Hopefully those who attended the District 11 3A boys soccer championship at Northern Lehigh High School on Thursday night arrived on time.

Because if they were late, unfortunately they missed a lot after Northwestern exploded for two quick goals and cruised to a 3-1 win over rival Southern Lehigh.

In the process, the Tigers added another shiny new trophy to their already well-stocked trophy case.

Barely five minutes into the game, Cayden Fitch fed a perfect pass to junior Josh Zellner, who headed the ball past Spartans’ goalie Ayden Scharper for a quick one-goal edge.

Just three minutes later, a Northwestern shot on goal ricocheted off the crossbar, and Matt Johnson jumped on the second chance that the Tigers had been given and buried the shot for a 2-0 lead.

Generally, a two-goal lead that quickly in a game is enough to rattle an opposing team, but that wasn’t the case with the Spartans, who kept their heads up and continued to look for a goal to tighten the margin.

“I told coach (Mark) Evans to give credit to his kids for their resolve. We stuck two on them early and they did not give up, they kept fighting,” said Northwestern coach Nate Hunsicker. “Our kids played a great match. Their kids played a great match.”

It took a while for the Spartans (17-6-1) persistence to pay off, but with just over 21 minutes left in regulation, junior Landon Bealer put a shot over goalie Mason Crocco’s head that bounded off the crossbar and into the goal to suddenly turn the tide of the match.

With 7:15 left to play, the Spartans had a corner kick and put two strong shots on goal that Crocco wasn’t able to catch, but he did deflect them to keep them out of the net. The next shot finished with the play of the night when Nick Krum had Crocco’s back and turned away another Southern Lehigh charge.

“Mason tipped it off and it was coming toward me, so I took a touch and kind of just cleared it,” said Krum of his defensive save at the goal line. “It was either it was going to go in, or I had to play it and clear it.”

Crocco made six saves on the night for the Tigers.

Northwestern (16-4-1) quickly responded to the close call at its own end, as Zellner and Johnson both broke down the side of the field. Johnson cut toward the middle of the field, and Zellner gave him a perfect feed that he deposited into the net to reestablish the Tigers’ two-goal advantage.

“Matt’s been scoring goals all year,” said Zellner of the play. “He’s the fastest player on the field, and he knows how to find the net. We knew what was going to happen on that play.”

The quick turn of events put Southern Lehigh’s comeback bid seemingly out of reach, but it continued to press to stave off elimination. The Tigers’ defense was able to keep the play toward the middle of the field, however, and allow the clock to run out before the celebration began.

AN ADDED REWARD ... The win not only provided the Tigers with medals and a trophy, it also brings with it a trip to the PIAA tournament which begins on Tuesday. The Tigers will play District 3 runner-up Palmyra (16-3-1), who lost to Hershey in the district final. The time and location of the game will be announced over the weekend.

STREAKING TIGERS ... The championship is the third straight for Northwestern, and its sixth district crown in the last seven years. “It’s awesome,” said Zellner of the streak. “We have great coaches, great kids. We’re just a great program. I love it.”