For most teams, a season following the graduation of eight seniors would have almost certainly been considered a rebuilding year. And maybe, early on, some people thought that’s what the 2025 season would be for head coach Lissa Opolsky’s Northwestern Lehigh Tigers. The Tigers proved those people wrong, upsetting the No. 2 seed Southern Lehigh Spartans in overtime 2-1 to win their second Colonial League Champion in as many years.
It wasn’t an easy road. Even though the current 2025 fall roster touted another 11 seniors, many of those players lacked the same experience that the 2025 graduates had.
The team started off their season with a 2-0 loss to Salisbury, who would go on to earn the top seed in the league playoff (only to be knocked out in the second round by Northwestern). They would suffer two additional league losses and two non-conference losses throughout the regular season.
Coach Opolsky reflected that it took some time to determine the right lineup.
“We knew that we were going to learn some things along the way. Losing tells you a little more about what you need to do,” said Opolsky.
“We have a lot of people that can play a lot of positions. Figuring out the right combination of that is dependent on getting a lot of competitive games.”
And while they seem to have figured it out, Coach Opolsky shared that she still evaluates each game and each opponent to determine what makes sense for her lineup. Sometimes, that means switching things up.
“Any given game may give us some different challenges along the road. Depending on who we’re playing, I could call on a different person to play a different position.”
For example, if a little extra fire is needed on offense, she’ll move senior center midfielder Hannah Gober to the forward line and have an underclassman fill her spot in the midfield.
It would be Gober who would set up the Tiger offense to take home the gold in the Colonial League championship.
After what was a back and forth, swinging momentum-style game, the Spartans and Tigers found themselves tied 1-1 at the end of regulation. It took a powerful speech from Coach Opolsky and just three minutes into overtime until Northwestern would find the back of the net in the sudden death period.
On their second attacking penalty corner, Gober received the insert at the top of the circle, skillfully read the Spartan defense and goalkeeper, identified that the keeper’s weight was shifted to one side, and played the ball towards the cage in the opposite direction. That would set up senior Taylor Langley for the game (check that–championship) winning OT goal.
Fittingly, Langley, who Opolsky called the Tiger’s “engine on the field”, is known for saying she’ll “do anything to win”.
Reflecting on the season so far, the coach also praised the performances of seniors Amelia Birch and Haley Kerschner, as well as junior Bloomsburg-commit Faith Slifer, who has stepped up in many games.
Northwestern will go on as the No. 1 Seed in the District XI 1A playoff, earning a bye for the first round. The Tigers will take on Palmerton in a second round match up at Northern Lehigh on Monday.
As is always the case, Opolsky shared, the goal is to earn another trophy. However, like any good coach, she noted that “above all else”, it’s about playing good hockey.
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