Looks can be deceiving.

A glance at the final score from Tuesday’s Schuylkill League boys soccer semifinal round game between Jim Thorpe and Tri-Valley would seem to indicate a tightly-played contest between evenly matched teams.

But that wasn’t the case.

The Olympians dominated field position, time of possession, and shots on goal — but they couldn’t put away the Bulldogs.

In the end, Jim Thorpe got the result it wanted, however, posting a 1-0 victory in the nightcap of a doubleheader at Lehighton Area High School.

Right from the opening kick, Thorpe put on a soccer clinic with rush after rush down the field. In the first 10 minutes of the game, the Olympians had three shots and one corner kick.

That game flow continued for most of the first half before Jim Thorpe was finally able to capitalize when Alex Putt took a pass from Thor Huth and headed the ball into the top of the net with eight minutes to go in the half.

Jim Thorpe coach Mike Dudak was disappointed with his team’s inability to score more goals.

“We have to stop playing with our feet and play with our heads,” Dudak said.

“Tri Valley has a really good goalie, and we made it far too easy for him by taking too many shots from 30 yards away.”

The second half was more of the same with Tri Valley playing back on its heels and the Olympians constantly applying pressure.

Putt was stopped by Bulldog goalie Kole Ney on a direct shot at the 34 minute mark. Two minutes later, Leandro Ramirez received a pass and spun around to fire a shot that was also stopped by Ney. With 26 minutes to go, Ney leaped and with one hand, tipped the ball over the goal on a shot by Dawson Meckes. Just minutes later, Chris Condly received a good look, but was wide right.

On and on, the Olympians peppered shots at the goal, but couldn’t beat Ney.

“We showed we have the skill to possess the ball,” said Dudak, “but our shots were too long, and that’s why there were no rebounds.”

The Bulldogs had trouble getting any rhythm on offense, as they rarely completed more than one pass at a time, and never threatened Jim Thorpe goalie Jacob Geiser, who easily stopped Tri Valley’s Bryce Soles after a throw in with 19 minutes to go.

Despite their dominating play, one rush or one crazy bounce of the ball, and the Olympians might have found themselves in a sudden death overtime situation.

Jim Thorpe (15-2-2, 9-2-1) dominated statistically. The Olympians took 27 shots in the contest with 18 of them on target. Ney stopped 17 of them. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs managed just one shot on goal in the opening half and five in the game — none of which were difficult saves for Geiser.

THE RED WAVE ... At times, Jim Thorpe moved the ball up the field in what appeared to be a red wave in a V-formation with the center at the front flanked by two players on each side.

UP NEXT ... Jim Thorpe will now face Pine Grove in the league championship game at 7 p.m. on Thursday in Lehighton. The Cardinals were trailing Schuylkill Haven when Cody Griffiths headed the ball into the net to tie the game with 38 seconds left in regulation. Then, with just under three minutes gone in overtime, Ethan Hamservig won it for Pine Grove when he slammed home a rebound.