Either way, we had to focus on winning so we would have a shot at districts. The other stuff we couldn’t control, but we could control what we did on the field.”

Zentz went out and did her part, scoring 19 goals and accumulating 44 points on the season, an impressive showing that led to her being named as the Times News/Lehigh Valley Health Network Girls Soccer Player of the Year.

With all the uncertainty, Zentz and her teammates just kept working, which she credits with leading to her success this season.

“We all knew that even when we couldn’t practice together, we had to keep going on our own. We just kept messaging each other and saying what we were doing and finding out what other girls were doing to get ready,” said Zentz.

“The fact that my teammates were working at least as hard as I was, even when we couldn’t practice as a team, made us all better, and it made me want to work harder.”

Northwestern won its first two games, but then dropped a 1-0 decision to Palisades. After a tie with Southern Lehigh, the Tigers were 3-1-1. From there, they refocused, and their only regular season loss would come in a nonleague game against Whitehall where they fell 2-0. They took revenge on Palisades by beating the Pirates 2-0 in the league semifinals, and then downed Southern Lehigh 3-0 to win the Colonial League.

In their two district games, they shut out both the Spartans and Pottsville to repeat as champions.

“Winning districts as a senior felt a little different,” Zentz recalled. “The seniors knew it was our last one, and because we never knew if we were going to get that chance to play all of the season, it was just really satisfying to have been able to get to that point and win.”

It’s worth noting that Zentz scored a goal in each of the last two district championship games for Northwestern.

Throughout her four seasons with the team, Zentz worked harder and harder on improving her game and easily slid into the role of a team leader. She readily admits that her teammates played a big part in any success that she had as an individual, and looking back over her time with the team, she remembers how hard they worked as a group to be as good as they could be.

Zentz wasn’t always the most vocal of leaders, and didn’t seek the spotlight, but she led with her play and her willingness to work with other players to make the team better as a whole.

“Kylie has never been one to sit back and wait for things to happen,” said coach Kelly Bleam after the district championship game in which Zentz scored a key goal to tie the game. “Kylie worked so hard for that goal; probably harder than she’s had to work for a goal all season. She knows when the team needs that extra momentum, and she has the ability to come through in key spots.”

Zentz is still narrowing down her choice on where she will go to college, but she knows that she plans to continue her playing career at the next level.