Through both halves of regulation, Northwestern and Salisbury battled back and forth without a goal being scored.

Then, in just four minutes of overtime, Sydney Derr broke down the left side of the field, cut inside and beat Salisbury goalkeeper Josie DuBois for the lone goal of the game and a 1-0 Colonial League win for the Tigers.

Just a couple minutes before winning the game Tuesday, Derr dribbled through defenders and broke wide open down the left side, but her shot wound up wide of the goal cage and play continued.

Her successful jaunt wasn’t as long, but she made the right moves and wound up in the perfect position to win the game. The play was set up by a perfect pass from Allie Lister.

“We didn’t change our game plan in overtime,” said coach Lissa Opolsky. “We just wanted to connect on our passes, and it just so happens that Sydney is often the last one in the string of passes, and she’s in the position to score goals.”

Early in the game, Salisbury (4-5 overall, 3-5 Colonial) controlled play and kept pressure on the Northwestern defense. Taylor Page started in goal for the Tigers and held the Falcons scoreless through the first half. At the half, Opolsky switched to Alena Smargiassi to give a different look. The two goalkeepers, both seniors, have shared time in goal for the past couple seasons and it has worked to the Tigers advantage.

“They’re both a little different in their game and how they play, but they’re both very good,” said Opolsky. “They work well together, and neither of them gets a chip on their shoulder about playing time. They both perform well when we call on them.”

After fighting off Salisbury through much of the first half, Northwestern (4-2; 4-1) took on the role of aggressor, but couldn’t find any openings against DuBois, who just learned on Monday that she would be the starting goalie because of an injury to Emily Silberman. DuBois had one indoor practice with the team on Monday, but she has played varsity before and was able to fight off the Tigers attack.

The second half went much like the first with Salisbury controlling play early, only to have Northwestern take over. Salisbury had three corners in the first three minutes of the second half but were unable to cash in on any of them. Opolsky called a timeout with 17:38 left to play in regulation and reminded her players about the game plan, and they responded and again took over play for the rest of the half.

QUICK TURNAROUND ... Northwestern has to come right back this afternoon to play Bangor (5-0, 4-0), the division leader in the East Division of the Colonial League. Whether that game is played will depend on how well the field at Northwestern has dried out after torrential rains caused the game against Salisbury to be moved to Northern Lehigh High School. “This was a big win for us because it gives us some momentum going into the game against Bangor, plus, it lets us know that when we face these guys again in a couple of weeks, we can beat them, so it should give us a boost in that game as well,” said Opolsky.

BUNCHES OF GAMES ... The Tigers have four games in five days on the schedule for next week. It starts with a home match against Palmerton (2-2, 2-2) on Monday, followed by a trip to Pen Argyl (2-2, 1-2) on Tuesday. Next Thursday and Friday are back-to-back home games against Moravian Academy (5-2, 4-2) and Northern Lehigh (6-2, 5-1). The Tigers currently trail Northern Lehigh in the West Division race.

A DOUBLE WHAMMY ... The Tigers not only picked up a 1-0 win in the varsity game, but also grabbed a 2-0 win in the JV contest. Like the varsity game, the JVs were in a scoreless tie at the half, but Northwestern got second-half goals from Paige Merschman and Alayna Harding to get the win.