The roots of the Northern Lehigh-Palmerton rivalry run deep, and it showed in Wednesday night’s girls soccer game at Bomber Stadium.

Palmerton senior Brianna Moore kicked in the game-winner just six minutes and 41 seconds into overtime to seal a 2-1 victory over Northern Lehigh. Moore also assisted Palmerton’s other goal scored in the first quarter by Ella Baumgardt.

“It was a really, really fantastic game and effort for both teams,” Palmerton head coach Dave O’Brien said. “This is a huge rivalry, it was Senior Night, there was a lot of energy running high, and both teams were playing really hard.

“We’ve been fighting hard all year. We’ve had some close games, and I think we get better as the game goes on.”

The Bombers had a great chance to win the game moments before Moore eventually did, but a Northern Lehigh defender cleared the ball off the goal line when it appeared to be heading in.

It took just over a minute later for Moore to finally finish it off.

“We’ve won eight-in-a-row now going into the playoffs,” O’Brien said. “Both of our losses were 1-0, close games, and we’re really riding high right now and we’re excited to move forward.”

Northern Lehigh came to play in the storied rivalry game, and after Palmerton went up 1-0 on Baumgardt’s goal 20 minutes into the contest, the Dawgs answered right back on a Victoria Hanna goal to tie the game at 1-1.

“These girls went out and they played their butts off tonight,” Northern Lehigh head coach Jason Reinhard said. “Palmerton’s a very good soccer team, and I don’t think there’s any doubt we were toe-to-toe with them the entire time, and we’re actually short two of our main rotation players tonight.

“The heart, desire and determination we played with tonight ... I could not be more proud of these girls.”

MOVING FORWARD ... Both teams had already clinched a spot in the District 11 and Colonial League playoffs. Palmerton’s regular season comes to an end with a 16-2 overall record, and a 10-2 league mark. Northern Lehigh (11-6, 7-4) has one regular season game remaining against Saucon Valley on Friday.

SAVE, SAVE, SAVE

... Both the Northern Lehigh and Palmerton goalies made massive saves which allowed the game to go back-and-forth.

THE RIVALRY CONTINUES

... The Northern Lehigh-Palmerton rivalry is a staple of area sports, and definitely extends to girls soccer. “It’s a great rivalry,” Reinhard said. “I think you saw out there that how much each team wants to win this game. Last year, it was us 2-1. This year, it was them.” Palmerton’s O’Brien also chimed in on the rivalry. “This is a rivalry that runs deep, and it doesn’t matter what sport it is,” he said. “This year, we both came into it having really good seasons and momentum. This was just a really well-played, high quality game.”