HUMMELSTOWN - If Lewisburg's superb boys soccer team is the so called "Beast of the East" in the PIAA Class AA tournament, you can bet that Northwestern is right there nipping at the Dragons' heels.

In their quest to get by the highly-touted Dragons, the Tigers shortfall came down to one critical phase - speed. Unable to short-circuit Lewisburg's attack and penetrate its defense early in the contest, Northwestern fell by a 3-0 score, ending its terrific season with a 23-2 record.Of course, there was another key component to the winners' style of play - goalkeeper Logan Cho. Perhaps the best player in the state at his position, Cho registered another whitewashing to set an all-time Pennsylvania state record with the 60th of his career.The win propels the Dragons into Saturday's state championship at HersheyPark Stadium where they will tangle with South Park, which defeated Susquahannock 4-2 in the other semifinal round.While the storyline centered on Cho here at Lower Dauphin High School, Lewisburg's deft attack had the Tigers backpedaling most of the first half of the contest. Trying to match the speed of juniors Joey Bhangdia and Adam Cole tossed a wrench into the Northwestern Lehigh's defense."They were much quicker than us," Northwestern coach Nate Hunsicker admitted. "We had some problems with their style of attack. They surely were the aggressor early on."Meanwhile, the Tigers were unable to cut loose their big scoring threat JD Haaf. The senior multi-tasking player was hoping to rewrite the record books for career goals needing two to surpass Troy Everett who holds the mark of 80."It's most disappointing," Haaf said of the loss. "They got some big breaks. We didn't get the breaks you need to win a game of this (importance). I wanted so much to play for a state championship."After nearly 15 minutes of nonstop attacking, the Dragons finally cracked the ice when Bhangdia kicked home the first goal of the contest, unassisted. The 1-0 lead held up through the remainder of the first half."I really wasn't too concerned about that (early score)," said Hunsicker. "We made an adjustment (at the half) and I thought we had a very good second half. We just couldn't find the net."True, but Cole did find the net for the eventual winners at the 13:19 mark of the second half, booting one in from 15 yards out. The 2-0 lead presented an uphill battle thereafter for the Tigers."They capitalized on their opportunities and we didn't," assessed Hunsicker. "I feel we played good enough win. They came in with a good game plan and dominated the first 15 minutes."Down two goals, the Tigers tried forcing the issue."We had our chances, but we couldn't (execute), for whatever reason," he said.Scrambling to make something happen, the Tigers watched Bhangdia score the final goal with less than 20 minutes to play and the rest was left in the hands of the very capable Cho, enabling his team to reach 24-0 and a chance to win the school's first boys' soccer state title since 2000.SCORING … Bhangdia added his 46th and 47th goal of the season. He also has 15 assists.NETTING … Northwestern's Kyle Bellhorn came up with seven saves. Cho had eight saves.GREAT SEASON … Hunsicker said it was a banner season, with a lot of accomplishments. The loss will not diminish the best record in school history, which included two gold medals - one league and one district championship.