The Northwestern Lehigh girls soccer teams has 14 seniors on its roster.

But on Thursday night, it was a freshman who garnered plenty of the attention.

Ninth-grader Brook Balliet scored the game’s only goal as the Tigers captured the District 11 Class 3A championship with a 1-0 victory over Pottsville.

After a scoreless first half, Northwestern came out playing a more aggressive brand of soccer in the second half, when, in the ninth minute, Balliet fought her way through a flock of Crimson Tide defenders to wind up at the front of the net just as the ball approached off a shot by senior Sophia Motolese.

Unfortunately for Balliet, Pottsville goalie Ava Cesari saw the same thing and went after the ball. The two arrived at the same moment, but Balliet was able to get a foot and her face on the ball before a collision between the two, and the shot rolled easily into the net for the game-winner.

“I got my foot on it and then, I think it bounced off her (Cesari) and then hit me in the face. My eye kind of hurt and I was on the ground, and everyone came over to me and was like ‘it’s in,’” said Balliet of the collision and goal. “It feels amazing to be able to help the team like that in my first season. The seniors and all of the other players have been so supportive and have really helped me this season, and it feels good to get this one for the team.”

Both teams spent the first half in somewhat of a timid mode as they shared control of the ball.

Northwestern came in wanting to put a high number of shots on goal and held the edge, but Pottsville turned away the shots and would charge to the other end of the field looking to gain momentum and a lead.

It wasn’t to be, as the stifling Tiger defense - which has allowed just four goals all season - was up to the task.

“We wanted to take shots from distance, we wanted to get traffic in the goal mouth, and we did,” said Northwestern head coach Jordan Smith. “Soph (Sophia Motolese) took a great shot and it deflected to Brook, who was there to clean it up. She got beat up for the goal, but it’s a game-winner and I’m sure it was worth it.”

From there, Northwestern relied on defense to keep the Tide off the board, but also kept up its offensive pressure. Pottsville’s offense didn’t stop either, as it looked for ways to get either through or around the Tigers’ D.

The longer the game went on, the more determined and aggressive Pottsville became. With the game clock under the 3-minute mark, the Tide found themselves again threatening at the mouth of the goal.

Goalie Naomi Glassberg made a nice stop on a shot, but was unable to coral the ball and it bounded toward the other side of the net. Pottsville had an opportunity, but defender Emelia Blechschmidt was there to clear the ball.

“Naomi made a save, but the ball bounced away from her,” said Blechschmidt about her potential game-saver. “I was able to get to the ball and just clear it out.”

NEXT VICTIM ... Northwestern will begin play in states on Tuesday against the District 2 champion. District 2 is in the northeast corner of the state and their final is set for Saturday. It will pit top seed Abington Heights against second-seeded Dallas.

POPULAR COACH ... When the players and coaches were introduced during the medal ceremony, the loudest cheer came from the Northwestern players when coach Smith’s name was announced. Smith is in his first season as the coach of the team and inherited a successful program, which brings along with it the pressure of keeping up the winning tradition.

KICK IT GOOD ... Northwestern defenders have perfected something that sometimes go unnoticed, but at the same time can also be big for a team. When they clear balls, they get more distance on their kicks than any set of defensive players in the area. The kicks not only clear the ball from their opponent’s attack zone, but many times gives the team breakaway opportunities going the other way.