The fog beginning to roll in at the Tamaqua soccer field seemed to be an omen on Thursday evening — good for one team, not so good for the other.

There was a lot riding on the outcome for the host Blue Raiders, who are battling for a Schuylkill League playoff spot.

A slip up and Tamaqua would be in chase mode. Thankfully for the Raiders, dynamic two-sport athlete Emma Kuczynski came up huge.

Kuczynski scored both of her teams’ goals — including an overtime clincher off a penalty kick — which enabled Tamaqua to rally for a 2-1 victory over Lehighton.

“Wow, this was such a crucial victory,” said Tamaqua head coach Clem McCarroll, who had a sigh of relief after the winning kick.

“I wasn’t looking to kick it anywhere special,” Kuczynski said about her overtime penalty kick. “I try not to focus on the outcome. I just try to get up there, do my routine, and see what happens.”

Kuczynski made her game-winning boot to the left of the Lehighton goalkeeper after just a minute and 43 seconds had gone by in the extra-session.

To make it even sweeter for Kuczynski and her classmates it came on senior night.

McCarroll felt that his team wasn’t at the top of its game after a huge win over Blue Mountain a few days ago.

“Not to take anything away from Lehighton, I just thought we were still enjoying the win over Blue Mountain,” said McCarroll. “We needed to be more focused.”

What made the win even bigger for Tamaqua (6-2, 8-3) was that Blue Mountain had lost earlier in the day to Jim Thorpe.

“This one is very big since Blue Mountain (6-3 league) lost. We now have control of our own destiny in the league. Pottsville (8-0 league) is in first, but we are in position to hold down second place (the final playoff spot).”

Tamaqua came out controlling the tempo and forcing things in the Indians’ end, and taking a 1-0 lead on Kuczynski’s first goal of the evening. Makenna Kane put a chip over the Lehighton (1-7, 4-8) backline to set up Kuczynski’s shot.

After that, it seemed to be a lull for Tamaqua on the offensive end, while Lehighton did an about-face.

“They wanted it so badly after playing four games this week,” said Lehighton coach Brian Meckes. “We got a lot more aggressive in the second half.”

The Indians capitalized on their improved play when Katie Aaron alertly found teammate Abby Meckes in the clear, made a perfect pass, and Meckes booted in the tying goal with under 12 minutes to play.

“We’re trying to rebuild the program, and we had a heck of an effort,” said Meckes.

While forcing overtime may have given the Indians a boost of confidence, the outcome was a big boost for Tamaqua – sole possession of second place in Division I.

SHOOTING SHOTS… Tamaqua had 16 shots on goal, getting nine saves from keeper Baylee Reinhardt, one corner kick and one penalty kick. For the Indians, 13 shots on goal, seven saves for keeper Alyssa Myers and one corner kick.

A SENIOR SALUTE… 11 seniors were recognized before the game: Leah Sharer, Jamie Zuber, Rebekah Hromyak, Sadie Morrison, Sarah McCabe, Katelyn Rudy, Logan Hartney, Emily Titus, Jen Fredrickson, Reinhardt and Kuczynski.