The outcomes of field hockey games are often determined by the team that controls the time of possession.

That was the case on Thursday as Lehighton controlled the ball and the game in a 3-1 nonleague win over Northwestern.

Lehighton carried the play for the first eight minutes with good passing that earned it a penalty corner and eventually led to a goal.

The Indians’ Madison Brown put her team on the board when she banged home a rebound for a 1-0 lead.

“We moved the ball well,” said Lehighton coach Vanessa Rimbey, whose team got off three shots in the period. “We played together as a team and we communicated not just by name, but by where we were in space.”

The Tigers managed two shots on goal, one by Daniella Lister that was saved by Lehighton goalie Shelby Heater.

In the second period, Northwestern (3-3) gained the field advantage for the first few minutes, but Lehighton (4-2) went on the attack and kept the ball in Northwestern’s end of the field for most of the remainder of the quarter.

The Tigers’ did put together one strong counter attack as Cara Thomas made an individual rush of about 40 yards and scored what appeared to be the tying goal, but it was ruled to have gone in just after time had expired.

Northwestern coach Lissa Opolski praised her young team’s efforts to create scoring chances.

“We were able to develop offensive pressure, but we just couldn’t finish,” she said.

In the second half, Lehighton pressed the attack again and possessed the ball for a good part of the first five minutes of the third period. It forced two penalty corners, and nearly scored on a breakaway by Brown at the 9:30 mark.

The Tigers managed a good rush to the net with eight to go, but lost control near the goal mouth. Two minutes later, a shot was stopped by Heater.

The Indians then put the game away late in the quarter by scoring twice in a three-minute span.

After Northwestern goalie Gabby Gober made a nice kick save, Briella Frable took a pass from Gabby Brown and found the back of the net with 3:10 to go to make the score 2-0. Gabby Brown then assisted on a Madison Brown’s second goal of the game in the final seconds of the quarter for a 3-0 Indians lead.

“We lacked a defensive presence,” said Opolsky. “We are young and learning as we go. Yesterday, we won 6-0, but today we learned we will have to put it together one day at a time.”

The Tigers controlled most of the fourth period, but Heater stopped two shots to maintain the shutout. The Tigers eventually broke through as Thomas scored with 35 seconds left, but it was too little, too late.

“I’m very proud of our team,” Rimbey said. “Our defense struggled a bit at the back end, but we tightened it up to prevent most of their shots. Sometimes we overthink ourselves, instead of just playing on automatic and letting the game come to us.

“At practice, we had been stressing getting wide on the field - and today that really worked for us.”

PRESSURE POINT ... The Tribe dominated the third period, and often had Northwestern on its heels, scoring two goals on six shots while holding the Tigers to no shots on goal.

UP NEXT ... Lehighton travels to Bangor today to take on the Slaters, while the Tigers host Wilson.