HELLERTOWN - Palmerton and Saucon Valley rode an emotional roller coaster during the closing stages of their field hockey playoff game on Tuesday.

There were exhilarating highs and deflating lows for both teams, and plenty of entertainment for everyone in attendance.

When the ride finally ended midway through the first overtime period, it was the Panthers getting their ticket punched for another round of Colonial League action.

Meanwhile, the Bombers were sent home with plenty of great memories, but also with the realization that the ride ended a little sooner than they had hoped.

Sophie Engelhardt’s second goal of the game, with just under four minutes remaining in the first overtime period, gave Saucon Valley a 2-1 Colonial League quarterfinal round victory.

Engelhardt’s dramatics were needed because of an incredible finish to regulation that saw Palmerton score the tying goal with no time left on the clock.

“It’s unfortunate how the game ended after our girls worked so hard to tie it up,” said Palmerton coach Lauren Michalik. “We were so excited and had a lot of momentum heading into overtime.

“I thought we had it won a couple of times at the beginning of overtime, but their goalie made some big saves. It’s tough to come so close to getting an incredible comeback win, but fall a little short.”

As exciting as a game-winning overtime goal can be, it can be argued that Engelhardt’s winner wasn’t even the most thrilling score of the contest.

The Bombers had trailed since Engelhardt opened the scoring off an assist from Katie Marker with 3:25 left in the second quarter.

Palmerton applied pressure throughout regulation, but its first 10 corners and first eight shots on goal failed to yield a positive result.

With the Bombers frantically working for the tying goal as the final seconds ticked off the fourth quarter clock, they got one more chance when Saucon was whistled for a violation with under 10 seconds remaining.

As the running clock expired, Palmerton was granted a corner knowing that it had to score on the possession or the game would end.

The Bombers did exactly that as Emma Christman took a pass from Skyler Kohler and drilled it into the back of the goal.

“We have shirts made with our team motto that say ‘Giving our all 15 minutes at a time,’” said Michalik. “I guess today that would have to be changed to ‘more than 15 minutes at a time.’

“I really love how our girls never quit after we fell behind. We had one goal nullified, and a couple of near misses, but we never got frustrated. The goal by Emma was such an emotional high.”

Despite a heartbreaking end to regulation, and then several near goals by the Bombers early in overtime, Saucon Valley displayed incredible resiliency to pull out the win.

“I told the team at the beginning of overtime that if they wanted fix the mistakes we made at the end of regulation, then they had to go out and make the corrections right now,” said Panther coach MK Omdahl. “Our goalie, Grace Albano, really came up big for us early in overtime.

“After she made a few saves, we were able to regain some control of the ball, and then found a way to win it.”

KNOW THE RULES ... Field hockey is played with a running clock that only stops for injuries and goals. But if a corner is awarded with time on the clock, a team gets to take the corner even if the clock runs out before they can attempt it. That team then has until it loses possession to try and score. That’s what happened Tuesday as Palmerton didn’t put its corner into play until well after the clock showed zeros.

IT’S BEEN A WHILE ... According to long time Palmerton trainer Dave Smith, who also is a well known Bomber sports historian, this was Palmerton first time in the Colonial League playoffs in 30 years. Smith said the last time it happened was in his first year as the Palmerton trainer, when current assistant coach Tara Frantz was a member of the team.

STATS ... Palmerton had a 12-6 edge in shots, and a 13-12 advantage in corners. Albano made 12 saves for the Panthers, while Palmerton goalie Brynn Merkel made four saves.

UP NEXT ... Saucon Valley plays Southern Lehigh in Thursday’s CL semifinals. Palmerton is off until next week’s District 11 tournament.