As Northwestern Lehigh’s field hockey goalie, Ryan Smolinsky benefits from a strong defensive unit in front of her.

Many times, they stop the opposing offense before Smolinsky even has to react.

When they don’t get a stop and she is called into action, the senior goalkeeper is not only up to the task, but enjoys jumping in.

Wilson applied pressure in the first half, but Smolinsky was largely untested in the second as Northwestern pulled away and beat the Warriors 5-1 Saturday in their Colonial League quarterfinal playoff game played at Southern Lehigh High School.

“I definitely do like the games where I get to play more. The games where I don’t see the ball I don’t like at all. I love playing, I love touching the ball, and I love being a part of the competition,” said Smolinsky.

“Sometimes, if they make a stop and I’m in a rhythm, it’s almost disappointing, but at the end of the day I’m always grateful that they’re there.”

Northwestern allowed just three goals over their final five regular season wins, and the defense remained consistent throughout the schedule.

Three of those wins were shutouts and overall, the Tigers had 10 shutouts this season — including a streak of four in a row early in the year, and three straight to finish up the regular season schedule.

“We’ve had some issues marking, but it’s just a communication thing,” said Smolinsky, who as the goalie is the quarterback of the defense. “I’m always talking and working on being loud and being more direct. Sometimes I have to be more intense with my direction so the players know what we need to do.”

Wilson did get one shot past Smolinsky in the second quarter, but by then Northwestern was pretty well in command of things. The goal came with 8:24 left in the second when Piper Fretz scored to make it 3-1.

Northwestern scored in the game’s first minute when Faith Slifer assisted Taylor Langley for an early lead.

Teams work on set plays to take advantage of corners, and the work paid off for the Tigers on Saturday.

Northwestern capitalized on four corner opportunities, starting midway through the first quarter when Hannah Gober took a feed from Haley Kerschner to make it 2-0. Gober got another goal on a corner play in the second quarter, and Slifer and Langley both added goals later that came from corners.

“We work on corners, and I thought we did well in those situations today,” said Langley, a senior. “We need to pick up our game because we have had some ups and downs this season, but overall, I think we can bring up our level of play to where we’re firing on all cylinders.”

Slifer’s goal, which came with 6:18 left in the second quarter, was somewhat of a bank shot. She put her shot off goalie Abrielle Dayton’s mask and it ricocheted into the goal to give Northwestern a 4-1 lead.

Overall, Dayton played well for Wilson as she faced 14 shots on goal.

With 3:10 left before halftime, Northwestern was awarded a penalty shot which was taken by Langley, but Dayton made the stop to keep the score from widening.

Last season, Northwestern finished with both a league and district championship, and enters this year’s league tournament as the No. 4 seed. Wilson, who was defeated by Northwestern in the semifinals last year, entered this year’s tournament as the fifth seed.

The win sets up a rematch of last year’s league championship game with Northwestern facing off against Salisbury. The two teams opened the regular season against one another this year with the Falcons gaining a 2-0 win.

“This team has been a little up and down, and I think a lot of that is just based on our personalities. We’re definitely learning and molding into our positions,” said coach Lissa Opolsky. “We have a lot of seniors on the field, but not all of them have experience in high-stakes situations. We just have to come to the game and play more cleanly.”

AS EXPECTED … The quarterfinals didn’t have any upsets as the top four teams made it through to the semifinals. The semis will be played Tuesday at Catasauqua, with second seed Southern Lehigh playing third seed Bangor at 5 p.m., and the Tigers playing top seed Salisbury at 7 p.m.

Northwestern 5, Wilson 1

Goals: Wilson - Piper Fretz 1; Northwestern - Taylor Langley 2, Hannah Gober 2, Faith Slifer 1; Assists: Wilson - None; Northwestern - Faith Slifer 1, Haley Kerschner 1.

Records: Wilson (11-6-1); Northwestern (14-5).