BETHLEHEM — It took a while for the tide to turn but once it did, Northwestern Lehigh rode the wave, and it took the Tigers to their eighth straight District 11 championship.

The 7-0 win came against Notre Dame (Green Pond) at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium Thursday night.

The Tigers spent the first 10 minutes fending off one attack after another from the Crusaders.

Northwestern goalie Brystol Hamm made three early saves, including taking a hit on a save attempt when she came out of the goal. Hamm was shaken up on the play but stayed in the game and had two more first-half saves.

Eventually, Northwestern found its game and put pressure on goalie Emma Sobler.

The Tigers’ Sophia Schaffer, fresh off setting the District 11 all-time goals record in the semifinals, scored three times in just over 10 minutes.

“We came out weaker than we wanted to,” said Schaffer. “We weren’t running our 50-50 balls the way we normally do, but when we started to settle in a little bit everything changed. Once we started getting to those balls, we started getting more opportunities.”

On the first goal, Schaffer took a pass from Madison Milks and put a shot to the far side of the net that ricocheted off the post and rolled into the goal. Schaffer’s second goal was almost identical to the first but missed the post and hit the netting on the side of the goal for a 2-0 advantage.

Notre Dame struggled to get pressure on the Tigers after the first goal but did have a chance to cut into the lead when Kostoula Cruciani had an open look and fired over the goal.

The hat trick for Schaffer came with just 5:15 left in the half when Juliet Snyder found her open in front of the net. Sobler came out of the goal only to have Schaffer send her shot into the upper part of the goal to make it 3-0.

Schaffer, a senior, scored two more goals in the second half as Northwestern continued to keep pressure on the Crusaders. Schaffer now has 60 goals on the season and 172 in her career.

All season Notre Dame has used two goalies, with Sobler playing the first 40 minutes and Ainsley Lago taking over in the second half.

Schaffer came close to a six-goal night, but Lago stopped a shot with 23:39 left to play. The rebound went to Amelia Glassberg in front of the goal. A defender collided with Glassberg, but not before she pushed the ball into the goal.

After spending most of the night dishing off passes, Juliet Snyder used her left foot put a shot past Lago to cap the score at 7-0.

Hamm, who was involved in a couple of collisions around the goal, had six saves and credited the players in front of her with helping lead the Tigers to the shutout.

“They don’t let too many balls get back to me,” said Hamm. “It’s been like that all season. I’m always proud of the job that they do and how they make it easier for me back there.”

Notre Dame relies on juniors Bella Cemelli and Cruciani, and freshman Illy Annulysse for scoring, but the Tiger defense had them blanketed. Annulyse quarterbacks the offense. Lexi Kercher marked her tightly all night.

“From the very start,” said Kercher, one of the six seniors who now have district gold for each of their high school seasons. “Coach Smith gave me that assignment even back in the league finals (against Notre Dame).

“He said ‘Number 21 is your mark. You have to mark her and stay on her, so that was my assignment for the night.”

“Lexi is the best defensive midfielder I’ve ever coached,” said Tiger head coach Jordan Smith. “She is so selfless. She doesn’t care about scoring goals. She’s just out there trying to shut down the opponent’s best players, and she’s done it year after year after year, and she did it tonight.”

EIGHT STATES ... For the eighth straight season Northwestern is headed to states. The Tigers’ opening game comes Wednesday when they face Midd-West High School, the runner-up from District 4.

N’western 7, Notre Dame-GP 0

Notre Dame-GP 0 0 - 0

Northwestern 3 4 - 7

Goals: Notre Dame - None; Northwestern - Schaffer 5, Glassberg 1, J. Snyder 1; Saves: Notre Dame - Sobler 1, Lago 3; Northwestern - Hamm 6.

Records: Notre Dame (17-4-0); Northwestern (22-1-1).