Northwestern boys soccer head coach Nate Hunsicker had some of this year's senior class as middle school students five years ago.

They let him know back then that they planned to play for him in the not-so-distant future. Some of them even told him they planned to be pretty good and maybe even win some titles."I love these kids," Hunsicker said after Northwestern won its second straight district championship. "I had a ton of these kids in my eighth grade gifted classroom at Northwestern Middle School. Back then they were talking about making a run when they were in the high school program and they backed up every word of it."The Tigers (21-0-1) beat Allentown Central Catholic 1-0 on Thursday for the District 11 Class 3A championship. They have won five titles over the past four years, three Colonial League crowns (2013, '15, '16) and the past two district championships.Defender Jonathan Blaine and goal keeper Kyle Bellhorn were varsity starters all four years. Classmates Noah Seng-Delong and Dominic Mertz were also on varsity as freshmen and joined the starting line ups their second year of high school.Bellhorn might not have been one of the players predicting big things back in eighth grade, but he knew they were possible. Most of Northwestern's group of 10 seniors began playing together 13 years ago in the Northwestern Youth Association."We knew that if we played the best we could there was always the potential to have [success], said Bellhorn. "We always had the dreams of winning titles like this, but we never expect it. All we expect is for us to work as hard as we can and put our best effort on the field every time we play."We've had a few lucky bounces along the way, but I just feel that it's a complete team effort that's allowed us to have so much success and I'm grateful to be a part of such a great team."This group of seniors has gone 79-8-2 in four years. They went 17-2-1 as freshman, 17-4-0 as sophomores and 24-2-0 last year.They also set the standard for the program, making it deeper into last year's state tournament than any other Tiger boys soccer team ever had. They reached the semifinal round where they fell to eventual state champ Lewisburg.Other members of this year's senior class include Bradley Shafer, a forward/midfielder who would have been a three-year starter had an injury not kept him off the field as a sophomore; Creighton Thomas, a defender who was a starter the past three seasons; three-year varsity payer Bryce Hurdle; two-year varsity player Josh Bryan; and classmates Justin Searcy and Adam Lebrecht."We grew up playing," said Mertz. "All of us started on an NYAA team. We're always together and having fun. We have team dinners. It's incredible how close we have been. Even last year's seniors, we're still close with them because we grew up playing with them.""I've never seen a group of such tight-knit, focused young men," said Hunsicker. "I can't compliment them enough. I'm proud of everything they achieved. As a coach, I'm just honored to be a part of it."