Northwestern and Moravian Academy have gotten to know each other well.

The Tiger’ boys lacrosse team had a good idea about what was ahead in their District 11 Class 2A semifinal against the Lions at Emmaus High School early Tuesday evening.

The two teams met twice during the regular season with Moravian winning 10-9 on April 30, and Northwestern returning the favor 10-8 on May 8.

In fact, this was a rematch of last year’s semifinal in which Moravian won, 10-7.

So, one could expect another tight battle in the rubber match between the two clubs?

Unfortunately for Northwestern, it didn’t happen.

Third-seeded Moravian staked itself to a 6-0 lead, and second-seeded Northwestern couldn’t recover, as the Tigers fell 12-6 to the defending district runners-up.

Northwestern head coach Tyler Corpora didn’t anticipate how this script developed.

“Yes, I expected it to be a fight from the first whistle to the last,” said Corpora. “Moravian came out and started the game 6-0, and we could never really pull ourselves back into the game.”

After Moravian’s torrid start, Northwestern managed to cut the deficit in half with three goals in the second quarter.

Northwestern battled in the third period, being outscored 2-1 in the stanza, before Moravian sealed the game with a four-goal outburst in the final quarter.

Kendall Wickert paced the Tigers with four goals, and Logan Urrichio, Grayson Christman and Brayden Urrichio each tallied a goal. Brayden Urrichio added three assists, and Trey Snyder had one.

Goalie Dane Kauker recorded 12 saves for Northwestern.

The Tigers’ first-year head coach will lose seniors Kauker, Austin Bittenbender, Brandon Lakatosh and Hunter Greenawalt.

Corpora saw plenty of positives on both sides of the field.

“Ty Kaas, Brayden Urrichio and Kendal Wickert stood out for us on the offensive side,” said Corpora.

“On defense, Nicholas Whitney, and Austin Bittenbender played great. Dane Kauker had a fantastic season in the nets.”

Corpora anticipates a bright future ahead after a 12-7 overall season, as the team will return the bulk of their lineup.

“We are losing four seniors,” noted Corpora. “But we return our entire offense next season.”

HIGH STICKS ... Moravian will meet top-seeded Allentown Central Catholic for the championship Thursday at Lehigh. Central defeated Moravian, 9-8, last year for the crown. Northwestern paved its path to the postseason by winning its last three regular-season games, and five of its last six season contests.