Jordan Smith’s script for a win in the Class 2A district girls soccer semifinals called for his team to be aggressive against Jim Thorpe.

Smith knew the Olympians would be one of the more physical teams his team would face this season.

And oh yes, don’t forget to get an early lead.

The script might not have won an Oscar, but it was written well enough for Northwestern (16-5-1) to win its matchup with the Olympians, 2-0.

Early in the game, Katie Brensinger delivered a hard hit on a Jim Thorpe player along the sideline, which set the tone for the rest of the team as they looked to match the physical play of Jim Thorpe.

Just over four minutes into the contest, Cammy Fitch put a shot just wide of the goal and two minutes later, Sammy Bardonner sent a near perfect crossing pass in front of the net where Brook Balliet made a good play and delivered it easily past goalkeeper Olivia Rosenberger for an early goal.

“I told them before the game, ‘You need to come out and equal their physicality, and if you don’t, I’m going to get the next girl in there,’” said Northwestern head coach Smith of the game plan against the Olympians (17-2-1).

Balliet’s goal woke up the Jim Thorpe offense, and put pressure on Northwestern defenders and goalie Naomi Glassberg, who made a sliding stop on a breakaway by Lauren LeKites to prevent her from tying the game.

Shortly after the big defensive play, the offense found an opening and again, it was Bardonner who played a perfect ball to Paige Bissell, and the sophomore beat Rosenberger to give Northwestern a 2-0 lead with 5:04 left in the first half.

“I saw Paige wide, and I looked for the pass. I knew the goalie was going to come out because she had always come out on plays, and it worked perfectly; Paige made a really good shot,” said Bardonner of the second goal. “We had a great game plan. Our coach told us to come out, be aggressive. And we came out, worked as a team and were able to get a good lead on them.”

Going up early and staying aggressive were two keys for the Tigers (16-5-1).

“The early goal that we got was big for us, and then Sammy made a great pass to me, and we got the second goal and that took a lot more pressure off us,” said Bissell, a sophomore who now has 11 goals on the season - the second most on the team.

The win puts Northwestern into the District 11 finals, which will be played Thursday night at Emmaus. Its opponent will be Allentown Central Catholic, who downed Palmerton 2-0 in the other semifinal contest. The Tigers are the fourth seed in the tournament, while Central Catholic is the No. 3 seed and defending state champions.

“I don’t know much about them (Central Catholic). I told the girls that we either had a chance at redemption against Palmerton (who beat Northwestern in the Colonial League finals), or we would have a chance at knocking off the defending state champion, and that’s something to be excited about,” said Smith. “We are going to get ready and then give it (our all) on Thursday.”

UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY ... The two-goal deficit was the first time all season that Jim Thorpe trailed by more than one score. The Olympians had allowed just four goals in their 19 previous games, and hadn’t allowed more than one goal in a game before Tuesday night.

ALL ABOUT GIVING ... Bardonner’s two assists give her a team-high 14 on the season to go with her six goals. Her 26 points are second only to Cammy Fitch (56) in scoring for the Tigers.