The officials for the boys quarterfinal game between Northwestern Lehigh and Salisbury at Bomber Stadium in Palmerton sent an early message that they were in no mood for being challenged.

Just 24 seconds into the game, Cole Mertz received a yellow card after being called for a foul and then stood silently with his arms out and palms up to question the call.

The official quickly held up a yellow card and sent Mertz off of the field for five minutes.

“By the letter of the law, that was the right call to give him the yellow,” said coach Nate Hunsicker. “In my opinion, that’s a rough call to give a 17-year-old kid just a few seconds into a playoff game; it’s huge. It could have potentially changed the game.”

Fortunately for the Tigers, Mertz returned and played without any further issues and Northwestern took a 6-1 win to advance to the semifinal round on Wednesday night.

Just about six minutes after returning, Mertz delivered a perfect picture pass to Zach Masenheimer, and the freshman made a move around goalie Julian Makhoul for a quick goal and a 1-0 lead.

Mertz then made his impact felt again when he used his speed to get down the right side of the field and put a shot on goal that Makhoul was able to get a fingertip on, but wasn’t able to affect the shot enough to get a save on the shot.

“Cole does so many things out here, that it’s crazy,” said Masenheimer. “We’ve had some ups and downs this season, but now we’re definitely stringing it together, so it’s exciting.”

Mertz was in position to put a long range shot on goal and launched it from about 20 yards out and to Makhoul’s right.

The senior goalie moved to his right, but the ball twisted to his left and sailed into the goal for a 3-0 Northwestern lead with 36:36 left to play.

The regular season meeting between the two teams was physical, as was the first half.

The intensity picked up in the second half as the Falcons seemed to become more determined. Northwestern adjusts well to playing against physical teams and simply changed its tactics while the Cole Mertz show continued.

Mertz played a role in the next two goals, first feeding Weston Killar with an easily playable ball that Killar used to score his seventh goal of the season.

With Northwestern awarded a free kick, Mertz put all of his power into a shot and Makhoul again got a hand on the shot but could not prevent the goal as the Tigers rolled to a 5-0 advantage.

Logan Shurr capped the scoring when he was awarded a penalty kick and put a move on Makhoul that had him heading the wrong way as the Tigers went up 6-0 with 19:57 left in regulation.

Another penalty kick was awarded, this time to Salisbury, and Tom Pojanowski put his kick past goalie Liam Scanlon, who had come on in relief of starter Dean Carl.

“We didn’t play our best game against them during the regular season, so I think they came in looking to play hard and they did,” said Masenheimer.

“We were prepared for it and were able to do a better job against them this time to get the win.”

ON TO THE CRUSADES ... Northwestern will face Notre Dame of Green Pond in the semifinal round Wednesday night at Lehighton. The game will be part of a doubleheader, with the Lady Tigers playing at 5 p.m. and the boys playing at 7 p.m. The Tigers and Crusaders haven’t played since Sept. 12, when Northwestern picked up a 2-0 win.

“We played them at their place earlier in the season and it was really physical, so we definitely have to be up for that one. They have a strong attack, but we’re pretty sound defensively,” said Hunsicker. “Offensively, they have a smaller field and still weren’t able to contain us, so to play on a larger scale field will bode well for us.”

Northwestern 6, Salisbury 1

Salisbury 0 1 - 1

Northwestern 2 4 - 6

Goals: Salisbury - Pojanowski 1; Northwestern - Mertz 3, Killar 1, Masenheimer 1, Shurr 1; Saves: Salisbury - Makhoul 7; Northwestern - Carl 2, Scanlon 2.

Records: Salisbury (8-8-2); Northwestern Lehigh (15-1-2).