Northwestern Lehigh came into the season with a target on its back after winning two straight District 11 field hockey championships.

The Tigers also came into the season with a younger, less experienced team than they had in each of the past two seasons.

Northwestern was able to earn a chance to defend its back-to-back championships as it qualified for districts as the No. 5 seed. The title defense ended abruptly, however, as it lost to No. 4 seed Palisades, 1-0 in a quarterfinal round game on Saturday.

Throughout much of the game, Northwestern goalie Gabrielle Gober and the defenders in front of her fended off challenges by Palisades, with Gober making several acrobatic saves.

Palisades had eight corners in the game, with most of them coming in the first half. Gober found herself deflecting shots and winding up on the ground after diving to make other stops. It wasn’t until late in the third quarter that Palisades’ Tori Bahnck was able to poke the ball out of a gathering of players in the front corner of the net and sneak it just inside the post for the only score of the game.

“She really played a great game,” said Tiger coach Lissa Opolsky of Gober’s play. “Actually, there were pockets of the field that had some really great games for us today. We also had some letdowns in some spaces.”

The Tigers refused to hang their heads, however, and picked up their effort in the fourth quarter. Even in the final seconds of the game, Northwestern mounted an attack in front of the goal and were awarded a corner as time expired. They would pick up two more corners to allow play to continue but were unable to take advantage of the situation to tie the game.

“I’m happy with how they reacted, and how far we’ve come this season. There was a lot of growth and a lot of promise to look forward to,” said Opolsky. “We’re just not used to going out this early considering what the last three years have held for us. “We ask a lot of them, and it was a good season.”

THE LAST TIME IT HAPPENED ... The quarterfinal exit was the earliest for Northwestern since it also went out in the quarters back in 2017. The Tigers have a streak of seven straight appearances in districts with two titles, one unsuccessful trip to the finals, an exit in the semis and three exits in the quarterfinals.

MOVING ON ... Northwestern will lose five seniors - Brynn Balliet, Charlize Bobbyn, Hailey George, Madison Mancinelli and Sarah Schultz - to graduation. The 2021 roster also included nine juniors, one sophomore and five freshmen, leaving plenty of returning players to look to put the Tigers into position for deeper runs in both the league and district playoffs in years to come.