OREFIELD - The Tamaqua girls soccer team had less than 24 hours to enjoy its first-round overtime win over Pine Grove in the District 11 Class 2A playoffs.

The No. 7 seed Raiders had to face No. 2 seed Allentown Central Catholic in a quarterfinal matchup at Iron Lakes Sports Club on Thursday afternoon.

The Vikettes scored two goals in the first nine minutes, added another before halftime and held on for a 3-0 win that ended Tamaqua’s season.

Erica Dietz found an opening down the left side and sent a rocket past Tamaqua goalie Baylee Reinhardt with 35:28 on the clock, putting Central up 1-0.

The Vikettes continued to put pressure on the Lady Raiders and Hanna Hoeing took the same route as Dietz did to score the second goal less than three minutes later.

With 26:32 still remaining in the first half, Dietz scored her second goal from right in front of the crease and that was all Central Catholic needed to move on to next week’s semifinal round.

“We looked a little tired in the first half and I told the girls at halftime, we don’t want to go out this way,” said Tamaqua head coach Clem McCarroll. “It started to get a little chippy, so I said lets just try and play our game, and if they’re a batter team in the end that’s the way it’s going to be. But we want to go out with class.

“We tried to pass the ball a little bit and we did, but they made it hard. They play in a tough conference and we don’t play a lot of teams of their caliber.”

The Lady Raiders did buckle down in the last 25 minutes of the first half and the entire second half to keep the game close.

The Vikettes controlled the offense most of the contest and took 22 shots on goal, while the Raiders were limited to just three, two by Katelyn Rudy and just one by Emma Kaczynski, Tamaqua’s leading scorer on the year. Central also finished with nine corners, but the Tamaqua defense kept them from doing more damage.

“We decided at halftime that we just didn’t want to make this a laugher and have them just score goals at will,” added McCarroll. “We wanted to play with a little pride and try and get a goal or two to get back in it, but that part didn’t happen.”

Tamaqua did put one in the net with around 12 minutes left in the contest, but it was disallowed because it was on an indirect kick.

“Reinhardt played a heckuva game in goal,” said McCarroll. “I told them we had nothing to lose. By beating Pine Grove it was our first win in a district game in a long time and just play the game, let it all out and have fun.”

RECORDS ... Tamaqua ends its season with an 11-8 record, while Central moves to 12-6-1.

THE BRACKET ... Central moves on to play No. 6 seed Jim Thorpe, a 5-4 winner over No. 3 seed Salisbury in penalty kicks next Tuesday. Northwestern Lehigh and Notre Dame of Green Pond will meet in the other semifinal.

GREAT SEASON ... McCarroll was pleased with the season the team had despite being down four starters with injuries down near the end. He was very proud of his 11 seniors who have done a lot for the program. McCarroll actually went to a senior-laden lineup in the second half just in case it was their last time on the field in a Tamaqua uniform and they came up big, keeping the Vikettes from scoring.