Full team effort.

There is no shortage of contributors for Northwestern field hockey.

In Monday night’s District 11 Class 1A semifinal against Palmerton at Northern Lehigh, it was junior Faith Slifer who stood out with two goals and an assist to propel her squad to a 5-0 win and advance to the district final.

After defeating Palisades 6-1 last Wednesday in its quarterfinal game, the Bombers knew what challenge lay ahead, as its opposition already handed out a convincing 3-0 defeat earlier in the season.

For the Tigers, having a bye to the semifinals gave the squad some much needed rest and preparation, but head coach Lissa Opolsky also believed that going over a week without seeing game action created signs of rust.

“I think we had some really good practices and were able to get in some skills that we really needed to focus on,” she said. “But at the same time, not playing game situations in a 10-day stretch and your body being used to that, it’s different, whether you go through drills or game to game. I think just missing that idea of competing for a little bit longer stretch of time was harder to just get back into right away.”

It took some time for Northwestern to settle in coming off a long break. But once the Tigers got into a groove, there was no stopping them.

With just under seven minutes left in the first quarter, Taylor Langley used her speed to carry the ball from midfield to the goal and deposit the contest’s opening tally. Then with 26 seconds remaining, Slifer placed the ball on a tee for Hannah Gober to wire home NW’s second goal.

The Tigers didn’t slow down from there, as Slifer struck for two more goals early in the second quarter.

Ella Bressi worked the ball free from a scramble in front of the Palmerton net and found Slifer alone in front for the tap-in less than two minutes in to the second period. Slifer picked up the ball off a broken play and fired a shot through traffic that found the goal just over two minutes later.

And just like that, it was 4-0 Northwestern with all four goals coming within a timespan of 11:36 between two quarters — a critical sequence for Bomber coach Megan Leadbetter and her team.

“Playing against a team like Northwestern, the biggest thing is that you can’t let down for a minute,” she said. “They’re coming out to play 60 minutes of great hockey and we need to play that with them. We knew against a team like that that you can’t let down for a minute.”

Palmerton never wavered, playing the same determined field hockey that has been their hallmark and a staple of the program’s success.

The Bombers stuck with their hard-working identity and made the Tigers fight for every possession, forcing corners and scoring chances that weren’t seen in the first half.

Northwestern still managed to scratch another goal across the board from McKensey Miller, who used her speed to pull away from the Bomber defense and put the icing on the cake with the 5-0 marker.

Opolsky and the Tigers saw Palmerton’s hard work and effort as something that exposed certain areas of their game to clean up. It’s a reminder that regardless of how dominant one performance may appear, there is always room to improve.

“Obviously we think that we played pretty well after having a 10-day (break),” Slifer said. “We obviously know we have things that we need to work on to play in (the) championship. That’s definitely what we’re going to focus on for the next few practices, but overall, I think we played well and we played as a team.”

ONE MORE HILL … Northwestern will face Wilson on Thursday night at Whitehall in the District 11 1A championship game. Wilson defeated Pen Argyl 1-0 in its semifinal to advance. “I think (Wilson) is going to bring their best game for us because you’re not going to go down without a fight once you get into that situation,” said Opolsky. “For that program to be there is a step in the right direction for them. So we definitely have to bring our best game in order to match their effort.”

Northwestern 5, Palmerton 0

Palmerton 0 0 0 0 - 0

Northwestern 2 2 0 1 - 5

Goals: Palmerton - None; Northwestern - Faith Slifer 2, Hannah Gober 1, Taylor Langley 1, McKensey Miller 1; Assists: Palmerton - None; Northwestern - Faith Slifer 1, Ella Bressi 1; Shots: Palmerton 2; Northwestern 17; Saves: Palmerton - Sarah Sabo 6; Northwestern - Charlotte Gober 1; Corners: Palmerton 5; Northwestern 16.

Records: Palmerton (8-10); Northwestern (14-5).