For 70 minutes, Palmerton and Palisades were locked in a defensive battle in their Colonial League Girls Soccer Quarterfinal playoff match, held on the Blue Bombers’ turf field.

The two teams tied 1-1 in their only meeting during the shortened regular season, and it looked like the team that would score first on Monday would come away with the win and advance to the next round.

And that’s exactly what happened.

The Pirates, seeded fifth, scored twice in the final nine minutes and held on for a 2-0 victory over the No. 4-seeded Bombers.

“We played a very good game and stayed with them the whole time,” said Palmerton head coach Dave O’Brien. “And I really think that if we see them again in districts, we could have a different result.

“I don’t think there was much of a difference in this game than when we played them earlier. Both games were really evenly matched, but this one just didn’t go our way. We had opportunities, but we don’t finish and the difference was they put their last two chances in at the end.”

The Bombers did have two chances in the second half off a corner, and another shot within a two-minute span, but didn’t convert on either.

“It was really a hard fought contest, so we are looking forward to playing them again,” added O’Brien.

With 8:26 left in the second half, Palisades’ Kylie Schmidt was able to push the ball into the right corner of the goal to give the Pirates the game’s first score, which proved to be all they would need.

Sydney Odle, who had four shots on goal, added an insurance score with 3:24 remaining to give Palisades the 2-0 advantage.

Brianna Moore had three shots on goal, and Gianna Kintz added two for Palmerton. Other Blue Bombers with shots on goal were Carissa Fallon, Lauren Rehrig and Sam Perloni.

UP NEXT … The Pirates will travel to New Tripoli on Wednesday to take on Northwestern Lehigh in a semifinal matchup. Northern Lehigh travels to Southern Lehigh in the other semifinal. The final is scheduled for Saturday at a time and place to be determined. The Lady Bombers will be idle for a week and a half until the District 11 playoffs get underway.

BUSY NIGHT … Palmerton goalie Megan Green actually kept her team in the game, as she had 21 saves before the Pirates were able to score. Palisades goalie Drew Camp, on the other hand, only had to stop eight shots.