CATASAUQUA — It was nowhere near a perfect game plan, but it worked okay for Northwestern Saturday at Catasauqua’s Alumni Field when the Tigers twice fell behind only to come back to tie the game.

They couldn’t find a go-ahead goal during the game, so it came down to penalty kicks and Northwestern won that battle 5-3 to take a 4-3 victory in the Colonial League championship against Notre Dame of Green Pond.

Konstandina Cruciani was the first to strike for Southern Lehigh when she outran a defender and then shook off another defender who came over to help before putting a shot back to her left that got past goalie Brystol Hamm for a 1-0 lead with 15:37 left in the first half.

Had the Crusader fans known, they could have just remained standing because it was just 26 seconds later when goal No. 2 came.

Notre Dame played the ball to the center of the field where Josephine Hobbie played the ball around a defender and spun toward the goal, putting a shot to the upper right corner past Hamm, who leapt toward the ball but could not reach it.

If the first goal put Northwestern on their heels, the second put them at full attention.

Just over a minute after falling behind by two goals, the Tigers offense got one of the goals back.

Sophia Schaffer kicked the ball to her left where she found Amelia Glassberg, who was about 20 feet in front of the goal, and used the inside of her foot to loft a shot into the top part of the goal and out of reach of goalie Emma Sobler to make it a 2-1 game with 14:00 left in the first half.

“We actually had a lot of adrenaline after they scored, so when Sophia played a great ball over to me, I just knew I had to make that shot and get a goal back,” said Glassberg.

“We had been a little on edge and weren’t playing our game. I think collectively we just decided to start playing our game and get back into the game.”

Schaffer, who came into the game needing eight goals to take over as the all-time goal scorer in District 11, cut that number to seven when she fired a shot on goal, somehow squeezing it in a small space between Sobler and the post.

The goal tied the game, which is how it remained going into halftime.

Hobbie found her sixth goal of the season when a ball deflected off of a Northwestern defender and went toward her own goal. After getting to the loose ball, Hobbie put a shot just under the crossbar to make it a 3-2 game with 16:03 left in regulation.

A pair of Sophias brought Northwestern back to tie the game again. Freshman Sophia Varvarelis played a ball forward that appeared destined to be stopped by a Notre Dame defender. Instead, the ball went between her legs while she was in the air, allowing Schaffer to make a play on the ball and fire it from the left flank and into the far side corner of the goal.

Northwestern seemed destined to win the game in regulation on two separate occasions.

Schaffer almost found a late goal when she fired from the far right side that was headed away by Crusader Teagan Good. Juliet Snyder then put a shot toward the right side of the goal that Sobler was able to get to and catch.

In a wild turn of events, Bella Smith put a shot on goal that went off of a defender and bounded away from the goal. After a battle for the ball, Dylan Ritter played a ball that was stopped by Sobler just wide of the goal.

Unlike previous seasons when the game would have gone to an overtime period, the Colonial League stuck to the current PIAA rule that eliminated overtime from regular season games, which they also consider league playoff games to be.

Northwestern sent Dylan Ritter, Ava Snyder, Schaffer, Juliet Snyder and Alexis Kercher out to take their shots and all five scored. Notre Dame missed on their third try and with the Tigers holding a 5-3 advantage were not given a fifth attempt.

“I just think about where they might try to go with their shot,” said Hamm of her philosophy going into the shootout. “You can’t let it get in your head if they get one, you just have to try to stop the next one.”

INTO DISTRICTS ... After getting their third straight league championship, the Tigers move into district playoffs and will be the top seed in 2A. The quarterfinal round has them hosting Tamaqua Wednesday night at 5 p.m. at Tiger Stadium. Northwestern has won seven straight district championships and eight of the last nine. Northwestern and Notre Dame, which is seeded second, could potentially meet in the district championship game.

Northwestern 4, Notre Dame 3

(N’western wins 5-3 in PKs)

Notre Dame-GP 2 1 0 - 3

Northwestern 2 1 1 - 4

Goals: Notre Dame - Hobbie 2, Cruciani 1; Northwestern - Schaffer 2, Glassberg 1; Penalty Kick Goals: Notre Dame - Annulysse, Coulter, Hobbie; Northwestern - Ritter, A. Snyder, Schaffer, J. Snyder, Kercher; Saves: Notre Dame - Sobler 9; Northwestern - Hamm 1.

Records: Notre Dame (15-3-0); Northwestern (19-1-1),