BETHLEHEM — The PIAA put a new rule into effect this season for soccer that eliminated overtime in regular season games.

Obviously, the result was a spike in the number of ties, including Northern Lehigh having five ties during the regular season.

A late-season game between the Bulldogs and Northwestern Lehigh was one of those games, finishing in a 1-1 tie. It was also the first of two ties in a row for the Tigers.

Coming into Thursday night’s District 11 2A final at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium, the Tigers decided there was going to be no need for overtime.

Northwestern’s offense delivered somewhat of a knockout punch with six first-half goals that led to a 9-1 Northwestern win for the Tigers’ eighth straight district championship.

Cole Mertz opened the scoring with a pair of nearly identical goals that came off free kicks. Both were from about 20 yards out with the first going off of the far post and rolling into the net and the second going to the top corner to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead with 17:19 left in the first half.

“I was a little bit closer on the first one,” said Mertz. “So I just tried to hit it far post and hit it hard. The second one I wanted to loft it up there to the back post and it ended up working out.”

For his third goal, Mertz moved around three defenders and his shot rolled under Bulldog goalie Gus Rosario, who dove to make a play on the ball. And for Northwestern to go up 4-0, Mertz fed the ball to James Bissell, who was in front of the goal and redirected the ball past Rosario.

The four goals all came within 12 minutes.

“We knew they were going to be really aggressive tonight,” said Bissell. “So shutting them out early was definitely a big step toward winning the game.

“I think we’re at our highest right now. We just won 9-1 against a really good team, so it means a lot.”

Mertz’s final goal came as the result of some frustration that appeared to build up when he was dragged down in the box for a penalty kick. Mertz circled around the ball to his left and appeared to be going for the right side of the goal before he shifted his shot to the left and out of the reach of Rosario.

In addition to the goals by Mertz and Bissell, sophomore Bryce Leslie broke through a pack of players to put a shot on goal for his eighth goal of the season.

Northern Lehigh showed some signs of life when senior Kellen Bauer made a move from the right side and was able to squeeze the ball into the very top right corner of the goal to make it a 6-1 game going to halftime.

The second half saw Mertz get his final two goals and also saw junior George Haaf go up for a header that made it a 9-1 game with just 1:24 left to play.

“After we tied them last time, the goal was to really start off strong this game, and I think we did that, putting up six goals in the first half,” said Mertz. “We achieved what we wanted to do, and now we have that district chip.”

Northwestern is playing great soccer at just the right time and has outscored their postseason opponents 26-6 to win gold in both the Colonial League and District 11 playoffs.

“It just all started to click at the right time, at the tail end of the season,” said Northwestern head coach Nate Hunsicker. “Just prior to that we had a couple of rough results, including the 1-1 draw against Northern Lehigh, which looking back was kind of the wake-up call that we needed.”

THE ROAD TO PITTSBURGH ... This year’s PIAA finals will be played at FNB Stadium, a 5,000 seat soccer specific stadium in Pittsburgh. Northwestern needs three more wins to get the trip there and that begins next Wednesday when they play the runner-up from District 3 which will be either Wyomissing or Tulpehocken. Northern Lehigh also advances to states and will play the District 3 champion.

Northwestern 9, No. Lehigh 1

Northern Lehigh 1 0 - 1

Northwestern 6 3 - 9

Goals: Northern Lehigh - K. Bauer 1; Northwestern - Mertz 6, Bissell 1, Leslie 1, Haaf 1; Saves: Northern Lehigh - Rosario 2, Adar 1; Northwestern - Carl 3.

Records: Northern Lehigh (10-7-5); Northwestern (21-1-2).