Score early and score often.

It’s a formula that’s worked well for Northwestern Lehigh all season, so why should it stop now just because it’s in the Colonial League tournament?

After a 7-0 win in the quarterfinals, Northwestern grabbed an 8-1 victory over Saucon Valley on Wednesday in the semifinals to earn a trip to the finals Saturday afternoon.

Two players – Sophia Schaffer and Kherington Yezik – notched hat tricks for the Lady Tigers in the win over the Panthers. Yezik got the first two goals of the game in the first 12 minutes, and then capped off the scoring with her third goal and 50th of her career, with 12:32 left to play.

“In club soccer, goals aren’t really counted, it’s just more of a team effort, so I didn’t even realize that points were counted until last year when Brook Balliet got to 50. This year, Soph (Schaffer) got to 50 and I hadn’t kept track of my stats until coach Smith pulled me over and told me I was close to 100 points and 50 goals, so I’ve been working hard to get there,” said the senior who will play at Texas Christian University next season.

Schaffer picked up her three goals, with one just past the midway point of the first half, and the next two coming just about seven minutes apart in the second half. The final goal for Schaffer came just :27 after Juliet Snyder scored her second of the game with 21:50 left to play.

“As a team we are really focusing on being the best that we can be, and to focus on the little things. I think that by doing that, it’s helping us to win these games by pretty big margins,” said Schaffer. “We stay focused in practice, and we always want to get better.”

This is coming from a player whose team is now 20-0-0 on the season, and has a 47-game winning streak that dates back to the 2023 postseason.

Ava Snyder and Amelia Glassberg both picked up assists for Northwestern. Glassberg now has 20 on the season.

The lone goal for Saucon Valley came when senior Tesia Mikuta, who will be going to the University of Tennessee next season, scored with 17:42 left in the first half. The Lady Panthers were able to put a limited amount of pressure on Northwestern goalie Olivia Reinhart, who made six saves.

Northwestern’s team is deeper, and appears to have even more confidence than last year’s team that swept the league, district and PIAA championships. Coach Jordan Smith traces it all back to practice, and the work that the players put into their game.

“I always tell them that nothing is given to us; everything has to be earned. Some days in practice when we’re not playing the way we need to, I preach that we need to practice how we play because the mistakes you make in practice here, you’ll make in the game, so we try not to let that happen.”

Schaffer, a junior, remembers going through the state championship season last year and believes that for her, this season has a different feel.

“This year is definitely different than last year. I think still being an underclassman last year was a little bit different; I was a little more timid to take a leadership role,” said Schaffer. “This year, I think my class as a whole knows better what to expect, and just is really trying to help the underclassmen adjust and get involved.”

GIT ‘ER DONE… Northwestern is the defending Colonial League champion, and has won five of the last six league titles. It will go for another set of gold medals Saturday at Catasauqua when the Tigers face Palisades, who defeated Southern Lehigh in the other semifinal game Wednesday night. Northwestern defeated the Lady Spartans 4-0 back on Sept. 13. Game time on Saturday is 11 a.m.

Northwestern 8, Saucon Vy. 1

Saucon Valley 1 0 - 1

Northwestern 4 4 - 8

Goals: SV – Mikuta; NW – Schaffer (3), Yezik (3), J.Snyder (2); Saves: SV – Jacavage (5), Baier (1); NW – Reinhard (6)

Records: SV 12-5-0; NW 20-0-0