READING - Northwestern Lehigh and Bishop Shanahan waited in frigid, damp weather for nearly two-and-a-half hours past their scheduled game time to play their PIAA quarterfinal game on Saturday.

A power outage at halftime of the girls’ game kept everybody waiting, and then overtime further delayed the start of the boys’ game.

When things finally got underway, Northwestern Lehigh gave up two first-half goals, which would be the only goals in the game, leaving the Tigers on the wrong end of a 2-0 score.

The Tigers (17-5-1) came out showing no ill effects of the prolonged delay, and had two open looks in the first minute of play.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, goalie Bryce Domsohn was up to the task and made a save on one play and the other went wide of the goal. A few minutes later, Domsohn’s twin brother, Zane, found himself unmarked and put a shot on goal that goalie Mason Crocco saved nicely. Less than a minute after his initial shot, Domsohn was again open, and this time took a crossing pass from Colin Deal and got it past Crocco for the first goal of the game.

“We came out buzzing. We had some really good opportunities early on, but left their best player unmarked on a corner, which was something we harped on in the days leading up to the game, and he’s going to finish those opportunities that he’s given,” said coach Nate Hunsicker. “Mason made some fantastic saves and was able to knock it out a couple of times, but we just weren’t able to clear it out.”

Northwestern Lehigh looked to even the game when Colin Coffield took a pass toward the goal and headed it, but Bryce Domsohn was able to make the save. Minutes later, the Bishop Shanahan goalie made an ill-advised pass out of the goal to a teammate that Matt Johnson stepped in front of and turned into a shot, but the ball went over the crossbar.

The Eagles (19-4-0) came out playing a very physical brand of soccer and eventually, the Tigers began to answer the physical play.

Mason Brensinger was handed a yellow card and left the field for five minutes, but the turn in attitude by Northwestern sent a message.

In the last minute of the first half, Bishop Shanahan had a shot ricochet off the crossbar, and then Zane Domsohn did further damage by heading the ball past Crocco to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead at halftime.

The second half was somewhat uneventful, but saw both sides have opportunities, and both goalies make solid saves to prevent any further scoring.

Late in the half, Bishop Shanahan turned its approach to simply playing keep away with the ball, and allowing time to run off the clock to advance to the semifinals.

“We couldn’t generate any offense in the second half,” noted Hunsicker. “They’re a good team, and we have nothing to hang our heads over and nothing to be ashamed of, because we had a hell of a year. The kids were through so much this year, and I’m still beyond proud of everything that we accomplished. It’s a great group of guys, and they love each other and play for each other. We made a massive push in the postseason, and we proved we were a solid team, and we represented both the league and the district well.”

MOVING ON ... The Tigers roster has 12 seniors who will embark on their post high school lives next spring. While that leaves some holes to fill, the roster is also full of younger players who played plenty of varsity minutes, and can step into bigger roles with the team next season. “You know every year that you’re going to go through losing some guys, and we definitely lose some big guns who are also great kids,” said Hunsicker. “On the bright side, we bring a lot of talent back, including a couple of kids that start and have been big role players for us. Plus, we have a couple new guys who will be ready for their opportunity next year. We’ll be back.”

TURNING POINTS ... Hunsicker and several players have acknowledged two key points in the season that made the team stronger. The first was a 1-0 loss in the final seconds in a game against Palisades. The loss had the players - who were undermanned because of injuries - distraught for a while, but they used the game to turn things around and play better soccer. The second turning point was the return of Brensinger and Coffield from among the injured teammates. The two missed most of their senior seasons with injuries, and came back just in time to wrap up the regular season and give the team a boost through the playoffs.