Motolese ignites Northwestern

ALLENTOWN — At this stage of the season, there’s no room for mistakes. That’s why Northwestern coach Kelly Bleam held an extended meeting with her team and then a further discussion with her defensive players after Tuesday night’s 3-2 win over Central Columbia in the first round of the PIAA Tournament at Parkland High School.

“They’re a good team, and we had some organizational issues in the back, and we were fortunate to come away with a win,” said Bleam. “They’re things that we can fix. The back four had some major miscommunications and they left some real gaps between themselves defensively. Hopefully, we can fix those moving forward.”

Early on, it looked like the cold, damp night was going to go pretty easily for the Tigers. The game was barely five-minutes old when Maggie Motolese put a strong shot on goal that goalie Allee Swisher was able to get a hand on, but couldn’t control. The ball had just enough momentum left to roll across the goal line and toward the back of the net to give Northwestern a 1-0 lead.

Motolese struck again with 7:44 left in the first half off an assist from Jess Williamson to give Northwestern (19-3-1) a 2-0 lead going into halftime.

Motolese and Sarah Hathaway have a strong chemistry together, and Central Columbia elected to focus on Hathaway, the team’s leading scorer, which left Motolese a little more open to work her magic.

“They had her covered pretty well and had her marked up, so I had a lot of space in the middle, so we just kept switching on and off and everything worked out pretty well for us,” said Motolese. “In the second half, they were shifting and left more space open up top, so it was easier for her to get some through balls in.”

The shifting worked in Northwestern’s favor, and Hathaway was able to get a good look for a shot that she put past Swisher for a needed goal with 32:39 left in the game. Hathaway’s goal, which Motolese assisted on, came just 37 seconds after Central Columbia got itself to within one goal when Lauren Bull scored her 23rd goal of the season.

The Blue Jays had another opportunity when they were awarded a free kick with 30:14 left to play, but Northwestern goalie McKenna Amey was able to tip the shot up and over the crossbar to keep it a 3-1 game.

Central Columbia would again pull within a goal when Delanee George hit a shot much like Motolese’s first goal, with the ball having just enough momentum to roll into the net. Over the final 19 minutes, neither team was able to get much of an opportunity for solid shots on goal.

“It was a tough game, back-and-forth,” pointed out Motolese. “It was very stressful and it got a little scary at the end, but we pulled through.”

DEUCES ARE WILD ... While many coaches might not have been too upset with their team giving up two goals, Bleam knows that defense is a big part of Northwestern’s success. Only three times this season have the Tigers allowed two or more goals, and two of those times resulted in losses. Northwestern lost to Salisbury 2-1 and Parkland 3-0 during the regular season, and beat Palisades 3-2 in the District 11 championship.

LOVELY NIGHT FOR SOCCER ... Prior to Northwestern’s game, the Notre Dame-Green Pond and Meyers boys game was played in a downpour that also had some snow mixed in with the heavy rains. By the time the girls game got underway, the wintry mix was mostly gone, but the temperatures dove down into the 30s, making for a miserable night.

DOWN THE ROAD ... Northwestern will now play Boiling Springs, the top team out of District 3 on Saturday. The time and site for the game hasn’t been announced. Boiling Springs is 16-5 on the season. The Bubblers worked their way through the district playoffs by winning three games by a combined score of 11-0.