District 3 is a hot bed for field hockey. Six teams from the district qualify for the PIAA Class 1A tournament, and one of them winds up playing one of the top two teams from District 11.

That hasn’t gone so well for Northwestern, who played overtime last season and double overtime the season before against Susquenita High School with the Tigers losing both of those games.

It appeared they might be headed for a third straight overtime on Tuesday, this time against Littlestown, but a quick reaction by Julia Farber put Northwestern up late in the game and it held on for a 2-1 win.

Just after their 12th corner of the night, the Tigers put a shot on goal that ricocheted off goalie Citlaly Serrano and went directly to Farber. The freshman reacted quickly enough to send the ball right back at the goal, this time eluding Serrano and banging off the back of the cage to give Northwestern a 2-1 lead with just 1:35 left in regulation.

“We were working the ball up the field really well, and I just happened to be at the right place and tipped it in,” said Farber of her heroics. “We felt that coming out for the fourth quarter we were going to get a goal to win it.”

The goal capped a night where both teams had momentum at times. It started with Northwestern controlling play in the first quarter but not being able to put any points on the board.

Littlestown came out more aggressively in the second quarter and had the better of play. On its third corner of the night, the ball deflected off a stick and went into the air at the left front corner of the goal.

Madisyn Weishaar was there and hit the ball out of the air and to the back of the goal leaving Northwestern goalie Charlotte Gober with no time to react. The goal put the Thunderbolts up 1-0 with 8:45 to play before halftime.

The third quarter was even in terms of control of play, but like they did at the end of the first quarter, the Tigers were awarded a corner, their fifth of the game, as time ran out. Another corner resulted from a kicked ball by Littlestown, and that opportunity was stopped when a foul was called, resulting in a penalty stroke.

Evelyn Alboucq took the penalty stroke for Northwestern and put a shot past Serrano to tie the game after three quarters.

“We play a lot of tough out-of-conference games, and I think those games against Crestwood and Oley really prepare us for situations like this,” said Alboucq, who now has nine goals this season. “We were confident, and coming into the game we really felt that we would be able to win.”

Even with the momentum from the goal at the end of the third quarter, Northwestern had to battle its way through as Littlestown looked to snap the tie in its favor.

The Thunderbolts had four corners in the final quarter but were unable to take advantage of any of them. As Northwestern started to control play later in the quarter, Northwestern was getting more pressure on Serrano.

The two teams combined to have 23 corners, with just one of them directly resulting in a goal.

The win moves Northwestern into the quarterfinal round for the first time since 2020.

It will face Wyoming Area, the District 2 champion, who defeated West Perry 4-2. The game will be played Saturday at a neutral site that has yet to be determined.

SNAPPING STREAKS ... Not only did Tuesday night’s win snap a streak of two straight overtime losses in states for Northwestern, it also broke a streak of first-game losses in its last eight appearances in the PIAA tournament.

Northwestern 2, Littlestown 1

Littlestown 0 1 0 0 - 1

Northwestern 0 0 1 1 - 2

Goals: Littlestown - Weishaar 1; Northwestern - Alboucq 1, Farber 1; Saves: Littlestown - Serrano 4; Northwestern - Gober 6.

Records: Littlestown (19-5); Northwestern (16-6-1).